AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We are not good people. I’m not sure we ever have been. But Odile made us better. We worked so hard to be…more for her, but our destinies were pre-decided for us. We were humoured when we were younger but once we finished school it was time to get serious. That meant leaving Odile behind for her own protection and safety. Even though something in my gut tells me that we failed her in that respect when we left.
I can’t understand how suddenly it’s safer for her to be ours by our side than for us to distance ourselves from her. But Axel always has a plan. I may not fully comprehend what Axel’s plan is this time around, but I know that if we win – which we undoubtedly will – that he thinks we’ll be able to protect Peony and keep her safe. He must have a reason for that confidence. But I can see Kaiden’s reservations too.
The whole point in leaving her behind was so that she remained invisible to our enemies. Once she’s by our side, everyone will know her face. She’ll be vulnerable. A target. Someone they can use to get to us. And they will. It’s what we’d do. Hell, it’s what we do already. Find our enemies’ weaknesses and exploit them. It’s just good business. But the thought of Odile becoming collateral in a war she knows nothing about…it breaks me. It’s the only reason I agreed to let her go in the first place.
I even planned to go back for her. I thought once we were at the top of the food chain, holding all the power, that we’d be invincible and I could make amends and have her by my side. But joining Trinity was a baptism of fire. The things we spent our early teenage years doing was child’s play compared to the things we have had to do in the last two years. Which is why I realised that Odile can never become part of this world. Despite Kaiden’s best efforts to train her and taint her with his darkness, to bring her into the fold and make her one of us, she isn’t made for our cutthroat life, and I wouldn’t want her to be. She’s not some bloodthirsty, dangerous force to be reckoned with. To me, she’s still that sweet girl who charmed her way into my heart with patience and kindness and a little spark of fire.
To be one of us you have to be an inferno.
“I’ve let you have your say,” Axel snaps. “But this is not open for discussion. You’ve had the chance to vent and get it out of your system, but now you shut up and fall into line. This is not a fucking democracy.”
There it is. The power play. It’s the first time Axel’s ever come out and said it outright: I’m in charge, I’m top dog, you’re beneath me, so fall into line. We all knew that was the case, but this is the first time he’s claimed his throne. Over Peony, no less.
“And what if I don’t want to be a good little soldier? I think you’re forgetting who you are. Who we are. You may be our leader but you are not our boss. We don’t bow to you. We’re a fucking Trinity, damn it!”
Kaiden looks close to snapping and I fear that they’re going to come to blows. We rarely disagree, and even when we do, it’s never like this. The only thing, the only person, we have ever properly fought over before is Odile. It seems that history likes to keep repeating itself like the nagging bitch she is.
I know I should step in and say something, but I doubt I could ease the tension right now and I might just make things worse.
Without a backward glance Kaiden follows Odile’s path across the apartment to the door. Axel waits until Kaiden has it open before speaking in a calm and deadly purr.
“If you walk out of that door right now, you won’t have any say in which candidates we invite to take part in the game.”
“Well, as this isn’t a fucking democracy, I guess I don’t have much say anyway. Get fucked, Axel. Tell me when the game begins and pray I’ve calmed down enough not to hunt your ass first.”
“It’ll take all three of us to protect her,” Axel calls out, making Kaiden pause. His shoulders are up by his ears with tension but Kaiden doesn’t turn back to face us.
“You should have thought about that before dragging her into this. You should have protected her better from the very first day she came into our lives. All you’ve ever done is use Odile for your own agenda and you’ve never had her best interests at heart. I’m beginning to wonder if you even had ours or if you only look out for number one and daddy dearest.”
“You’ll never know the scars I bore for Odile’s safety,” Axel replies in a purr so low I don’t think he meant for Kaiden or me to hear it.
I wonder if he’s referring to Ms. Smith. It was right after our first serious mission, our first kill, that Axel started sleeping with his form teacher. I often wondered if it was his way of trying to cope with what we did.
But it’s too late anyway, Kaiden has gone.
I think The Holy Trinity has too.
I hate hospitals. The smell of them. The lights, noises and sounds. It’s all too much.
Kaiden’s on a private ward, in a private room. Or he will be, once he’s out of surgery.
“What happened?” I whisper, collapsing into the hard plastic waiting room chair. Private or not, it would seem all the money in the world can’t make waiting for news any more comfortable.
“His dad…” I wait for Zie to say more but he doesn’t. Nothing comes. I glance up. Axel is glaring at him.
“What, man?”
“You shouldn’t tell her. Keep your mouth shut.”
“I’m one of you aren’t I?” I demand, jumping to my feet.
Axel looks me over, takes in my fierce stance and nods once.
“Sorry, Peony. You’re right.” He sighs, sinks down into a seat and holds out his hand for me. I cross over to him and the second I slide my hand into his, Axel surprises me by tugging me down onto his lap. He wraps his arms around me and holds me for a moment as if taking strength from me before explaining. “Kaiden’s dad is a piece of shit. He’s mostly out of town on business but whenever he comes back, if he’s had bad news or lost a deal or something, he takes it out on Kaiden.”
I hold my breath waiting for whatever’s coming next.
Zie comes over and sits beside us, taking my hand in his.
