Page 1 of Twisted Legacy

Prologue

Paxton Cox

Iroll over onto my back and stare at the embellished ceiling above the bed. It’s all I can manage right now, as I let the guilt and disgust consume me. I never talk to the guys about these little side projects my mother has me doing.

I have full discretion about how far I go. It was fun in the beginning, now I hate it. I’m a sum of body parts. Fingers. Mouth. Tongue. I’ve become the means for them to be selfish. They happily please themselves without worrying if I had a good time, too. The transactional nature of sex has even leaked into my interactions with girls my age. These women use me, so I use their daughters, sisters, nieces. I feel hollow after every hookup, and that’s not likely to change, because once I’m married, the only reason for sex will be to produce an heir.

Mrs. Baker snores beside me. Blissfully satisfied and oblivious. I’m fighting the urge to heave her and the bed out the window. But I can’t. Instead, I crawl out of bed and do what I came here for. There’s an item I’m supposed to get. One Mr. Baker has refused to let out of his possession. He’s away on business, and this little tryst with his wife has given me the opportunity to steal it. I have a replica to replace it with. If he ever finds out about the switch, he’ll never know it was me. His wife wouldn’t dare admit she may have let a thief in her house. Or admit to our affair. She values her prenup too much for that.

I dress quickly, tiptoeing through the house toward the fish tank. I have the woman snoring upstairs to thank for making my search easier. She complained all night about her husband staring at the saltwater tank. Without that clue, I’d be wasting time looking in the wrong place. I slip on my gloves and grab the net from the hook next to the tank, disrupting the sand until I find what I’m looking for. I scoop out the stone, replacing it with the fake, and let the eel on the bottom disperse the sand to cover it again.

Once outside, I walk a few streets over before calling a car to take me to the secure drop zone where I’ll leave the stone. I don’t know who contacts my mother to set up these jobs -but once or twice a month; I show up for Sunday dinner, -and she hands me an envelope with a picture, a name, and an item to retrieve.

I’ve dropped off the stone and I’m in the car on my way back to campus when I get an automated alert from Prospectus. It’s the fraternity rankings. Rho Beta Psi is in the lead for challenge points, but we’re in the lower 30th percentile when it comes to community involvement and outreach. Finn’s our social guy. He needs to do something about that.

With my side project done, I switch my attention back to the rest of the night. Time to cause some mayhem.

Chapter1

Pax

Holden, Finn and I pick our way across the last few feet of dirt and gravel towards our destination. We were ramping up for our biggest prank of the night when we got the text summoning us to The Tomb, the official headquarters of The League of the Daggered Ravens. The structure is built into a cliff wall, completely underground, and hidden from sight. We parked our cars a quarter mile from here. The only way to access The Tomb is on foot. We step through the doors and I take a quick look around the meeting hall. I’ve never seen this many people in this room before.

The hollow clank of the inner sanctum doors locking puts me on edge. The sound of chains unfurling drags my attention to the ceiling, and I watch as they lower a cage to the floor. I lock eyes with Finn and Holden and jerk my head to the side, indicating we should move to the back corner of the room.

When they bring out the cage, that means somebody has a grievance to address. A position they want to fight for. Odds are highly likely that someone wants to challenge The Trium for control of the school.

I’m still scanning the crowd when my gaze settles on a familiar face. “What the hell is Wade Bishop doing here?”

The doors directly across from us open, and the council members enter, wearing their ceremonial robes and masks. Wade’s presence is now the least of my worries.

“Shit.” Finn whispers beside me. “What the fuck is even happening right now?”

That’s a great question, because the upper council doesn’t get dressed up in ceremonial garb for challenge nights, and the lower council members are the ones who supervise it. I look up to the third level, to where my grandfather stands. He’s masked, but I get the impression he’s looking right at me.

The orator opens the ceremony and asks everyone in the room to reaffirm our oath to The League. When we do, my grandfather steps forward and takes control of the meeting.

“I know you’re all excited about this evening’s challenge. We have some serious grievances to address and we don’t want to deny our members the opportunity to do so. But first we must tend to some pressing matters.”

He looks to his left and right. “As you all know, we are a brotherhood of tradition, of the highest esteem and order. When we make our oaths, they’re forged in fire. Bonds that cannot be broken until death.”

Members nod, smiling at each other.

“However, there are consequences for those who betray The League. We prefer not to administer the harshest of those punishments, but sometimes it cannot be helped. Some time ago, we shunned one of our most trusted members. The shame his family brought upon us was too much to overcome, and he withdrew from our rolls. This individual had no appropriate heirs in whom we could trust, so ultimately, his familial line was frozen.”

My friends and I look at each other. This is the first we’re hearing about any kind of shunning. We went through a month long class which covered the rules of behavior and etiquette for The League. That’s why Holden knows the bylaws by heart. There were weekly tests and essays to write. If The League is upset with you, they take your money and maybe demote you in rank. They definitely put you on bullshit types of duties during different social functions. But you’re here and you’re a member. Not once did anyone ever mention removing your name from the membership list and freezing your bloodline.

My grandfather continues, “It would seem, however, we may have acted hastily in his dismissal from our walls. Some new information has come to light.”

With the mask on, I can’t tell if he and the other high council members are happy or pissed about this information they’ve found. Whatever it is, it’s important if he’s addressing it here and now.

“We have recently discovered that the circumstances regarding his infraction may have been an elaborate scheme of which he had no knowledge of. As is his right, he has asked for a review of his status, which we are in the process of doing. In the meantime, we believe the information we’ve uncovered so far is credible. More than that, we’re happy to announce that there is a legacy heir to continue his bloodline.”

I scan the floor, trying to spot someone who looks unfamiliar, or like they’ve been put on the spot. Everyone looks calm and curious. Someone hands my grandfather a scroll, which he unfurls and reads, “By the order of the high council of The League of the Daggered Ravens, we do hereby decree that a formal inquiry shall commence to validate the bloodline of the female child, Theona LaReaux, of the Laurent family line.”

What in the actual fuck?

“As confirmed and agreed by the majority vote of the high council, we do hereby decree that the female child, Theona LaReaux, be afforded all rights and courtesy’s as due a legacy heir, in the interim while the official validation of her bloodline and a determination of her lineage’s standing is in progress.”

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