"Taken?" he repeated, his voice hardening. "What do you mean, taken?"
"Abducted," Ryder spat, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. "Grabbed off the street. Beaten. We got a photo..." His voice broke, unable to finish the sentence. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons before handing it to Blake. Blake's eyes narrowed, calculating, as he looked at the phone..
"When did this happen?"
"Five weeks ago," I said, slowly releasing Logan as he seemed to regain some control. Blake leaned back in his chair, something like concern crossing his features.
"I've been at the Hole for the past six weeks. Just got back four days ago."
The Hole. The name sent an involuntary shiver down my spine. The Trivium's blacksite prison on a remote Scottish island, a place where those who broke Trivium law disappeared, sometimes forever.No communication in or out. If Blake had been there, he couldn't have orchestrated Cade's abduction. But that didn't mean he wasn't involved somehow.
"What were you doing at the Hole?" Ryder demanded. Blake waved his hand dismissively.
"Trivium business. Discipline. Oversight." His voice was clipped, making it clear the topic was closed.
"But Cadence Turner's disappearance, that's far more concerning. Someone should have informed me." He leaned forward, fingers steepled. "This isn't just about you three losing your plaything. This is an attack on the Trivium itself." Ryder let out a derisive snort.
"Unless the Trivium were the ones who took her." Blake's expression darkened.
"Why the fuck would we do that? A Regent's Consort is strictly off-limits, to be protected at all costs. It's one of our most sacred rules."
"Sacred rules," Logan echoed bitterly. "Like any of you care about rules when it suits your agenda."
"What are you talking about? What agenda would this be?" Blake demanded, genuine confusion on his face.
"Killingham," I said, watching his reaction carefully. "He's been pressuring us for months to replace Cade with Julia Latters. Making it clear we'd have an easier time if we had a 'proper' Consort."
"And we know you've wanted your hands on Cade since she was a child," Logan added, his voice dripping with disgust. "When her mother tried to sell her to you. You're not one to give up what you want, are you, Blake?"
A strange expression crossed Blake's face, not guilt or anger, but something almost like amusement. He leaned back in his chair, studying us with new interest.
"You three think you know everything, don't you?" He shook his head slowly. "You have it all wrong. I know for a fact that Killingham wouldn't harm your Consort."
"And why's that?" Ryder demanded. Blake's mouth quirked in a half-smile.
"I have my reasons for being certain. Reasons that are not mine to share." He tapped his fingers on the desk,contemplative. "And as for buying Cadence from her mother..." He let out a short laugh. "Who do you think tipped off her grandfather about her mother's intentions in the first place?"
The admission landed in the centre of the room like a grenade. I blinked, trying to process what he was saying. Blake had been the one to save Cade from Alyssa Turner? The man who had abused me as a child, who had sold time with me to plenty of sick fucks, had prevented Cade from suffering the same fate?
"You expect us to believe you're suddenly a humanitarian?" Logan scoffed. “You are a known trafficker. Children aren’t exactly out of your remit, are they?”
"I am many things," Blake acknowledged with a disturbing lack of remorse. "But I am, above all, intelligent. And no intelligent man would fuck with The Gavel."
The name hit me like a physical blow. The Gavel. A ghost story among the Trivium elites. The enforcer who had disappeared decades ago, the assassin who had executed Trivium justice swiftly and without mercy. I'd heard whispers about him during my time in the Underground, spoken in hushed, fearful tones.
"What does The Gavel have to do with Cade?" Ryder asked, confused. Blake smiled, the expression almost feline in its satisfaction.
"Speaking of, has anyone told him his granddaughter is missing?" The silence that followed was absolute. For a moment, I couldn't breathe, couldn't think past the implications crashing through my mind.
"Bruce Turner," I whispered, pieces clicking into place with horrifying clarity. "Cade's grandfather is The Gavel?" Blake nodded, looking pleased with the bombshell he'd dropped.
“The only man scary enough to be able to walk away from the inner circle and still live.”
"Fuck off," Logan said, though uncertainty clouded his voice. "We did our research on Cade’s family. Bruce Turner. He's a retired construction worker."
"And I'm just a respectable businessman who owns a private club," Blake countered with a raised eyebrow.
"If what you're saying is true," I said slowly, my throat dry, "then why didn't he protect her? Where is he now?"
