Page 34 of The Devil of Hollywood

“Penelope must earn her right at my side. Until she does, she will hold her rank.”

“She hinted you might love her,” I breathed out. The man’s face softened the smallest amount. “I love her, too. She’s my friend. Please, at least let me go check on her. I don’t understand what’s happening, but I’ll do whatever I can to work this out. Just… please. She’s been through so much. I want to make sure she’s okay.”

The sly smile returned, full of threats and horrors.

“Penelope’s wellbeing is no longer your concern. If I were you, I’d focus on yourself. The Order is not a safe place. It is not friendly to enemies.”

“Enemies? I… I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know you.”

“Your mother did. She knew a lot of us,” he said, gesturing around the room. “And her sins are now your own. Your mother⁠—”

“She’s not a good… She… She—My mother…”

I blinked through the flashes of the signing. I could see the phone again in my memories. I reread the words that were only now coming back. The man’s head cocked as he lowered to peer into my face, but his words barely made sense.

“Your mother is dead. Your own Main Master killed her. Elec. Elec Wexler.”

My eyes shot up at the familiar name. A childhood friend. Once… so long ago.

“There it is. Recognition with confusion. Fascinating.” His smile grew wide again. “There’s such mystery surrounding you. It’s all so intriguing.”

“Please, I know my mother did things.”

“Your mother was a very evil woman, Marian. She was corrupt and got what was coming to her. Your entire family—” he laughed. “Well, from the video that was leaked, their deaths weren’t pretty. But… you’re still here. And you do owe me. I had to ask myself, what would someone pay for the last of such a prestigious line? For revenge from such a manipulative mother? Sure, you belong to someone else, but that means nothing when there’s a debt unpaid. And I always get paid, Marian LaRoe. Not only did your mother lie to me, but your security, that building you live and work in…” He laughed, gesturing and shaking his head in disbelief. “You’d think me or my men would be able to get through, but no. No. Do you know how much money I’ve spent trying to get Penelope back? How creative I had to become? Debt. I’ve subtracted some. I mean, Florida, really? That was too easy. Not that I’m complaining.”

I flinched as his hand came out, swiping blood from under my nose.

“Your little outing was exactly what I had been waiting for. You took my dear Penelope with you, and let’s be honest.” The man shrugged. “With how I found you, I probably saved you from a worse fate. Look who you were going to marry. I saved you.”

“From Bastian Allard?”

A look swept over his face, and his laugh was genuine. Even slightly shocked. “You really don’t know anything that’s happened, do you?”

“I know some psychopathic couple lured me near an exit so they could kidnap me. I know the man’s phone read that my parents were dead. But then they pulled me through the door and shot me up with something. That’s when you showed up. I remember nothing after that. Is that man here?”

“You didn’t know about your family’s death? They’ve been dead for more than a week.”

My eyes filled with tears.

“No one… contacted me. My parents never answered when I reached out. I thought—It’s not unusual for them not to take my calls.”

“This keeps getting better and better. They kept you in the dark. This changes things. For the Council to not bring you in immediately.” He stopped, expressions flashing through his thoughts. “They debated their choice.” The last was quiet as he looked down.

“Who debated? The Council? I don’t even know who that is? I’ve never heard the term before. What choice? And… you called Elec my Main Master. What is that? What the hell is going on?”

He gave a hard shake, looking at the guard behind me. “Start the process. When she’s done with Medical, bring her to my private quarters. With help. She’s been trained to fight. She is not to be approached without at least two guards. For her… the more the better. Be sure to spread the word, and don’t hesitate to remind her where she is. If she fights or runs again, break her foot. If she continues, break them both. I don’t need her to walk to auction her off. I’m pretty sure they’d prefer she didn’t.”

Drayton

Iwas not a patient man. When I wanted something done, I made it happen, or I did it myself. Thing was, finding Marian was out of my hands. I had no idea where The Order of the Unavowed was located, and getting anyone to speak on it was impossible. Elec. It rested on him, and the fact that he was taking forever to get back to me wasn’t helping calm me down. I paced. I seethed. I plotted the destruction of an entire city if it led me back to Marian. But I wasn’t sure even that would uncover the location of where they were keeping her.

Underground.

That’s all I knew. Whether that was under the city itself or somewhere on the outskirts, I wasn’t sure, but I was ready to find out.

“You can’t just go wandering around down there, Drayton. You have no idea where anything even leads.”

“Which is why I have you looking into it.”