Page 176 of Heartless Legacy

“Who would be enemy number one?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She flutters her fingers. “It’s me.”

“You’re not my enemy Thea. Neither are Finn and Holden. I care about the three of you more than I do anyone or anything else in this world.”

“I’ve seen no proof of that. If anything, the only thing you’ve proven is that you’re just like your father. You care about power more than anything in this world and will screw over your Trium just like he did to get it.”

My stomach sinks. I’ve been stealing little moments with her when I can, but my face between her legs is doing nothing to change her perception of me. “I’m nothing like him, Thea. On a fundamental level, I don’t agree with him. I never have.” Dropping my voice, I say, “I hate what he did to you. I tried to stop him, and the only way I could make sure you were safe was to go along with his plan to marry Eloise.”

“I wasn’t safe, Pax. He had me drugged to force my compliance. And then he’s so good at pissing people off and making enemies -that the guy who was supposed to be helping him hide me- stole me from Rockridge and shoved me in aneven worse hell hole, where none of them gave a shit about compliance. Do you know what they did in there, Pax? They bid on me for the right to inflict pain.”

She shoves to her feet. “I wasn’t safe, so your supposed motives don’t mean shit to me.”

She bolts past the students at the door and is gone by the time I reach the hall. She had maybe a forty-five second head start. How the hell did she disappear that quickly?

I spot her coming out of the bathroom as I head back to class. When she sees me, she runs back inside, as if that’s going to stop me from finishing this conversation. The person at the sink pulls her hands away from the water stream and snatches a folded paper towel from the basket, drying them as she scurries past me. Thea isn’t so lucky when she tries to do the same. I snag her arm, pulling her back against me, as I check the rest of the stalls to make sure we’re alone, then flick the lock on the door, preventing anyone from walking in on us.

She warns, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

My shoulder raises a fraction of an inch. “This conversation is important enough that I’m willing to risk this turning into another session where our bodies are pressed together.”

“My body isn’t the body you should be worried about. Or did you forget I have a team whose mission is to forcibly remove anyone who pollutes the air I breathe?”

Crowding her against the sink, with my voice lowered, I say, “I’m willing to risk that too.” I search her eyes. Whatever vulnerability she offered in over sharing earlier is gone, tucked away in favor of the part of her that’s like a placid lake, so unmoving that you question if it’s a sheet of ice.

“I’m sorry.” Her adorably cute nose crinkles. I repeat the words that I don’t often say in my life. “I’m sorry. For all of it, Thea. For what I didn’t do while you were gone. For what I’mdoing now that you’re back, and I’m sorry for what my bastard of a father did and tried to do to you.”

I press my forehead against hers, even at the risk of it winding up slammed into the mirror or sink. “I’ll fix this. I don’t know how, yet. But I vow to you that I’ll do whatever it takes, for however long it takes, to make sure he pays for this.”

She grips my shirt, pulling me closer, then goes to knee me in the balls. Expecting that move, I dodge the full brunt of it, but avoiding the attack put space between us, which was her goal. She darts under my arm and hurries to the door. “You can keep your empty promises, Pax. I can get retribution for myself.”

Chapter 100

Holden

I’m listening to my father try to put out another fire about a security breach at a league staging facility. From the sound of it, nothing was taken, but the high council is in an uproar because they don’t have any leads about who broke into the space.

Even stranger is my father’s reaction. He seems unbothered by it, even though his role on the security committee means heshouldupset. I wonder if this is a sign that he really is thinking about stepping down. I knock on the door when I hear the call end and step into the room, doing a sweep of his office.

“Holden?”

Is this a safe place? How often does he sweep for listening devices? I have questions, and I’m hoping he has at least a few answers. “Did the league issue a challenge for the fourth bloodline when you were a prospect?”

“They did. They’ve been issuing that challenge every year or two, from the time your grandfather was a third-year prospect.”

“And no one’s ever won?”

“They haven’t, but between you and me, I’m not sure there’s actually anything to win.”

I frown at what he’s insinuating. “You think it’s a fake challenge?”

“I think… I think a lot of the prospects get discouraged because the clues lead to dead ends.” He sits back in his chair and asks, “What’s your interest in it? Is your Trium backing a specific prospect?”

“We’re considering it. If we’re having a family thrown at us, shouldn’t we do what we can to make sure the winner is someone we mesh with?”

“That would be ideal, but as you all get older, personalities will change, so what you see as an asset now might be a burden later.”

“Sure. But aren’t those the same risks when selecting companions and drafting up marriage contracts?”

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