Page 164 of Heartless Legacy

“The people in that tomb will pretend to like me while plotting my demise. They’d act on that plan if they had the guts to go through with it and the smarts to get away with it. Like I said, I rather be with the devil I know.”

“I work better alone, Pax.”

I counter with, “How do you know if you’ve never worked with a team?”

“Because I know myself. I don’t have time to vote on every little thing or cater to egos. I depend on myself. I know when to trust my gut and when to stick to the plan. I’m nota good collaborator.”

“That’s not true. I know for a fact that there’s at least one thing you’re very good at collaborating on. Or are you going to tell me you prefer doing that alone, too?”

She speeds up her pace instead of answering, but I have no trouble keeping up. “Just go back.” She growls as we reach the end of the aisle.

“I’m not letting you do this alone, Nem. I know youcan.The point is, you don’t have to. This is a team building event which means you have to work with a team. We’re a team.”

“I just told you those guys are not my team.”

“I meant you and me.”

Another couple of minutes go by before she says, “Fine, but only because I’m gonna have you doing the hard shit.”

I follow Thea to the quaint cottage that houses the cemetary office, watching as she pulls a bandana out of her pocket and ties it around her face. She tells me to keep watch as she picks the lock. Quickly stepping inside, she places her phone against the keypad to deactivate the alarm. “There’s a camera,” she warns. “Donotsmile for the birdy.”

Thea glances over her shoulder and says, “Unless you want to spend time as someone’s special friend. Then, by all means, smile, dance and do a little twirl so they catch you from all angles.”

“I’ll be your special friend. Just say the word.”

She hurries away from me, walking over to the door behind the counter and down the hall. I catch up to her and ask, “What are you looking for?”

She pulls open a door and says, “This.” Walking to one of the shelves, she asks, “Ready to do your part?”

The hard shit turns out to be carrying the stacks of binders she takes from the office.

Deacon

I’ve been skeptical about this plan to put Thea back in the league’s clutches from day one. Begrudgingly, I’ve gone along with it because I’m relatively certain Alexz has her best interests at heart. We’ve considered this from multiple angles, but the only way to get access to the information we need is through the very people we’re trying to keep our plans a secret from.

Phoenix Foundation sent an ad for trips to France to the students. There were enough prospects accessing the link that we can monitor what’s going on by remotely accessing their phone cameras and microphones. I ask, “Do we have visual on any of the teams?”

Andrew says, “I’m checking the addresses to see if there are cameras at any of the locations.” He types something into his keyboard and clicks his mouse. “Here we go.”

He pulls up the cameras inside the building, giving me a view of Holden’s team, and I ask, “How long do you think it’ll take for them to figure out that you’re more than bodyguards?”

“I thought they’d have started piecing it together by now.” Glancing up at me, he asks, “Think we should give them easier clues?”

With a shake of my head, I say, “If they need this spelled out for them, then they’re not worth her time and they’ll go down with everyone else.”

“We’re on.” He says, scooting closer to the screen. I watch as the camera inside the room comes online.

I don’t consider what I’m doing cheating, since there are probably league members watching the camera feeds from behind computer monitors too. Tonight’s challenge is a team building exercise. The group is made up of a total of ten prospects. Four fourth years, three third years, two second years and one first year plucked from the amnesty challenge group.

Andrew pulls up the audio for the second year prospect’s phone with Thea’s group. The fourth years and thirds aren’t happy to find her waiting for them in the crypt. She agrees to leave and the others congratulate themselves for getting rid of her.

“Team, standby.” Andrew says into his comms.

I ask, “Do we have sound for Thea?” Andrew nods, accessing the mic on Thea’s phone, and I hear her telling Pax to get lost. The camera feed for the cemetery comes online and I track Thea to her next destination.

My eyes flick to the cameras with the other two groups. Those teams aren’t all that happy with the Trium members they’ve been assigned either. Not that I know how the fuck they gotto be my problem. Actually, I do. They became my problem the moment I accepted a drink from the smoking hot chick at the bar. Even before I knew who Thea was, I knew there was something about her that would make her impossible to forget. With everything going on, I haven’t had time to process everything. How quickly my life changed, and hers. How many more growing pains will she have to go through before it’s all over?

Going back to Holden’s team, I ask, “What’s their clue?”

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