Page 92 of Deadly Rival

I’m lightheaded as we sign our names in the huge, ancient book, right below Jacob and Quinn. Eve and Gabriel’s signatures sit above them, and hundreds more before that. Thousands, maybe. I hadn’t appreciated the age of the Brotherhood before, but seeing those lists of names pulls it into sharp relief.

The feeling as I sign is unlike anything else I’ve ever known. Weight and freedom tangled together. I might be captive in this place, but I’m finally free to be my true self.

Sebastian wraps his arms around me, tucking me tight against his chest. I look up at his battered face. The bruises have hit the purple stage, and his face is a mass of painful color. He still glows with happiness, and I can’t blame him. He thought he’d die for me today, but I chose life for us both.

He kisses my forehead, and I close my eyes. He feels like home.

***

The next morning, I hold Sebastian’s hand as the Brotherhood’s military descend on my family home. We watch it all, in scattered bits and pieces through soldiers’ bodycams, as Jacob snaps orders to the men. Kendrick didn’t let him go in person, but they compromised on him supervising remotely. Weird, for a scientist, but I’m guessing he’s got an interesting past.

At the same time they attack my house, they strike three other strongholds, none of which I knew existed. Dr. Wade is in Brotherhood custody, and I can’t stop myself feeling guilty about giving him up. He wasn’t exactly nice to me, but he wasn’t an asshole either.

On the other hand, he was friends with my brother, which doesn’t speak well for his character.

He’s already revealed enough information to flush out another of my father’s spies and one loose-lipped council member Sebastian has nicknamed “the poison dwarf” for some weird reason. Jacob thinks he’ll reveal more, given time.

I should feel more emotion than I do when they smash through the front doors of our mansion. It’s not like I have no happy memories. My nanny, Maida, taught me to bake cookies in the kitchen, and Mom and I had fun until she got sick.

Everything is tainted, though. The living room is where I listened as Harrison and his friends described raping some guy’s girlfriend in revenge for whatever he’d done. The dining room is where I cried night after night, staring at my math books, and my dad told me not to worry. He’d set me up with something suitable.

The men round up our staff for questioning and go through each room of the house. What they pull out of Harrison’s office makes me double over, trying not to vomit. His taste for teenage girls hadn’t eased off any as he got older, if the photos and souvenirs in his safe are anything to go by.

Sebastian wraps a comforting arm around me. “You don’t have to watch this.”

But I do. I need to see the ugly truth.

If the house is bad, the strongholds are worse. Despite Eve and Gabriel’s story, I’d still been clinging to the idea that they were wrong about the trafficking or that someone in the organization had gone rogue.

My dad is an asshole, but he’s not that bad. He can’t be.

He can.

After a shootout with some of my family’s guards, the Brotherhood soldiers force their way into a prison. There are women there, filthy and starving in cells. Some of them are so young I have to turn away, and I finally let Sebastian lead me out of the room. Once it’s over, we get the news I didn’t want to hear.

No sign of my father.

Several of his right-hand men have disappeared, too. If I know my father, he weighed the odds and decided toretreat—but it won’t be forever. The Brotherhood has taken both of his children. He’ll want revenge, and he’s a patient man.

For the first time since I arrived, knowing how isolated and secure we are feels comforting rather than oppressive.

I sit on a bench in the weak sunlight with Sebastian, watching the birds fly through the trees at the edge of the woods. Sebastian points out a strange-looking one, tiny and jewel-colored.

“There’s a Brother called James who comes out here every day to feed the birds. If you value your sanity, don’t ever ask him about that bird. I did and got a forty-five-minute lecture. It nearly killed me.”

I laugh and lean my head against his shoulder. The duality of my new situation is still making my head spin. Right now, we’re on our way to Medical, not just to remove Sebastian’s bandage, but to speak to Dr. Richard about starting my training in earnest. Sebastian wants me studying by the end of the week.

But before we left the house, he clipped on my leash.

We watch the birds in peaceful silence, though he keeps rubbing his bandage. His body is all tense lines. He’s scared, and I can’t blame him. Finally, he sighs. “Better get this over with, then.”

Sebastian grips my leash in one hand and my hand in the other. It’s oddly comforting.

Dr. Richard’s expression is grave as Sebastian takes a seat on the examination bed. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up. There’s only a twenty-five-percent chance you’ll see out of this eye again.”

Sebastian flashes the doctor a grin. “I tend to cheat the odds.”

It’s amazing. If I didn’t already know how terrified Sebastian is, I’d never have guessed from his performance here. He’s far too good an actor. I need to learn all his little tells to keep up with him.

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