Page 135 of Heartless Legacy

Pax cracks his eyes open. Him being unconscious for as long as he was might’ve been an act, but the ass whipping we gave each other wasn’t. The part where Finn gets persuasive won’t be an act either. “Eloise?” He asks.

Why the fuck is she the first person on his mind? I bite back what I want to say, as Finn answers, “She’s busy with a sororityissue.” He already has his knives out, and asks, “You wanna do a few test runs before we get to chatting?”

Pax works his jaw. “I have nothing to say.”

“Then how about I tell you what I know before I get to work?” Pax glares at Finn, but doesn’t say a word. We all know it’s not an idle threat. Finn will be carving into him. No matter what.

“The day after you were supposed to be meeting with the lawyer to draft a marriage contract, you disappeared. Then the council called a meeting and announced your arrangement with Eloise.”

“This again?” Pax snorts. “I thought you were looking for a way out. I gave you one. You should be thanking me instead of trying to torture me.”

“There is no try. Pax. Iwillbe torturing you. In fact, I’ve already started.”

Pax hasn’t even flinched from the tiny cuts Finn’s made against his arms. They’re hard to see through the ink.

There’s an entire line of questioning that Finn could go through. He likes to warm his subjects up, but that would be a waste of time with Pax, who looks bored with this whole situation. He’s entirely too calm for someone who’s about to be cut into. The look on his face and the set of his jaw say he’s resigned to being tortured.

We’ve got one chance at getting answers. I just need to know where to start. What buttons to push to crack through the armor he’s wearing. My mind sifts through everything that’s happened. Everything he’s done since the moment Thea set foot in town. I tamp down the anger and disappointment I feel as I look at him.Reallylook at him, and force myself to remember who he’s been my entire life.

I say, “Thea wasn’t on the run, like we were led to believe last summer, and I don’t think she was in county lockup the whole time. Do you?”

Pax answers, “I heard the same thing you heard on campus, and it’s the same thing the council is reporting. Why would I doubt any of that?”

That doesn’t answer my question. I don’t get it. The first thing he did was ask about Eloise, but he’s been following Thea. Staking out her house. He was just licking her pussy at the cabin. What are he and Eloise up to this time?

I ease onto the floor with my back braced against the wall, watching him as Finn julienne’s his shirt. He’s not being careful, so every second or third slash draws blood. I’m watching them, but my mind is racing through so many thoughts, like I’m rewinding a movie at double speed. The imagery stalls, then I move forward in my timeline, then back again. The same words coming to me on repeat. Apart, they’re just throw away comments, but together…

I see Finn’s text,Malcolm is up to something, hear Eloise saying,Attempted murder is the reason people wind up in Rockridge,and Pax apologizing, “I’m sorry for what my father did to you.”

Tilting my head to the side, I study Pax. I now have my one question. “Do you have anything to say?”

He presses his lips together. It’s fine. I would never expect for him to make this easy. The harder he fights. The more he tries to hold his secrets, the grimmer the truth must be. Even within the hard lines of his face, the cold set of his eyes, I see the smallest, faintest hint of… hope.

Chapter 80

Pax

Ishould’ve known it would come to this. How many times have I helped Finn grab someone after weeks of him toying with them? He always gives them a chance to let their guard down. Makes them think he’s forgotten the most random question ever asked by a man. He lets them think they’ve gotten away with lying to him. Lets them go on their merry little way with their happy little lives. Then he strikes.

We’ve been coexisting, working together, and like an idiot, I thought things were getting back to normal. I should have known better. Hell, I did know better. But I let my emotions get the best of me and took Thea to the cabin. I didn’t consider the risk or think someone might follow me. Then, once I had her in my arms… I thought I could have a few honest moments with her. I didn’t mean to say what I did about my father, and when questioned about it, I pretended it didn’t mean anything. Deacon was right. Thea’s not safe with me.

The look on Holden’s face says he thinks he’s found an angle to exploit. We’ve played this game in our wilderness training. They know I won’t crack. That I won’t make it easy on myself or attempt to save myself.

We’re all taught the same thing. If kidnapped, or arrested, divulge no secrets. The only thing that matters is those left behind. The rest of my group who need to make it to safety. The League of the Daggered Raven needs to continue operating in secrecy.

We’re expected to sacrifice one for the many. It is my duty, my honor, my oath. Forged in fire. Bonds that cannot be broken until death. I’m strong enough to withstand the hits, the cuts. I’m trained not to break; and yet, I didn’t do what I needed to do to keep from winding up in this position. Why wasn’t I better prepared for this?

There’s only one answer. One I should be ashamed of, but I’m not. I didn’t put up enough of a fight. I allowed myself to get caught. I’m here, because I wanted to be here. Holden jabs a needle into my arm. My hand flexes as the solution burns as it enters my veins.

They’re going all out with this. I’ll get no reprieve. I look Holden right in the eye, because I know that I’ll find no pity or mercy there. I don’t want any. I hold his gaze, communicating that I don’t need any. I don’t deserve mercy. His question echoes inside my mind. So soft, yet so loud. “Do you have anything to say?” I have so much to say, but I can’t.

My stomach spasms as I wretch bile. The smell of my vomit makes me heave again. “You don’t really want to marry Eloise.” Holden’s fist connects with my stomach again.

Did I tell him that? I don’t remember. I don’t remember a lot of shit right now.

Finn says, “Maybe he does. They love conspiring together. It’s not that far a stretch that they’d love fucking each other, too.”

Elo- fucking -uise. She’s like a goddamn chaos demon, leaving destruction all over the place. But I can’t say that. I can’t tell them how I really feel. Holden strikes again, but I don’t feel it. The beta blocker he gave me numbs the pain. “You were fucking her while you were with Thea. I hope you used protection.”

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