The room door opens, and Thomas strides in with five more men following behind him. One of them carts in a table full of some of my favorite toys.
My father makes a derisive snort, then launches himself at Sebastian’s father and punches him until Thomas pulls him back. He holds his hands up. “I’m fine,” my dad huffs, straightening his tie and cleaning invisible lint from his suit. “The meaning is, you traitorous scum, that we found the link to your part in the kidnapping ofmy fucking son,” he snarls, and Thomas has to hold him back before he attacks Theo again.
It takes seconds for his words to finally penetrate the haze. My pulse gallops so loud the noise around me feels a million miles away. I know things are being shouted, but I can’t register anything— not until I hear Lev coaxing me from the fog. That’s when I realize the shouts were for me to stop. I hear the choked cries of someone, and I look down to see my hands covered in blood. Lifting my gaze, I take in Sebastian’s father. My knife protrudes from his hand, and he’s covered in lacerations— none of them lethal, but all enough to draw blood and cause immense pain.
I watch as my dad approaches me cautiously. There’s no fear in his eyes— just reassurance that he means no harm. “I know you want him dead, Son— I do too, but we need to question him first.”
Lev’s hand squeezes my shoulder. I nod, taking my seat and trying to reign in my anger. My hand instinctively goes to the spot near my heart where the only person who calms me marked me. I absently trace the “A” while I await answers.
“I didn’t do it. I wouldn’t— couldn’t. Owen is like a son,” Sebastian’s father stammers.
Sebastian stands, nearly knocking over his chair. “Bullshit. You sleep with your flesh and blood’s fiancée, and then again once she’s my ex to help impregnate her— if that’s what you call fatherly love to me, I’d hate to see what it would look like to O,” he snaps.
Theo turns his face up in disdain at his son’s words. “I was doing what was best to get you in the best position of power,” he snarls, dropping the facade of innocence. “I was passed over because my asshole brother was the favorite. That seat on the Council was supposed to be mine. Your position as an original was stolen!”
“Nothing was stolen from you. You lost it in your blind quest for power. When you betrayed your oath and sought to take a seat that didn’t belong to you— mine,” Mr. Edgewood shouts, and shocked gasps fill the air. This is news to us— the heirs. We always knew something happened that caused Sebastian’s dad to be skipped and Wyatt’s to hold the seat.
“I did what was necessary, and I’d do it again,” Theo retorts.
Ariah’s father slams his palms on the table. “Including aiding in the kidnapping of two innocent boys?”
“What can I say? Your wife has a pretty convincing cunt. Are you sure those kids are even yours? I fucked Elise so much I wouldn’t be surprised if your bitch of an oldest daughter was mine,” Theo taunts.
He doesn’t get to say anything more before Aaron Bradford whips out a dagger and throws it with such precision it embeds itself between Theo’s shoulder and collarbone.
Sebastian is across the room, pushing the blade deeper and turning it before anyone can stop him. “You were always a selfish shit. Tell me where the fuck Elise is, and I’ll end it quickly even though you deserve to dissolve alive in a vat of acid.” Theo screams, pleading for his son to stop, but Seb pushes deeper. “Tell me,” Sebastian shouts again.
“I don’t know,” Theo wails. “I’ve only been dealing with Vivian in the last year. I haven’t seen or spoken to Elise in nearly two years, and when I did talk to her, I was only given instructions on what to do next.”
He’s useless. Outside of finding out the vile asshole is part of the reason Lev and I were kidnapped, he knows nothing more than what we know. Over the bullshit, I pull Lizzie from my ankle holster and sink the blade into his neck.
“Enjoy hell with that bitch, Vivan,” Sebastian snarls, as I grab Theo’s pocket square and wipe the remnants of his blood off Lizzie before dropping it at his dying feet.
Closing my eyes, I bask in the gurgle of his last breath escaping.
“I’d ask why you did that, but we all know Theo wasn’t even on the last rung of the ladder. First, Elise used him and tossed him aside, then Vivian took advantage of his thirst for power,” Ariah’s father explains, and I dip my chin in agreement.
“What now?” Wes asks. “We still keep hitting roadblocks.”
Mr. Edgewood clears his throat, signaling for clean up, before he states, “Elise will make herself known soon enough. If we can’t get to her— she’ll make another attempt to get to her daughter. With only two months left until the Choosing Ceremony, we only need to be patient while we continue our search.”
Wes’s dad updates us on a few more items and then dismisses us.
We don’t speak until we’re outside. “I don’t like the way he made it seem like Ariah was going to be bait,” Wyatt says, and I grunt, having felt the same feeling when he said to be patient and Elise would come for her daughter.
“We’re not waiting for shit,” Lev exclaims. “Colt, Coop, and I are going to double our efforts— triple them if we have to, and decode that fucking list.”
“Until then, we don’t leave Ariah alone,” Sebastian directs, and we all nod.
Breaking away from them, I head to my car, “Dibs on first watch,” I shout, jumping into my Jeep and peeling out of the driveway. My phone buzzes, but I ignore them.
Snooze, you lose, assholes.
59
ARIAH
Istand outside and bask in the May sunshine. We’re six weeks from graduation and the final part of this Selection process. It’s Friday. The school day passed without any real issues outside of Sam’s usual snide comments. She’s been extra cocky lately. Her attitude has become almost unbearable with each day closer to the choosing ceremony.
