Page 136 of Deviant

Seven and Five nod in unison and rush to do Henry’s bidding. They begin to remove the plates from the table, and one by one, they fill each person’s plate with whatever we pick out. Then, they take a bite of everything on the plate, demonstrating that it’s safe to eat.

“Thank fuck for that. I’m starving,” Chris says, wolfing down his plate after Seven is done with her taste test.

Once Five finishes eating what she placed on Rowen’s plate, Rowen picks up her cutlery to dig into her food but stops when I grab her wrist and shake my head.

“Not yet,” I order, keeping a vigilant eye on Five as she tends to my own plate. I let a good ten minutes pass by, just to make sure Five didn’t just willingly ingest cyanide, before I give Rowen the all clear.

“Ah, look at that. Your food must be cold by now. Don’t you think you’re being a bit paranoid, Elias?” Mackenzie asks from down the table, her gaze obviously fixed on her opponents’ every move.

“Ever hear the phrase, better safe than sorry?” Andy quickly comes to my defense. “It was created for a reason.”

“Seriously, Andy, this is going to get tiresome real fast if you don’t stop kissing Elias’s ass. Besides, aren’t you worried that Harper might get jealous to see she’s got competition?” David goads before taking a bite of his steak.

“Blow me,” Andy quips back.

“Sorry, I only do chicks. On second thought, youarea bit of a pussy, so I might throw you a bone if I’m really desperate for some action.” David laughs at Andy’s expense, gaining a few more chuckles from the peanut gallery that is Big Mike and Chris.

“Can we please have one meal together where we aren’t all at each other’s throats?” Abigail utters beside Rowen.

“Abbie’s right. This place… it’s going to eat us alive if we start turning on each other,” Lucas adds, throwing a sympathetic smile Abigail’s way.

“God, all I see are a bunch of pussies around me. How the hell did I get stuck with so many of you?” David mumbles, genuinely exasperated that he has to shareThe Scourgewith the eleven of us.

“Do you never shut up?” Rowen says, coaxing my hand to go to her thigh to silence her. “No!” she turns to me and says, “I’m tired of him always tearing everyone down. Someone has to stand up to this bully.”

“Oh, look at that. I think they’re about to have their first lover’s quarrel,” Mackenzie teases.

“And you!” Rowen drags her frustrated gaze off me to stare daggers at Mackenzie. “What exactly is your problem with me? If this has something to do with Aidan, then by all means, he’s yours. Keep him. I don’t care. Just get off my back already.”

Mackenzie’s scowl makes her pretty face look as ugly as her personality. But it is the slam of two fists on the table that really gets my attention.

“Will you idiots stop your bickering!” Ruby shouts at the top of her lungs. “So we don’t like each other? Big fucking whoop. We have bigger fish to fry than worrying about hurting each other’s feelings. I don’t know if you guys realized this yet, but we’re here… in this house… waiting forThe Scourgeto have its way with us. I don’t know about you, but snide comments and hateful remarks don’t worry me as much asThe Scourgedoes. That’s where you should be wasting your energy, not on each other.”

Everyone bows their heads and pretends they weren’t just schooled by a girl who is barely five feet tall. But what I don’t miss is the mean glower she sends Rowen when Ruby thinks she isn’t looking.

Too bad for her, I am.

For all her talk about not wasting energy on people we don’t like, she sure wouldn’t miss a minute of sleep if Rowen was the first one of us to be sacrificed toThe Scourge.

We eat the rest of our dinner in complete and utter silence, not wanting to engage in conversation at the risk of pissingsomeone off. Or worse, having to hear Ruby go off on another tangent.

But as I finish my meal, something catches my eye. From my peripheral vision, I see young Abigail hiding her steak knife under the table. And when she places her hands back on top of the tablecloth, the knife is nowhere in sight.

Hmm.

I’m going to have to keep an eye out for that one.

Though she looks harmless, the knife she just hid is not.

It’s only after we’ve finished our dessert that Henry reappears in the room.

“I hope your meal was to your satisfaction.”

“It sure was, Henry. Best dinner I’ve ever had!” Chris exclaims, rubbing his stomach in contentment.

“Good. I’m pleased to hear it,” Henry offers him a curt nod. “But I’m afraid that the pleasantries of this evening have come to an end,” he adds, with a blank expression on his face, “to give room for more pressing matters to be discussed. I’m sure you are all wondering why you’re here and are curious to learn what part you will play in the events that will take place in the upcoming weeks,” he pauses for effect. “So if you would all be so kind as to follow me, our hosts are most eager to answer one of those questions tonight,” he says, ushering us to get up from our seats to follow him.

“Here we go. Time to meet the puppet masters,” Mackenzie sing-songs as we leave the dining room to follow Henry to the east wing of the mansion. After so many twists and turns, I lose track of where we are, but luckily, Henry knows this house like the back of his hand, only coming to a halt once we’ve reached our destination.

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