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“I thought so.” My hands curl into fists, itching to punch his smug, condescending face.
“Actually, you know what? Fuck you, Axel,” I spit. “If anything happens to Odi because of this, because of you, I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
“I will let that one slide because you’re clearly still an emotional wreck where Odile’s concerned,” Axel sneers. “But I won’t tolerate being spoken to like that. Take Odi’s things back to her room and fuck off for a while until you’ve calmed down and can remember who we are.”
I don’t need telling twice. To avoid making even more of a scene and undermining Axel’s authority completely by laying him out cold in the banquet hall, I get to my feet, snatch Odi’s things off the table, and storm out.
I’m seething.
I can’t fucking believe Axel. Still keeping secrets, pulling strings, thinking he’s the boss when we’re supposed to be a trinity. Fuck politics and appearances, we’re supposed to be friends. Brothers. United by a bond thicker than blood. He shouldn’t be keeping anything from us, especially not where Odi’s concerned.
My feet carry me across campus until I’m standing before my McLaren 720S and thinking, why the fuck not? It’s fast enough to get me where I’m wanting to go. I could take Axel’s car – we all have copies of each other’s keys – but I don’t need to be driving something that flashy tonight, even if it’ll be guaranteed to get me there faster than the McLaren will.
Besides, I don’t want to owe Axel anything. If I’m doing this, I’m doing it my way.
I unlock the car and climb in, swearing that Odi’s scent still lingers in the air. I drop her things on the passenger seat and fasten my seatbelt.
Shit. Does that box really contain her mother’s ashes? Why didn’t she tell us she had passed away? And why the fuck does my dad of all people have Mrs Kemp’s remains?
A sudden thought makes me feel sick to my stomach and I’m glad I haven’t started the engine yet otherwise I may have run myself off the road. My father is well known for having affairs. What if he had Mrs Kemp’s ashes because – What if she’s the surrogate to my new little sister?
Jesus. No wonder Odi was jumpy. She’s bound to have known. She can’t have been around her mother for nine months and not noticed she was pregnant and wondered where the hell it came from. Why didn’t she tell us?
Probably the same reason why she didn’t tell us she died. Shit. Did her mum die in childbirth?
I guess this all confirms that Axel didn’t have eyes on Odi like we thought. If he had, there’s no way her mother’s pregnancy and death would have slipped by him unnoticed. Which leads me to wonder, did Axel really lie? Or do we have a Judas in our midst? Did whoever Axel entrusted to keep tabs on Odi betray us, or did he really just dump her and leave town, without ever looking back? As much of a nightmare a mole within our inner circle would be, I hope it’s the case. That’s far better than the alternative.
When I’m finished in Deathfall, I better return and drop off Odi’s things. She’ll be asleep, but I’d be willing to bet that she still sleeps with the window open. I can sneak in and return her stuff, so that she doesn’t have to go looking for it in the morning.
Pedal to the metal, I navigate the quiet roads home to Deathfall, my hometown, yes, but not really my home anymore.
When we first left, I was convinced we would be returning, partly to take over our fathers’ legacies, partly because Odi was still there. Home would always be wherever she was. But once we arrived in Black Hallows, Axel wasted no time in establishing the town as ours. It took me a while to realise what he was doing: building an original empire, one we could control and mould from the ground up, rather than having to wait to inherit with strings and conditions attached. Axel never wanted to be the dutiful son – none of us did – I guess he just faked it better than we realised because even Kaiden and I didn’t see his moves coming. And we’re supposed to be partners. Now it’s so obvious that he would want to do things his own way, I feel stupid for not seeing it sooner.
And now that Odi has come to Black Hallows and will be inextricably tied to us as The Doe forever, I feel like tonight could very well be my last time in Deathfall.
My first time going back in more than two years and I’ll be using every ounce of strength I have not to kill tonight. As much as I’d like to murder my father, I know it’ll be too risky. Instead, I’ll just have to send him a message.
Once I know exactly what he’s done to Odi and her mum since I’ve been gone, then I will kill him. Axel, politics, and his plans be damned.
Today was hell. School started up again and the guys weren’t there. Like, I knew they wouldn’t be, but knowing it and experiencing it first hand are totally different. The hallways seemed different without them. I was different.
Alone.
I should have made more friends. Two years is going to be a long time with no one to talk to or sit with. I probably could have managed to get through the day if I had the guys to fall back on during the evenings and weekends, but it’s still been total radio silence from them which hurts way more than I want to consider.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, it’s only two days until the dreaded dinner with The General. I know my mum and Mrs Montgomery will be there, but he still makes me feel so uncomfortable. I really don’t want to go, but my mum has insisted. I tried asking her if I could be excused but without a valid reason why, she said no.
I can’t even feign sickness on the day – not that I would have to pretend, my stomach is in knots and I feel sick already – but my mum will think it’s too coincidental that I’m too ill to go when I tried to get out of it.
I’ll just have to do everything in my power to keep my distance from him and make sure we don’t end up alone.
Alone.
That’s funny.
A minute ago I was wishing I wasn’t so alone, but now, thinking of what’s to come at the weekend, I’d rather it.
