Page 29 of Queen of Wrath

Emma had been caught, too, but unlike him getting away with a slap on the wrist, her punishment would most likely be much more severe. He felt compelled to do something about it, even if it went against his father’s orders.

He looked over his shoulder at Jax, who was pacing back and forth as he fumed, “Do you understand the position you’ve put me in? What am I supposed to do when your father finds out what you did under my watch? He’ll have both our heads. What were you thinking?”

Kiyan stood his ground. “Why am I the one getting yelled at? Don’t you know how much trouble you’d be in if anyone found out what’s going on beneath your company?”

Jax glared at him, shaking his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t even really know what you saw down there.”

Kiyan matched his scowl. His heart was pounding against his rib cage, not because he was scared, but because he was angry. He had been stifled his entire life—his father and brother both always restraining him, keeping him leashed—and he was at his wit's end. “Enlighten me then, brother.”

Jax turned his back to Kiyan and rubbed his hand over his mouth before speaking. “Potion-making takes courage. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and sometimes you have to cross lines. You’ll understand when you’re older. You’ll be faced with the same decisions.”

Kiyan stood up, balling his fists up, and glared at Jax with disappointment. “I hope I make better decisions when the time comes.”

This seemed to set a fire underneath his brother’s temper that hadn’t been there before. He marched up to Kiyan and grabbed his collar. “Our decisions paid for your life! You have no idea what dirt pit you would’ve grown up in if it hadn’t been for your father and I! Don’t act so high and mighty when you were born with everything handed to you.”

“Do you think that justifies your corrupt deeds?” Kiyan calmly posed the question, and the anger on the face before him wavered for an instant. He shook Jax off of him, but kept a firm hold on his gaze. “What are you going to do about Emma?”

He watched as his brother’s fingers curved around the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh. His hand then fell, and Kiyan held his breath. Jax seemed to have come to a decision.

“Leave here. Go straight home. Don't say anything to anyone. I will take care of it.”

Kiyan’s voice cracked in desperation as he asked, “What are you going to do to her?” He didn't even want to imagine what was going to happen to her.

“That was not a request, Kiyan. And it’ll be best if you stay away for a while. Don’t come looking for Emma. In fact, don’t come back here until I’ve dealt with all this. I think we can both agree that keeping this from your father is the smartest move.”

“He’s your father, too.” Kiyan scowled at Jax, but Jax had no reaction.

On occasion, he’d try to see where pushing Jax's buttons would get him, but he usually knew where to draw the line. This was it. He had half a mind to run down into the basement facility and break Emma out, despite his brother stopping him.

He couldn't be sure, but there was no denying what would happen to her now. Jax was going to “silence” her for what she’d seen down there, and Kiyan refused to stand back while knowing that frightening truth.

He glared relentlessly into Jax’s eyes, but was surprised to find him looking just as worried about her fate. His conflicted expression made Kiyan realize something about his brother.

Emma isn't just a regular employee to him. He actually cares for her…

“Fine. I’ll trust you and go home. But know this: I will never forgive you if something happens to her,” Kiyan warned before storming out of the office.

11

EMORY BLAKE

The floorboards creaked as if humming a sad tune.

Emory Blake stared up at the rafters, thinking about the woman he met.

Uremma, she called herself. He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. What are the odds we both made it out alive, and even more unlikely, that we ran into each other again?

Emory poured himself another drink while his eyes shifted to a few of his patrons chatting at the next table over, making sure they weren’t likely to overhear him talking to his pastel pink-haired friend lounging against the bar across from him.

“Dai, that woman who came looking for you the other day, what did she want?”

She turned around and gave him a funny look. He’d never shown an interest in any of her clients before. “She wanted a tattoo. Why else would she come to me?”

She chuckled as she pushed off the side of the bar, making to leave, but Emory leaned over and grabbed her arm. “What tattoo did she get? Where did she get it?” he pressed, keeping his voice low to not draw attention to them, but she still appeared annoyed as all hell by his insistence.

“What, are you obsessed with her or something?” she sneered playfully, but Emory knew she was hiding something.

“She might prove to be very important to our cause,” he stressed the last word, knowing it would get her attention. Nothing was more important to her in this world. “So, I need you to be as honest as possible, Dai. Where did she get her tattoo?”

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