Page 60 of Heartless Legacy

I take in the heavy pinch of her brows and the way her shoulders slump. “I’m not mad Finn. I’m just tired. Tired and exhausted, and I don’t wanna fight.”

In this moment, she looks and sounds exactly like she says she feels. Exhausted. “Then we don’t fight. Just talk to us.” I say, moving closer. “Tell us how you’re doing. How you’re feeling?We just. We missed you, and we’ve been worried sick about you.”

She throws up her hands. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I was in jail and now I’m not.”

“Okay, then talk to us about that. How did you wind up getting arrested in Palm Springs?” It’s the question I had but didn’t ask when Holden and I confronted Deacon.

She hesitates before saying, “I wish I knew. I thought it was a joke, or a part of a league challenge, but then…”

“Then?” I press.

“Then, as I was shoved onto the hood of the cop car and my arms nearly pulled out of my sockets, I realized it was really, really real.They mirandized me.” She looks at me, and before she says anything, I know my hunch was correct. “I guess Michael told the cops I stabbed him.”

Holden says, “But they released you because there was no record of a police report or complaint?”

“I can’t explain that anymore than you can. You’ll have to talk to Mikey about that.”

We would if we could, but he’s all clammed up and in hiding. “So you called Coach Wolfe for your one phone call?”

“My lawyer did.”

My head whips around when Pax asks, “Why him?”

She looks at him with deadened eyes, and says, “Because I needed someone who would come get me with no questions asked.”

I read the subtext. She needed someone she could trust, and she didn’t trust us. I think a part of her did trust us. Or was beginning to, but there’s no chance that it’s there anymore.

“Your call should’ve been to me!” He growls. “I’m your companion. I’m the one assigned to you.”

“Exactly.” That flat tone is back in her voice. “Your assignment. Not a person. Not someone you care about. So whywould I have calledyouPaxton, when I was just the job you’d been ordered to do?”

I look from Pax to Thea. There’s a hidden meaning in her words. By the look on his face; he knows what she’s alluding to. More secrets Pax?

“Pax is an asshole, but you weren’t just a job, Thea.” I say, needing her to know that.

“And you’re blindly defending him again.” Anger creeps into her voice as she says, “Covering for his fucked up behavior. Again. Supporting his bullshit.Again.” Her hands clench at her sides. “So where in any of that should I believe you weren’t playing me too? Was there ever even a plan for us to be together, or was that a lie?”

She holds up a hand. “Wait. Don’t answer that. Of course, there was a plan. You’re probably still following the plan. Get me agitated and lashing out so he-”

She shoves past me. “I’m gonna say this one. Last. Time. Leave me. The. Fuck. Alone!” The door slams behind her, leaving me reeling at the sudden shift in her mood. Turning to Pax and Holden, I ask, “What the fuck was that?”

Chapter 38

Thea

I’ve been summoned to The Tomb for what Joshua is calling a special tribunal. The powers that be finished their investigation into my absence and are ready to make a decision regarding my future in Canyon Falls and The League. There will be zero tears shed if they decide to kick me out of both.

I listen as the person appointed as my advocate mumbles about my scores and grades. If I were voting on my fate, I’d say no, based on his less than enthusiastic defense. I huff out a breath, but force myself to remain silent, because a lot of those scores come with deductions based on what the person arguing against me calls my pathological need to question things.

From a dark corner of the room someone asks, “Prospect LaReaux, what is it you think you can offer to the league?”

“Right now? Nothing.”

They exchange some looks before the guy repeats, “Nothing at all? You’ll merely be dead weight?”

Is he serious? “I’m a broke college student. I don’t have connections and an inheritance I can offer up. Even if I did, how would that benefit any of you? Nothing in the challenges I’ve done required me to spend money or network. They hadme solving puzzles, finding things. Stealing things. So I guess you can say I’d bring my mind, my ability to problem solve, and quick hands. But aren’t those qualities that all the other prospects are expected to have or acquire too?”

Someone else says, “You say you don’t have an inheritance?” He turns to Joshua. “Laurent, care to explain?”

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