I glance at Malakai. He gives the appearance of being mostly unconcerned, his pissed-off grimace nothing new at all. He casts a stealthy look in my direction before it skirts away again, jaw as firm as granite. He’s not as unaffected as he wants everyone to believe.
Dragging in a breath, I wonder how much longer this is going to go on. The room is already tension laden, and in addition to the apprehension each of us feels as a firstborn son, among the Collective, there’s a thick, dangerous undercurrent beneath their seemingly normal interactions. I wish Finneas would fucking get on with it already. His affinity for these sorts of intimidation tactics doesn’t usually bother me, but I can tell it’s affecting the others. This waiting game is meant to unnerve us, and it’s succeeding.
Finneas crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay. There are way too many things that need to be addressed for my liking. So, let’s get to it.” Without further hesitation, he dives in. “Priority one is that fucking bridge. Henry, Kiefer, and I will be working around the clock, pulling in as many of you as necessary to get the job done while Nolan will oversee all daily activities that are not related to that catastrophe.” His rock-steady authoritative gaze leaves no room for argument. “I want that bridge completed and the river traversable before the full moon.”
“That’s pretty fast,” Kiefer grunts, his scarred cheek twitching.
Our leader grimaces. “I don’t care. It must be done. We have to be able to leave the compound for supplies. And… other things.” His coldly assessing gaze focuses on the four of us, a challenge in his flinty onyx eyes. “Expect long hours and back-breaking work. I don’t want to hear complaints. Understood? Whatever is asked of you, drop what you’re doing and get on it. Work until you’re told to stop.”
With no other choice, we nod readily. Hayze’s firm “Yes sir” is repeated by all of us.
“Otherwise,” Finneas continues his diatribe, “the soil is no-fucking-where near ready to plant our spring crops. It has to happen in the next few days as well. When you aren’t helping out at the river, you’ll be tilling soil in preparation.” He stops to wet his lips, eyeing the four of us. “Listen carefully. No more work will be done on the new wing until we have a usable bridge and crops in the ground.” His lips twitch as his gaze bounces over each of us in turn. “Hopefully that will light a fire under some asses.”
There’s a rumble of approval from the Collective while we remain silent, only nodding. But if Finneas were paying attention, he may have noticed Hayze’s quietly disturbed exhale or the sigh that had followed from Arrow. Mal’s jaw twitches ever so slightly. Me? I’ve given nothing away. We’ve been promised our own wing—space to ourselves—since we turned eighteen. It’s been a long time coming, but it’ll wait.
Raking my teeth over the swell of my lip, I focus on my hands. There’s no way any one of us is moreconcerned about some fucking bedrooms than the shitstorm that has whipped through this place. With every day that passes, I’m more confused, more torn up, more at odds with everything I’ve ever known. I’m coming apart at the seams. There’s no clear path to fix what’s wrong, nowhere to hide my true feelings about it except to stuff them deep down inside and hope no one notices the turmoil steadily building.
Finneas either doesn’t pick up on the mood that’s descended or he doesn’t care. “Good. As the firstborn sons, you’re expected to lead, so you’ll want to be sure your siblings are also kept in line. If anyone isn’t pulling their weight, I want to know about it. They’ll all be filled in as to the plan later today.”
“As for the women,” Kiefer interjects with a devious smirk, “they know their place. With one notable exception.” His lips part, but before he can go on, Finneas interrupts.
“I’ll get to that disrespectful she-devil later.” He pauses, wetting his lips. “That one has more than a few things to answer for.”
Over at the side of the room, Kiefer chuckles darkly. “I have some ideas about how to deal with her ungrateful cunt. I’d be happy to take care of her.”
I stiffen at their words, visions of how they’ll make Delilah sorry she ever set foot on this mountain bombard me from all sides. With my chest tightening, I glance back at Mal’s father. All the ways he’d like to teach Delilah a lesson give his eyes a wicked light. Henry is working hard to silence his disturbing amusement,and my own father is no better, a vicious tilt marring his lips.
Finneas huffs, disregarding their comments. “I have plans for her already. We have other business to discuss before getting to that little bitch.”
My stomach bottoms out in my gut.Here it comes.I bite down on my lip, waiting for shit to really get crazy.
