I chuckle and settle back against the tree. It may be a long, uncomfortable night ahead, but damn, it’ll be worth it to see their faces in the morning.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Slate
Grandfather arrived back in town last night and it’s never good when he comes back so soon after leaving. We all think it’s because he presumed Amelie would fail all his tests and he could convince – or manipulate – the board into letting one of us Knox brothers run the show. We know that would be Kalen, but let’s face it, Kalen can barely adult let alone run a whole organisation.
My brothers and I have been coming up with a plan for when Amelie takes over. She has proven over and over again that she is more than capable, so we plan to overturn the board and replace them all. Bring The Order into the 21st century. We need seven new board members to replace the originals: Knox, Rossi, Branson, Davis, Montgomery, Oldham, and Kessler. My brothers and I take up three of those founding families, and I doubt Branson will want a seat for his family, but his family is big enough that we can find someone else. Same as the other families really.
Amelie and Kalen are MIA this morning, whereas everyone else is accounted for. We have a decent bunch of initiates thisyear; we’ve never had so many outrun or outsmart the dogs before. It may be childish, but we need people who can think outside the box. Weak links are not acceptable.
“Where are they?” Grandfather booms, clearly agitated by Amelie and Kalen not being here yet.
Onyx and I didn’t look for Kalen last night, we knew that he would figure it out eventually, but maybe we gave him too much credit and need to send out a search party to find him.
“We lost Amelie as soon as we let them loose, and Kalen...Well, Amelie may have set him up so that the dogs went after him,” I say. Onyx laughs. Sawyer snorts trying to cover it with a cough. It was funny.
“You think it’s funny that the future of The Order is missing?” Grandfather snaps.
“You had to be there, and I think you’re mistaken because Amelie is the future. She hasn’t failed any of your little tests.”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Dad, how about we calm down and just wait a little longer for them both,” Dad says, trying to calm Grandfather down a little, especially since he brought another board member with him, Dirk Kessler. I don’t think they plan to tell Amelie, but she’s related to the guy.
The sound of a car engine breaks the tension, and a moment later Amelie struts in the room with a massive grin on her face. “Sorry I’m late, I didn’t sleep very well.”
“Nice of you to finally join us,” Grandfather complains, drinking his whiskey. Who the hell drinks at nine in the morning?
“You’re welcome, but Kalen doesn’t appear to be here yet. Are we waiting on him or can we eat?”
She doesn’t address the fact that Laura isn’t here. Dad must have made sure she was busy.
“Eat, while we wait for Kalen,” Dad says, much to our grandfather's disgust.
Amelie fixes herself a plate, taking a seat beside Sawyer. The tension in the room is once again thick. Dad and Sawyer keep up the conversation with Grandfather and Dirk. The rest of us just pick at our food.
The front door slams open, smashing against the wall with a loud bang, and all of our attention is drawn to the hallway where Kalen comes storming in. He’s still in his lion tamer outfit, covered in dirt, his hair matted with leaves falling out.
“Thanks for helping me, assholes,” he spits, glaring at me and Onyx.
“What did you want us to do?” Onyx says with a smile.
“Oh, I don’t know, call off the dogs?” he snaps, picking a loose twig from his hair.
“You know they are trained to stay on the scent until daylight, or they come to the borders of the school land,” Onyx calmly points out, trying to hide his smile. Kalen looks like a mess. Even I have to bite back a grin.
“Oh, I know. I had to hide outside the school until morning. I have a bite mark on my ass!”
Amelie laughs and doesn’t try to hide it.
Kalen’s attention falls to her and he saunters across the room and takes the seat to her left. Leaning over, he whispers something in her ear and a huge smile spreads across her face.
“You think you’re so smart,” Grandfather snaps. Amelie looks over at him and nods.
“Pretty genius if you ask me,” she says with a smirk. “I didn’t think it would work, but it was hilarious to watch.”
I knew she was in that tree! I wasn’t sure if I heard a laugh or an animal.
