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“You can’t give me a hint?” Leon grunts.
I reach for the door but pause and look Leon in the eye. "I don’t know how you’ll react," I warn him.
Just because he hasn’t personally met Poppy doesn’t mean she is a stranger to him. In a way, we all view that beautifully broken woman as part of our family.
The saddest part is Poppy thinks she has lost her family; she has no idea angels are watching over her. We may have lost our wings, but we’re still here, lingering in the shadows, watching and waiting to strike.
I wish she had us there during that party. If she did, Andrew would have died that night instead of her brother Peter.
Leon cocks his head.“It involves blood, then?” He replies, his jaw clenching.
“Yes,” I reply. When it comes to our families, we all have no lines we won’t cross. It’s an understanding we live by. If we don’t avenge our own, then there is no stopping men from trying to pick us off one by one.
"He's going to lose his mind," Leon whispers, rolling his neck in an attempt to relieve the tension that's about to engulf us all.
"Thus the sedative.”
“Fuck the sedative. That’s not going to slow him down. Poppy is the only person that grounds him. Do you know the shit I had to put up with when you told him your brother was dating her? I just got him civilized again.” Leon grabs my shoulder,“You and I won’t be enough to hold him back, sedative or not.”
“I know. That’s why Kade and Ivan are already inside.”
Leon raises his eyebrows.“You called in the big guns, then. Good. You’re not as dumb as I thought you were.” Leon grins and drops his hand, tucking it into his pocket where the sedative must be.
Kade and Ivan recruited Leon and me. If you think Leon is scary, those who meet Kade and Ivan usually don’t live to tell the tale.
I turn the latch, and the steel door swings open. Kade, Ivan, and the soulless man sit around the table laughing about something. I wish I could keep them laughing, but what I’m about to share with them will only feed our beasts.
My new brothers are vastly different from Julian and Kent, each one more animal than man, but even beasts can be tamed, and that’s exactly what happened to us when we joined our society; they tamed us, taught us how to survive in a world filled with cages, taught us how to slip free and then lock ourselves back inside and act civilized.
Leon closes the door, ensuring it’s locked before he approaches the table. The thud rattles my bones as I lock eyes with every single one of them. Then, all of the eyes turn to him, the most soulless brother in the room. The man whose heart still struggles to beat and remain on the path of righteousness.
He’s sitting down at the head of the table and has no idea why we called him here, but he can tell by the shift of the air that it pertains to him.
I swallow, feeling like I ingested a boulder as it slowly wedges and wiggles down my raw throat.“You’re not going to like what I have to tell you,” I begin as I remain standing, keeping the table separating us.
Kade straightens his spine.
None of them knew what I was going to say, but they didn’t need to know to show their faces. We have each other’s backs. If one calls, we all come.
“You’re not going to be able to think clearly,” I warn him.
His fingers grip the arms of his chair. The beast is waking up.
“You’re not going to be able to think at all, but I need you to think because I know the one thing you’re going to want when I’m finished confessing this to you is to seek revenge.” He doesn’t exhale as he waits for what I have to say next.“The best revenge is served cold; It needs time to sit and stew, to let the boil of the anger settle into a frigid frost. I need you to promise me you’re not going to do something stupid. I need you to do something smart so we can get away with this.”
Leon walks to the side and leans against the wall. His position is strategic because when the monster roars and rages, Leon can act immediately. Easier than Kade or Ivan, who are sitting, could.
I confess to my brothers the information I have and what Andrew has done and continues to do. As soon as I say the words‘rape,’he loses it. Ivan tries to calm him as Leon shoves the needle into his thigh.
Kade doesn’t try and stop him at first.
I knew this story would be too personal for him. I should have had Leon bring a second needle just in case we need to trap Kade as well. Luckily, Kade comes to his senses and acts, holding down our soulless brother as he tries to fight his way to the door; Kade whispers words that feed his beast as his eyes fight to remain open and attentive. Words that promise vengeance and a slow death.
His body slumps into Kade’s open arms. Kade’s own demons are stirring in his eyes as he looks at our brother.
Now, we have to sit and wait until he wakes; we have to keep him trapped in this room until he’s able to see clearly. Only then will we allow him to start to plot. Only then will we start to move the pawns on the chessboard. Andrew and his father have no idea how much of their world is controlled by ours; they have no idea they have provoked The Obsidian Order.
Chapter 24
