Page 14 of Ruthless Legacy

“I know, but I had to do it alone. It’s a good thing Finn and Holden left when I told them to, or I might’ve stabbed them just by their association with Pax.”

“What’s he got to do with it?”

“It’s his fault. It was all because of him and Eloise. They had some kind of deal going to get rid of me.”

She bolts to her feet. “He was one of your attackers? We need to call the police. We need to call Wolfe, and Sasha, and Scott, and Moira.” She grabs her phone from the table. “You sit there and drink and I’ll organize everything.” She looks up at me. “Why are you smiling?”

“I’m loving that you just launched into mama bear mode, but we don’t need to call any of those people. It’s fine. Wolfe’s already seen the video and I’ll give the cliff’s notes version to Sasha.”

“Thea, it’s not fine. They need to be arrested.”

I pat the couch. “I know. Trust me,I know, but neither of them is on screen when I’m attacked. Nobody’s face is visible on camera, except for mine. They’re all wearing masks, and even though I pulled one of their masks off, I still don’t remember that night, so I can’t even say who it was.”

“Do you want to talk about anything that was in the video? I can record it and pass it over to Dr. Koen.”

I shake my head. Wolfe has already said I should talk to someone and I am. I’m talking to LJ, which is helping more than some shrink ever could. “Just hanging out with you is giving me all the help I need.” Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I pick up my plate and eat some more. “The League wants to turn Joshua Laurent’s family line into a guardian line.”

When her eyes bug out, I say, “I take it you know what that means?”

“Yeah. We might not know who the members of The League of the Daggered Ravens actually are, but it’s easy to guess which families are guardians. They’re basically bodyguards and they have these little pins they wear on their suits, or the logos on their business cards or license plates.”

“They have a logo?”

“They do. Since their whole thing is security and protection of the uber rich and celebrities, they don’t have to be secretive about their existence.”

She studies me for a second. “If the Laurent line is being designated as guardian line, that means you’ll be a guardian.”

“Iwon’t be anything. I’m not interested in that title, just like I wasn’t interested in the legacy title, and that’s exactly what I’ll be telling Joshua if he comes at me with this shit.”

Having caught LJ up on all the big stuff, I snatch the remote off the table and flip to the next episode of the show we’re watching. By the ten-minute mark, I’m engrossed in it, and feeling calmer. More settled. Girl time with her is just what I needed.

I spent two nights at LJ’s, just hanging out, enjoying normal morning routines. I woke up in my own bed this morning, and as I step off the elevator, I can say without a doubt, that Idid notmiss the chaos and fuckery of women vying for a modicum of attention from The Trium that goes down in Vale Tower every morning. I’m looking forward to next year when LJ and I can room together.

The guys are in their usual spot. I avoid making eye contact, and ignore Finn calling my name as I exit the lobby. I don’t know why, but I believe them when they say Pax alone was responsible for the decisions made that led to my attack, but that doesn’t mean they’re innocent. Things escalated from the standard they set to begin with.

My emotions are all over the place, and I’m hanging on to my control by the skin of my teeth. I don’t know whether I’m gonna laugh, cry or stab someone from one minute to the next. Whatever feelings I thought I was developing towards Finn and Holden over the break are boxed up tight.

I wouldn’t know how to move on from this, anyway. Until Eloise, Pax and everyone else involved pay for their crimes, there’s no getting over this. There’s no moving on.

I have my group. LJ, Sasha, Connor, Austin and Wolfe. I have my buddies at the gym. That’s all I want. All I need. All I can deal with. I’ve been telling Finn and Holden from the beginning that I don’t want anything to do with them. I’ve told them time and again that we’ll all be happier if they’d just leave me alone. Hopefully, this time they’ll listen.

* * *

Finn

Thea’s sitting at her old table, across from Austin, who’s smiling because she and LJ are laughing at whatever lame ass thing he’s just said. I knew the moment we showed her that video, things would go back to the way they were after her attack. She doesn’t flinch as much as she used to, but she’s still tense and on alert. Holden’s made sure the partition from last semester is back in place.

She’s surrounded by her friends who seem to be trustworthy. They hate us, so there’s no way they were involved in Eloise’s ambush, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to get up and go over there.

Things are so fucked up right now. With the high council announcing the proposed change in Joshua Laurent’s designation, that means things with Thea are over. But that doesn’t mean I won’t get her justice. As much as I want to go to her, I can be more help sitting here, watching the room, and listening to the random shit Eloise and her friends are talking about.

She thinks she got away with it. Thinks that because I’m not hounding her for answers that it means I believe her story. I don’t. I know what happened. Pax told us everything she said before I walked in on them. The only reason I’m silent now is because I want her to relax. I want her to let her guard down around us until we get answers.

Eloise thinks I’m so distracted, looking at my phone, that I don’t notice the way she’s pressed up against my side. She’s bubbling with the excitement of it. Playing to the role she cast herself in as supporting companion. It’s like she didn’t listen to anything I said at dinner. I all but announced I’d rather take a demotion to get away from her.

Thinking about that dinner makes me think about Thea and the future The League has planned for her. I have no doubt she’d crush the shit out of the MISTIC training program and she’d be a phenomenal guardian, but that would suck for me. This girl is it for me. If The League denies my petition to transfer as well…

Fuck that. They can deny it, but nothing is gonna keep me from my girl. I don’t know how I’d get to her, but I can work those details out later. The first thing I need to do is to get her to stop being mad at me.Again. I scowl at Pax. It’s his fucking fault I’ve got to woo her all over again.

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