Page 6 of Hers To Keep

“Shh, you’re going to wake her up. I just had to see she was okay,” Ace assures him.

“She’s out cold. Alek shot her up with a hell of a dose. Looked like he got a kick out of it too,” amusement is clear in Bass’s voice.

“Son of a bitch, I’m going to…”

“Ace, he can’t know how you feel about her. He’ll use it to destroy her,” Bass utters, raising his voice slightly.

“Not to worry, Bass, it’s all a charade, remember,” Ace pauses, and his words are like a knife straight through my chest. “I have to use her to gain information for him, getting her to fall in love with me is all part of his master plan.”

“And we follow blindly?” Bass whispers, his tone now solemn.

“As we always have,” Ace replies, and I almost feel bad for them. The tone of their voices is somber, the way they blindly follow their cruel leader. They act like gods, kings to the kids of Servite Academy but in reality, they’re just puppets on strings, and Wesley Servite is their puppet master.

“We need to leave before she wakes up. Seeing your face as soon as she awakens might not be the best thing for any of us. Besides, we need to do a cleanup before she finds out he’s here.” Bass speaks, and Ace immediately leaves his spot beside me on the bed. Who are they afraid I will find?

The door creaks open once again, and I feel more bodies in theroom. “Beck, Alek, I need you to keep watch outside her door. I want to be the first to know when she wakes up.”

“But, Wes,” I hear Alek mutter.

“But nothing. I’ll deal with him. From now on anything that has to do with her goes through me first. I’ll speak to my uncle. Do you understand?” His voice is demanding, not as if he speaks to his best friends, but like a sergeant speaking to his soldiers.

“Yes, Ace,” they both respond, the door closing loudly behind them. I’m fairly sure they got scolded for letting it slam shut.

I wait a few moments to ensure they are gone before sitting up, Ace’s words ringing in my ears. It’s all a charade. I shouldn’t be angry or hurt, I am using him just the same. Well, I was. I needed to find out where Chaz was in order to lead me to Roman’s whereabouts, like Jade asked me to. Finding her brother is the only thing that matters to her. But now that Chaz is most likely six feet under in a makeshift grave, I am unsure of my next move. Things might be a bit more complicated now.

I stand and walk over to the balcony, the same one I watched last night’s events from. The sun is rising slowly, a thick layer of fog shielding the yard from my view. It’s eerily sinister. I walk over to the door the guys walked out of, finding it unlocked and opening it slowly in case I find Beck and Alek standing on the other side. However, I find the long hallway dark and empty. I slowly step out, taking the heels I am still wearing off my swollen feet. Last thing I need is for these shoes, which sound like hooves tapping against the hardwood floors, to give me away.

I tiptoe down the hall keeping my eyes peeled open in case Beck and Alek decide to show up. I guess Alek decided not to follow his king’s orders to guard my door. For once the condescending Horseman made the right decision, and I applaud him.

The hallway is strangely quiet, and I get a slightly unnerving feeling of someone lurking in the shadows. Right as I am about to reach the end of the hall, a muscular arm reaches out to me gripping me tightly. I turn startled and ready to fight back but find it’sAce who’s holding me to his body. His eyes are dark and menacing, a look of shock mixed with confusion glimmers within them. His eyes rake over my body, still dressed in the red silk dress from last night. I must look like a mess after sleeping in it. But the lustful look in his eyes tells a different story.

“Let go of me,” I whisper, a soft plea clear in my tired voice.

“Long night, Red?” he asks mockingly, shrewdly raising a brow. “It’s not like you to seem so helpless. No smart remarks, or cold snicker coming from you today.”

A small nervous chuckle escapes me, giving light to my grave situation. “You couldn’t handle me after the shit night I’ve had,” I whisper.

“Try me,” he mutters, but before I can respond, we’re interrupted by Bass, who suddenly emerges from a door to our right.

“He wants to see her,” Bass says, as we both turn to face him. “Both of you.”

Ace grips my arm tighter, pulling me into him, my back now at his chest as he leads us toward the room Bass came out of. However, his hold on me seems more like a shield to protect me.

We slowly enter the room, which is set up like an office, and find Wesley Servite inside. The space looks oddly familiar, and I quickly realize we’re in Agent Servite’s study. The same place where I was told to lure my mother. The same place where Ace came in and found her snooping, and me hiding from her under the desk. The room somehow looks different though, with a fresh coat of navy paint and a new desk with matching armchairs. The bookcases are empty and void of the books that were present in them that night. The sensual portraits no longer adorn the walls, just a single frame hanging, inside: a painting of a flaming chalice.

And it’s then that I remember the fire. The night of the Halloween Masquerade Ball, the night I was here, when I left this office, Jade mentioned there was a fire in one of the third-floor rooms. It had to have been this one. That explains the remodel.

Agent Servite sits behind his desk, his elbows resting upon thecounter. He nods toward us, and Bass quickly retreats leaving Ace and me alone in the room with him.

“My dear, it’s so good to see you up and lucid again. I hope your accommodations were to your liking?” he asks with a sly smirk upon his face. He looks slightly more rugged than last night, a five o’clock shadow appearing on his usually clean-shaven façade. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and his usual perfectly combed blond mane ruffled to one side.

“How can you just stand there, acting like nothing’s happened!” I shout at Agent Servite, letting my emotions get the best of me. His arrogance is appalling, and I’ve had enough. “I saw what happened last night, what you did.”

“Yes, of course, that minor incident,” Wesley answers calmly.

“Minor incident,” I burst out laughing nervously. “You killed someone. Not just someone, but Chaz, my mother’s boyfriend.”

“You mean another murderer. You heard what he did, murdered the mayor of Hillcrest Hills,” he adds smugly, as if that justifies his actions. Unbelievable, but exactly what I’d expect from someone like him.

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