I snort. “Fuck yeah, I do.”
Cam grins at the snarky tone I’m using and cuts me off before I can say more. “Just wait a bit longer. Erik will be here soon. I promise you’ll see how all this chaos unraveled.” I scowl at him. He laughs and pushes off the wall, closing the distance between us with a few long strides. “I can’t tell you how much I missed you, Em. It’s so good to have you back. Even if you hate me,” he admits into the crook of my neck as he presses his hands to either side of me on the expansive desk. He’s not touching me, but I can feel the warmth of his body spill over my shoulders at his closeness, his breath drawing chills down my spine.
I inhale sharply and have to settle the heat that pools in my core.
“I don’t hate you, Cam.” He leans back and looks into my eyes, our noses are a breath apart. Those sage eyes look different than they had when we met—they’re filled with longing and sadness that collects in my soul. It pulls me deeper into him. The way I know that he cherishes me. “Never you. I’m just…hurt,” I whisper.
He stares longingly into my eyes for a moment before the door opens and we both turn our heads to find the lieutenant walking in. Erik pauses when he sees how close our faces are to each other before turning his back and slowly closing the door.
Cameron uses the reprieve and straightens, taking a few steps back and shoving his hands into his pockets casually.
Erik sets down a plate of rolls and two water bottles beside me as he takes a seat two chairs down. He has a heavyset gaze and his shoulders are slacked, alluding to his weariness. Now that I look at him closely, I can see the resemblance to my father. It’s in the rich amber color of his eyes that belong to my grandmother and the strong arch of his nose. But my uncle is lacking the malice and greed that burns in every fiber of Greg’s image.
I’ve only ever known our lieutenant to be kind. It’s evident that he cares about his squad. It’s the only reason I decide to hear him out.
Erik threads his fingers together on his lap and stares at me fora short while before he starts. “Emery, did you know that we’ve met once before you entered the Dark Forces?”
I scour my memories and search for anyone with his features but come up blank. It must’ve been in passing.
“No,” I say with mild curiosity as I grab a roll and scarf it down. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until I smelled the buttery glaze.
Erik smiles reminiscently and nods slowly. “You were just turning twelve and your mother took you out to a bakery in the city. Do you remember?” I stare down at the plate of rolls, the taste still so nostalgic on my tongue. It tastes just like the honey rolls I would order every time we visited that shop.
My eyes flash up to Erik’s and he smiles.
“You do remember. I was the man who met with your mother briefly before you two left that day. Beatrice was always such a lovely woman, you mustn’t blame her for becoming so cold toward you. She regrettably told me her fears about the life that awaited you. She distanced herself as much as she could, emotionally that is. We all know there’s no escaping Gregory.”
I understood it more when I was older, but as a child, I never understood why she distanced herself from me. Her lack of love and emotional abandonment made me a depressed artist; my father’s cold heart made me a killer. Reed, however, made me the executioner that will be remembered.
The perfect cocktail to make monsters.
Cameron watches me with condolatory eyes. He knows more than most what it is to be betrayed by your parents. He has to carry that scar every day on his chest. I wonder what went through his mother’s mind the day he killed her.
I take a few sips from the water bottle before muttering expressionlessly, “Why were you meeting her?”
Erik sighs and shakes his head. “I was trying to help her get youtwo out of the family and into hiding. Unfortunately, Gregory was already on to her. I couldn’t risk him finding out that I was, at the time, a sergeant in the Dark Forces so I cut ties with her that day and told her there was nothing I could do, not until I was ready to overthrow him.”
“You were trying to help us?” I ask, baffled that I never knew any of this was going on behind the scenes. Why didn’t my mom tell me? I was old enough. My lips firm with her reluctance to include me in anything. Did she fear me? I was already being shaped into being the executioner, but did she really think I’d listen to my father if he ordered me to kill her? My hands fist at my sides.
He nods. “An operation andfamilyas big as the Mavestellis’ can’t be taken overnight, Emery. Not even in a few years. It’s taken the better part of a decade for me to finally be at a point where I have him in a corner. Patient is the soldier who plans ahead.”
It always trickles down to who gets the throne in the end, doesn’t it? That’s what everyone is after in the conclusion of every story. That’s all Belerik truly wants.
The Mavestelli Family.
It’s funny because I never wanted it. I’m not stupid enough to think being at the head of it would ever bring me happiness.
“Soyou’lltake over? How will that work when you’re an active officer in the Dark Forces?” I say with a wary voice.
This gives me an ominous feeling. I glance at Cameron, his eyes flash with repugnance. Is this the first he’s hearing of Erik’s future plans too? I’m still not sure how much he knows, but from the sweat collecting on the back of his neck, I’m assuming that a lot of this is news to him.
Erik retrieves a syringe from his coat pocket and hands it to Cameron. My eyes flicker with distrust. It’s black, unlike the other ones that were clear.
“Think of it as our underground forces inheriting a new arsenaland avenue of ports and property. We’ll be able to expand into every location your father has hands in already.”
What the fuck. That’s not any better than what my dad is already doing.
The pulse of my heart grows faster.
