Page 2 of Twisted Legacy

This can’t be happening. This is the worst thing they can do. It positions her perfectly to do what my dad is afraid of.

“As discussed and decreed by the unanimous vote of the high council, we will appoint a liaison to the female child, Theona LaReaux, to assist with her transition from unaligned status.”

His head lifts, and now I know he’s looking at me. “We have assigned this official action to first year prospects, Finley Jefferson Rhodes the Third, Holden Sullivan, and Paxton Cox. Do you gentlemen accept this assignment?”

I took an oath to protect The League. If I say no, they’ll assign someone else to this job. Someone who doesn’t know just how malignant her presence here would be. I need to make sure that doesn’t happen.

My voice rings out as I answer, “I accept the assignment.”

Finn speaks next. “I accept the assignment.”

It’s on Holden. He can say no, and Finn and I will still do it, but then our unit would be under scrutiny. We’ve agreed to never be publicly at odds.

A few seconds after Finn answers, Holden’s voice rasps out, “I accept the assignment.”

My grandfather continues, “Our prospects have agreed to take on this task, without coercion, without hesitation. Let the record show their acceptance and notify the resource center to provide them with whatever they require to complete the task.”

The high council melts back into the shadows, and the orator transitions control of the sanctum to the lower council to begin challenge night.

Chapter2

Finn

Of all the colossal fuck ups. I rake my fingers through my hair, working through the urge to hit somebody. Getting into a fight outside of The Tomb tonight would’ve raised some questions, and likely triggered an application to air my grievances. I’d love to beat the shit out of someone, but I can’t exactly explain why I’m mad without revealing what we did.

There were so many things we have done and could have done wrong over the years, but ultimately, nobody questioned us. They’ve even commended our actions. Butthisis where our reputation goes to shit? Over a favor for Malcom Cox?

We’ve been working so hard to orchestrate Thea’s downfall. Now we have an official assignment to do the opposite of that. Talk about being set up to fail.

Malcolm Cox Jr is a mid-level council member. I’ve never heard of the name Laurent, but he would have. There’s no way he didn’t know Thea is connected to a league family.

The Trium’s always been untouchable. Insulated. Protected. But if word gets out what we’ve been doing…shit.Malcolm’s never gonna admit to asking us to get rid of her. Not after his father, a high council member, just sat there and gushed about finding a lost heir.Fuck. The more I go over things, the worse it gets. Holden found that birth certificate through illegal channels. That means somebody went through a lot of trouble to hide it and we dragged it out, and threw it in Thea’s face, dust and all.

“Guys, what if Thea didn’t know?”

Pax is shaking his head before I can even finish my thought.

“Seriously, Pax. What if Thea didn’t know who her parents were?”

He cracks his knuckles. “She knew. Just because the council didn’t know about her, doesn’t mean she didn’t know about us, or her connection to The League. It makes even more sense that she’d be here working against us. The truth coming out just helps her cause. Long-lost family member.Abandoned. And not one high council member in The League knew about her? It’s the perfect setup to make the other families doubt the leadership, which is why I said yes to being her liaison. We’re gonna get rid of her once and for all.”

I can’t believe he’s defending his dad and sticking to this narrative that Thea was trying to sabotage The League. Half the time he doesn’t even like him. “What do you think, Holden?”

Holden passes his phone to me. The screen is on a text message from his dad.

Dad

I don’t know what the hell is going on, but please tell me that when I start digging, your digital signature won’t be anywhere near this.

If Holden’s father is digging, that means The League’s security council has a few questions. That’s just as bad as the NSA and CIA having questions. What could they be looking for? If the high council says Thea’s one of us, shouldn’t that be enough?

I need to stay objective. Blindly accepting what someone said is what got us into this mess to begin with. My head’s hurting from trying to work this out. Okay, let’s go with what I know. The high council made an official announcement in chambers with the entire senior leadership present. They don’t randomly put shit out there that can be disproven. That would definitely call their leadership into question.

Okay, so operating in good faith, their intel is valid. So what do I need to do to complete this assignment? Earn Thea’s trust and bring her in alignment with the other legacy students. That’s easy. We can do this. I glance over at my friends. Uh,Ican do this. Pax will fuck shit up worse than it already is, and Holden… I’m not sure how he’ll play this. He and Pax have always been two peas in the pod. Like twins separated at birth, sharing the same fucked up brain cell, so I can’t assume he’ll see this my way.

He looks just as conflicted as I feel. I could tell Holden was interested in Thea, but I never got the chance to talk to him about it. Finding that birth certificate derailed all my plans. How badly did I fuck things up? It should be salvageable, right?

Maybe that’s the angle I should play. Thea and I connected. It was real. I just have to remind her of it and apologize for being an ass. Girls like that. Maybe I’ll throw in a gift, too. Eloise is always complaining I don’t buy her enough stuff. I’m usually looking at her like she’s fucking crazy when she does, because I’ve never brought her anything. Any gifts she’s ever gotten were picked out by one of my dad’s assistants.

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