Page 44 of Heartless Legacy

Whatever Alexz knows, I need to know. I force myself to face him. “But you have your suspicions?”

“I do.” He glances over at Wolfe before continuing. “You asked me about the day I died.”

“You told me you were on your way back from a challenge, but you never went into detail about why someone tried to kill you.”

“I assume Beauwolf still hasn’t told you.”

My chest tightens. More secrets. I’m so fucking over secrets. “Told me what?”

“During my time as a prospect, I spent a lot of time in the archives going over the documents about the town, the school, and The League’s history.”

I look from Alexz to Wolfe, who doesn’t look even slightly remorseful about keeping secrets from me. In fact, he looks pissed that Alexz is even mentioning it. “Lots of people read those documents, Alexz. In fact, it’s encouraged.”

“True, but some of the documents I accessed were in secure league vaults and were never supposed to be seen by anyone outside of the high council. I’m not sure if you’re aware of the structure for securing challenge items.”

“I know there are vaults and sometimes you have to take your challenge item right there, but all the ones I had were for me to keep safe on my own or turn over in chamber.”

“That’s right. The league has many vaults, but there are three that are designated for holding extremely high value items and documents. There’s one vault each under the control of The Historians, The League, and The Guardians. I was asking a lot questions, and one day they sent me on a challenge to break into a guardian vault and steal a bond. Everything that could go wrong did. Right from the beginning. The case I was looking for was misplaced. I triggered an alarm and barely got out of there undetected. To top it all off, when I opened the case, there was no bond. There was a letter and a remnant of a burned piece of paper. My accident happened on the way back from that challenge, and the case was gone when I came to. That’s why I didn’t question going with those guys. I knew then that I’d been set up.”

He looks uncomfortable, as if he’s not sure if he should continue. “What else?”

“One of the questions I had was whether or not the names on the wall in the tomb were accurate.”

“Why would you think they weren’t?”

“Because a few months before all this happened, I came across a note in a book in the archives that referenced a group of men who started the trinity group of The League of the Daggered Raven. The next time I was able to access the vault, I looked for the book I saw the note in, but it was gone.”

“Trinity? You mean three names, like The Trium?”

Alexz smiles at me like a proud parent. It makes me feel weird. “Very good.”

“So the trium families are in charge of everything in the league?” That doesn’t bode well for me. I’ll never be able to show my face in town again.

“I can’t prove it, but I don’t think the other groups were meant to be under the umbrella of The League.”

“What do you think it was supposed to be?”

“I think the original structure gave equal power to three branches of the society. The Historians, The Guardians and The League.”

“And you think this, why?”

“Because of the archives. If it was just a single organization, there would be no need to designate the archives as owned and managed by each activity, and a friend wouldn’t have had to sneak me into the guardian archives where I saw that note, to begin with.”

Chapter 28

Deacon

I’ve learned to read Thea’s moods and tells. She’s been quiet these last few days. Now, she’s sitting on the couch folded in on herself. Her arms crossed, a blank look on her face, and she’s refusing to look at me. I spent months in class dealing with this look. She’s trying to shut me out.

Thea’s as stubborn as they come. This will go either of two ways. She’ll wait for me to say something then explode or she’ll get tired of waiting for me to say something and just explode. I drop my phone on the coffee table and slip my shirt over my head.

She scans my torso, then goes back to ignoring me. It’s fine. I have ways of making her acknowledge me and none of them requires her to actually address what’s pissed her off. My shoes come off next, then I flick my belt open, pulling it through the loops with one hand.

She’s trying not to look, and I intentionally stand directly in front of her so she has no choice but to do so, or close her eyes. My boxer briefs come down with my jeans and I step out of the garments, standing completely naked in front of her with nothing but the belt in my hand. I slip that around my neck, holding on to each end.

“Are you practicing to live in a nudist colony?” She asks, staring at my toes.

“Does my nudity suddenly bother you?” Her eyes flick to my dick before she responds, no. Her words don’t match her body language. She rubs her palms against her legs, her body rocks as if she’s trying to soothe herself. “Do you wanna fight or fuck?”

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