Jase stews for a few seconds before blowing air out of his mouth and nodding.
“That is true talent,” Baz says, grinning from his perch on the arm of the chair Bree is sitting on.
“Don’t you start.” At some point, I am going to knock Jase’s and Baz’s heads together and put some sense into them.
“Can we get on with things,” Eric says, looking between his children. “I don’t want to be away too long. Your mother has gone to lots of trouble today, and I want to spend the night snuggling with her on the couch and sneaking a few Christmas kisses.”
Baz, Bree, and Jase all stare at their father as if he’s grown wings.
Eric chuckles. “You should see your faces.”
“Where’s my father gone, and how did you take control of his body?” Jase asks.
“There are many masks we need to wear as Luminaries,” Eric says, his gaze softening as he looks upon his second son. “You will discover that truth now and how nothing is ever as it seems.”
“It sounds and looks exhausting,” I truthfully admit.
“It is, Ashley. It really is.” His voice heaves with a tiredness born of years of hiding in plain sight.
“Can you help us find my sister?” Ares blurts, and the conversation turns heavy.
“I can and I will. After Baz and I spoke, I talked with Gregor and put him in touch with my own personal IT team. If anyone can crack that password, my guys can. From what I have learned about Jasper Baldwin, I am confident the information we need is on that drive.”
“What have you learned about my dad?” Chad asks. “I need to clear his name. He’s not a trafficker.”
“I know that, son, and we will clear his name and get back everything that was taken from you and your family. Our first order of priority is finding Lilianna Haynes and evidence to take Rhett Carter down.”
“We need to kill the motherfucker,” Ares says, cracking his knuckles.
“And we will.” Eric swirls the Scottish whisky in his tumbler before taking a sip. “But we can’t just kill a Luminary without proof to justify our actions.”
“Why not?” I ask. “Look at what he has done.”
“We all know what Rhett Carter has done, but he had evidence or witness testimony to corroborate his actions.”
“Half of that is bullshit,” Jase says.
“And he was blackmailing us into lying for him,” Bree adds.
“I am well aware. Like I’m aware Carter is behind the separatist movement, the killing of Blade’s father, and a whole host of other atrocities. He will be chairing a motion to have Walter Salinger and James Manford killed for their gross treachery. There is nothing Rhett Carter does without some form of justification and a hell of a lot of planning.”
“How long have you known he was planning this?”
“It’s always been evident Rhett was hungry for more. He is the Greed & Gluttony Luminary, after all.” He gives us a wry smile, and Jase’s mouth slackens a little. I know he sees his father as cold and emotionless, but he doesn’t come across like that to me.
It appears Rhett Carter isn’t the only one playing a long game.
“But it’s only in recent times that James and I realized he was getting ready to strike. He has always been one step ahead, and we need to overtake him.”
“We already have,” Ares says. “We control three of the four Luminaries now. That gives us the most power.”
“The fact Carter isn’t concerned about that tells me there is something we don’t know.”
“He’s too arrogant to consider us a threat,” I say. “And too focused on his own plan to notice things under this nose.”
“I would like to believe that, but we should never underestimate a man like Carter. He has amassed huge global support. That is of grave concern. You saw how all the guards at HQ are on his payroll. It’s the reason I took out a few of them before I left yesterday and replaced them with men loyal to me. Walter and James would not have survived the night otherwise.”
“Walter doesn’t deserve to survive,” I snap. “He deserves to die for what he did.”
