Page 125 of Priest and his Anarchist

I thought I loved her. I should be happy, relieved even, that we’d finally did it and she was free. We unlocked her into the wilderness to set her free, but—I drift off, stumbling backward.

Vaden straightens, uncrossing his arms. “What is it?”

“Call a meeting.” There is. the pounding of my heart beating in my chest. “I want everyone fucking here in less than an hour.”

A silent King is a weapon being loaded, and right now, not a single fucking one of us is saying a damn word.

Ash eats away at the trunk of my cigarette. Is it true? Is the reason why she was my madness was because I’d simply be it without her?

Maybe.

“Has anyone wondered why I’ve not been back to Perdita?” I keep my focus on the boardroom table. With twenty-three seats all tucked beneath a slab of ancient wood, all spots are finally filled with the help of our parents, including Luna’s.

“Hmmm?” I lift my head, eyeing each of them for a few seconds.

When I find Bas, I stop. Long enough for him to sink further into his seat like a coward. He isn’t one. But he damn well knows who he’s fucked with.

I rip myself away from him and land on Lilith, the mother of chaos. It all started with her, after all. She looks right through me. All this time, they knew. I didn’t think they did, but they knew their daughter suffered from a condition that doesn’t have a cure.

“Was that why you didn’t want her with the EKC?” I ask, flicking the ash off the end of my smoke.

“I simply tried to tell you all that she would not be a good fit.” She turns to Bishop. “You insisted she take a new place within the EKC. I think you knew the moment I had her.”

“And do you remember?” I ask blandly, my eyes burning when I don’t blink. “Having her?”

Her amethyst eyes narrow. “I remember the important parts.”

“Hmmm…” Vaden’s tone is way too fucking playful for the tension in the room right now.

Lilith and Kyrin are the exception to the rule when it comes to EKC. They weren’t born into our life, but they fell in love with a King, so like Madison, and to an extent, Evie, they’re in by default.

Because love.

Fuck love. Love is for starved souls that spend all their life never been satiated. I’d rather eat. Love got me in this place to begin with.

“I don’t much like that answer. What about you, War?” Vaden teases, turning his grin to War.

Having them both near is a reminder of what it truly means to hold this gavel. I’ve played house out in the open, did the things I knew I had to do with The Echelon, but this…this is different. The events that take part within our society as a whole are the parts that will take up more of my time. I feel that now.

War kicks out his leg and leans back in his chair as his arm skims mine. “Nup. Me either.”

The muscles in my neck turn rigid. “Continue, Lilith. Why is it that you think my father—”I shift to him, where he sits quietly opposite me on the other end of the table.

Shadows darken around his eyes, keeping his mouth in a flat line. This isn’t my father right now, this is Bishop Vincent Hayes, since he knows how to be both. Not a luxury I’ll ever have the burden of carrying.

“—Was insistent with taking Luna?” I continue, allowing the lies to be told instead of ripping them from their throat with my bare hands. “Why do you think the Kings wanted her so bad that they knew from the first time they saw her?”

Lilith’s shoulders tense as her fire stirs back to life. She opens her mouth to argue, but stops at the last minute.

I look down to where Eli’s hand rests on top of hers. Judging by the way her jaw tenses, I’m gonna go ahead and assume that she didn’t like that much, yet she remains poised. Smart. She knows that if you’re with a King, you can’t be fragile or easily triggered.

Something Halen needs to fucking learn.

An invisible filter falls over her mouth. “Because of the Rebellis line, Priest. Which I’m sure you already know.”

My lip twitches. “True. The dis-trac-tor…” I break the syllables down, my focus waning. “You were ever so good with that during your time, am I right, Dad?”

Bishop finally drags his eyes off me and onto Eli. “Yes. He was, but that’s beside the point. Son…” He lowers his tone. Now he’s my father and not Bishop Vincent Hayes. “Where is she, and how long ago did she switch?”

---