And then… it does. Finneas blusters, throwing his arms out from his sides, wildly gesticulating. “Sons flouting our commands.” Out of the corner of my eye, I witness Arrow’s big body shrinking as if he’d like to melt right into the chair and disappear. “Attacking each other!” he thunders, flinging his arm toward Malakai. “Apparently, instead of finding the women and implanting your seed, you’re out there trying to kill each other.” He stares at us wide-eyed as he runs a hand over his jaw. “What in the fuck has gotten into the water while I’ve been gone? Snakes in the house? What in the actual fuck?” Our leader shakes his head, indignant, wrathful astonishment punching out with every word as he forges on. “The very guidelines we have lived by in Dark Falls Hollow for twenty years—all completely thrown to the wayside the moment I’m not here to oversee things!” He heaves out a disturbed breath, glaring at us with abhorrence and rage.
Beside me, Hayze groans, his hands fisting and reopening. I can’t even tell if he realizes he’s doing it. A moment later, I catch his lips parting as if he’s about to say something.Don’t do it.
“I was only gone two weeks.” Pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, Hayze’s father finally halts his tirade, whirling on us. “Two. Fucking. Weeks. What I truly want to know is how in the fuck this place has fallen apart to such an extent that when I return”—he stops, breathing hard, an unholy light blazing in his eyes—“it’s to find that we have devolved into what can only be described as pandemonium.” He pauses to suck in a breath. “This ends here and now. You will do as you’re told. You will follow our ways to the letter, or there will be consequences. The corrections for infractions will be steep. Am I understood?” He aims fire at us from his eyes. “Follow. Honor. Nourish. Kneel.”
All four of us dive from our seats to our knees on the floor before him. “Yes sir,” comes our mumbled response.
For a few moments, it seems like his ranting is over. There’s nothing to do but remain still with heads bowed. Finneas’s voice is quieter now. “I cannot believe the men of this compound haven’t even been able to control a tiny, insignificantwoman.”He spits that final word, his voice dripping with condescension and disdain.
Henry raises a calming hand, his lips parting. “To be fair”—Finneas’s head snaps toward him, but he finishes with a bite—“the cunt is vicious. I don’t know where she came from, but she is primed and ready to fight at all fucking times.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”Finneas roars. So much for being through the worst of his rampage. “Shemightweigh a hundred thirty!” There’s a deadly sort of silence after that. I peek over to the side where Henry’s rounded face burns, blood infusing his cheeks while his mouth snaps shut. The glare he sends his friend is like nothing I’ve ever seen from him before. Finneas shakes his head, his eyes narrowing, his revulsion at the whole situation clear.
I glance toward Arrow and find his eyes have popped wide, though he hasn’t looked up. Fuck, this is uncomfortable. All those years when we dreamed of what it would be like to be included in the gathering room meetings. Never did we understand it could be like this.
Coughing roughly, my father pulls everyone’s attention to him. Finally, we dare raise our heads. He rubs a hand over the stubbly beard growing in on his cheeks in the way he does when he thinks he has something vastly intelligent to add to the conversation. Clenching my teeth, I wait, knowing his ego is about to spew whatever brilliant thought he’s come up with. Sometimes the ideas he shares with me are great, and I see a man I could look up to. But other times I have to rein in my eye roll. This is one of the latter moments.
He grins wide, nodding now as he works his way toward sharing what’s on his mind. “But what I think we’re overlooking here is this. Finn, she ishealthy. Andyoung.”His lips twitch, and there’s a certain glint to his eye. “She will carry children no problem, for many years to come.” The same glee he’s displaying now wasthere the night we examined her, too. It’s clear to me that my father has taken a special interest in her and will fight to keep her here.
My head is a tangled, confused mess where Twenty-Three is concerned. At a fundamental level, I understand the Collective’s purpose but can’t reconcile my own feelings when it comes to this girl. I’m all twisted up even though she’s proven to be a disturbance to our way of life. And the crazy part is this—I knew she would be from day one, saw this coming. There was no way to comprehend the way she’d fascinate me or how she’d make me second guess everything.
Freeing myself from the fog in my head, I sit up straight, waiting to see what other tactics my father will take as he locks eyes with Finneas. “I’ve had a good look at her. And I will continue to monitor her. I think you’ll find her suitable. She simply needs to be led with a firmer hand.”
Finneas’s tongue pokes at the inside of his cheek as he takes a few seconds to mull over whatever is in his head. His lips twitch upward on one side before he gives a derisive chuckle. “Hopefully the seed I planted in her belly a few minutes ago will take root because as of this moment, this bitch is clearly causing more trouble than any womb is worth.”His sharp, cruel gaze cuts to his son. “Hayze. Go to the cellar. Bring me the newest vessel. I want her kneeling before me.Now.”
EIGHT
