Page 130 of Ruthless Legacy

He pulls back and looks at me. “There’s an entire list of candidates you could have chosen from.”

“Could I really? Did you see the list? Did either of you?”

“No, but we know it exists.”

“Who’s your mentor?”

“My father.”

I turn to Holden. “And yours?”

“My dad.”

“I’m guessing the same with Pax, right? So basically, you three have mentors you know and trust. Why is it wrong that I wanted the same for myself?”

Holden explains, “It’s not wrong, but it’s different with us. We’re The Trium, so only a previous Trium member can mentor us. It just worked out that it’s our fathers.”

“Would you have trusted any of the other Triums?”

Finn takes a beat before answering. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Would you have trusted them, or any name randomly drawn off the list with your sisters?”

Holden shakes his head no.

“Exactly. You’d want them researched and vetted, but wouldn’t have time. I didn’t have time either, so I made a split second decision based on the bylaws.” I arch a brow. “You both should be thanking me instead of criticizing me. I just paved the way for selectees to make their own choices about who gets to guide them through the process.”

Getting to my feet, I say, “I really do need to get to class, but I’ll take a raincheck on the O count.”

I kiss Finn, then turn to Holden to do the same. He pulls me into his lap and grinds against me. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

It’s never sweet and simple with him. It’s always him exerting control. He stands with me in his arms, then walks me to the door before setting me on my feet.

As I’m walking to class, I ask myself once again what I’m doing and where this is going. The answer to the last part is nowhere. It can’t. They’re both matched to other women.

I feel just as guilty about wanting them as Eloise and Pax do about what they did to me. That’s to say, I don’t. Maybe this town is rubbing off on me, after all.

My text alert chimes from a blocked number.

It’s a location and time. Walking through The Circle, I hear other phones going off. Two of the people standing around are selectees from my group. Our eyes briefly meet. This is it. My first summons as a prospect.

* * *

“Welcome first year prospects.” The cathedral erupts in applause. “We are delighted to have you here amongst us. We know the indoctrination period and final evaluations were difficult and exhausting, but you all handled yourself admirably.”

The speaker sweeps his hand to the right, palm up. “As always, the final number of selectees who have earned a place in this year’s prospect group is far less than what we started out with.”

I look around the pews. This is the first time I’ve been in a group with male selectees. It’s double the number of men to women here tonight.

A few of the women I recognize from the compound, others I don’t. How many locations were there? I’m staring at one of those women right now. Eloise. Her eyes widen, then she scowls. I take it she’s just as surprised to see me as I am to see her.

There were a mix of attendees at the LDR dinner so the council never called out names formally acknowledging the new Wrens. I assumed Eloise was only there that night as Finn’s date. But she’s a Wren, too. This is gonna make her even more intolerable.

“We will now slot you into review groups. This is an administrative decision only. You may form a cohort and work together for challenges or work alone. In either case, points are assigned on an individual basis.”

He calls off names. At the end, there are six groups of ten. When he’s done, he repeats The League of the Daggered Raven motto.

An Unkind Family Disappoints, Treacherous Friends Betray,

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