Page 77 of Echoes

Swinging open the door, my eyes fall to Grey, on his bed, staring at the roof. He's scarfing down a candy bar, tapping his foot to the sound of music coming from a laptop on the desk.

"Hey, little killer," he grins, ignoring me as his eyes find Avery immediately.

"Grey," she murmurs, brushing past me as she walks inside. "Jesus fuck. You should hear what just happened."

I let out a laugh, pulling the door closed behind me. It clicks, locking back into place. But unlike most of the other rooms here, Grey's room, like mine, has a hardwired pad by the door. It's set to deactivate the lock from the inside, allowing us to get out whenever we please.

I've had them set up for years, with only a few chosen people lucky to have one. Jillian and Byrone have one too, of course, particularly since my little hacker helped set them up. I know if I didn't allow her to have one, she'd go without, even though she could bring Lilydale's entire system down almost completely on her own. But with hard work comes reward—I'm not entirely ruthless. Besides, it gives Jillian and Byrone the power to see each other outside of free time. If sex helps keep them focused for me, then who am I to stand in the way of that?

"Huh? What happened?" Grey says, sitting up and looking at me.

Leaning against the wall by the desk, I throw him a little smirk. "My father is here. Apparently, Arthur thought it was appropriate to drag Avery into a meeting with them."

His eyes darken immediately, shooting back to Avery as if he's examining her body for evidence of harm.

"It's fine," I hear her say to him in a calming voice. "No one hurt me."

Hm. Apparently, Avery can read Grey too. I shouldn't be surprised considering how close they are to each other. Hell, Grey can sense Avery's whereabouts at any given time.

"They were trying to drag her off to solitary confinement," I interject, watching as rage washes over his face.

"Those cunts! Are they still out there?" he snaps, heading to the door.

Before I can stop him, Avery jumps in front of the doorway, resting her hands on his chest. "We're not going to do that. It's just going to cause unnecessary problems."

"They were trying to take you."

"I know," she murmurs softly. "But they didn't. Damon stopped them."

She looks over his shoulder at me, giving me a small smile. It throws me off a little. Her appreciation shines through her expression, and I just shrug, looking away.

I don't know why I stopped them if I'm being honest. It's not the first time I've seen people dragged away screaming.

I tell myself it's because it would throw Grey into a spiral. He'd probably kick down every door until he found her, drawing attention to us.

But still… there was something a tad unsettling about the way she was screaming.

It's nothing though. Just a stark reminder that we all need to be on guard.

I've known for some time what the plan is, and now judging by today's theatrics, I was correct. But it also means Arthur is getting ready to make his move. It was just lucky that Jillian alerted me that we had avisitorfrom the live camera footage.

"Thanks, Deadman," Grey says firmly, giving me a nod.

"Don't mention it. No, really—don't," I scoff.

Avery laughs, making both of us look at her in surprise. She notices, cheeks flushing.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. It's just… a little fucked up."

I know what she's referring to. And I assume she has questions. She doesn't need answers though—however, I do.

"How exactly do you know my father?" I ask her sternly.

Avery locks eyes with me, and I get ready to send her my best warning glare, but it's not needed. She immediately starts talking, one hand still resting on Grey like she's trying to ground him.

"Alexander came to visit me the night I was arrested. He was there with my social worker," she says confidently. "He didn't say who he was, but my social worker, Margaret, mentioned he was on the Lilydale board."

"He is," I confirm, watching her nod.

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