Page 132 of Covenant

I need to know Wyatt is okay.

I step inside Father’s office. Just like last night, he’s sitting behind his desk. There’s something in front of him again, but it’s not my phone.

No. It’s the note I left for The Firm.

I take a shaky step toward him, my hands balling into fists. “Where did you get that from? Did you have me followed?”

I doubt he did the dirty work himself, but sending a lackey in his place? That wouldn’t surprise me.

“I didn’t need to.” He juts his head toward the chair opposite him. “Sit.”

“No.”

He taps the note carefully. “If you want The Firm to take your request seriously, I suggest you start cooperating.”

I take a seat gingerly, hovering on the edge. If I get the slightest implication that more harm has come to Wyatt, I’ll leave. I won’t wait. “How did you get my request?”

“It’s interesting,” he says like I haven’t spoken. “Everything here is about Wyatt. You didn’t ask for anything for yourself.”

“That’s because Wyatt is all that matters,” I say hotly. A quiet voice whispers in my mind to stay silent, to hide the intensity of what I feel for my friend. But it’s too late. My rage, my lack of sleep, my fear—it’s eroded all my caution and my common sense. “His happiness is all I care about.”

“Well, I have to admit I’m pleased.” He sits back in his chair and grins at me. The sight turns my stomach. “This has worked out far neater than I could ever have hoped.”

“What?”

“I want any charges against Wyatt Malone dropped and wiped from his record. I want him to go to Yale on a full scholarship.” I shift in my seat as he reads my own desperate words back to me. “I don’t want any harm to come to Wyatt. I want him to have enough money to live comfortably at college. This should be given as part of his scholarship and he’s not to know why he has extra funds.” He drops the paper and smirks. “As much as I loathe Wyatt and his influence on you, you couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

What the fuck is happening?My brain isn’t working fast enough. There’s a bigger picture here. Something I’m missing.

Something that’s going to change everything.

“Your request is being granted,” Father says. “In fact, it’s already in progress. Wyatt has been released from jail and all charges have been dropped. I’ve spoken to the head of admissions at Yale and ensured the scholarship is ironclad, and I’ve added additional funding. Wylder has been tasked with monitoring Wyatt from a distance to ensure no harm comes to him.”

Wylder? What does my older brother have to do with this? “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this? I asked The Firm for help, not you.”

He clasps his hands together on the desk, resting atop my plea. “Come on now, Matthias. I know you to be more intelligent than this. IamThe Firm. Or, rather, the Buckinghams are.”

My world tilts sideways and I feel that churning in my stomach give way to bile. “No.”

“Yes,” his smirk deepens, looking purely evil in this moment. “This is your legacy, Matthias. Usually, your initiation doesn’t happen until you’re twenty-one, but given the circumstances…”

“No,” I repeat, shoving my chair back and scrambling to my feet. “You’re lying to me. We aren’t The Firm. Cade would’ve told me. Or Wylder. They wouldn’t have lied to me about this.”

“They had no choice,” Father gives a mirthless laugh. “It’s part of our code. The younger generation isn’t told until they’re of age, unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise.”

Blood drains from my face as he waves my letter in the air. “And you, boy, handed me the circumstances I need on a platter. Here I was, thinking I was just removing a dangerous influence, and instead, you’ve handed me full control of you.”

“I don’t believe you,” I whisper. “My brothers would’ve told me. They would’ve warned me.”

“Not if they value their lives,” Father muses, pulling a dagger from his desk. “Here. This is yours.”

I take it from him numbly. The early morning sun gleams off the lethal blade. On the handle, there’s a carved raven.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” I look up at him, hating the satisfaction in his eyes. “You’re one of The Firm now, Matthias.”

For a moment, I let myself imagine plunging the dagger into his neck, cutting out his hateful vocal cords before he can poison my life any more.

I’ve never been a violent person. Everything seems to be changing right now, that included.

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