Page 28 of Splitting Secrets
No one is happy to discover that there are five prisoners trapped beneath the halls of their beloved university. Nor are they keen on hearing that one of those prisoners is linked to the founding family—a family that has been villainized by the Syndicate and therefore poses a threat to their power. No one in Nocturne Valley will trust them if they find out they lied about exterminating all the Landrys.
“We should just kill them all. What significance do a few legacies and some crone from Nocturne Valley have that require this much debate?” Harold Mirasen grumbles from the bench, repeating the same words he’s been saying since their first meeting.
“You say you’ve been going back and forth for nearly two weeks? We’ve never had this much difficulty deciding before. Send Raze to finish them off and be done with it,” a woman whose name I can’t remember agrees, waving her hand in the air dismissively.
James Stanson is already holding his head in exasperation. “They aren’t just legacies. Their families are very powerful people, even without being in our syndicate. It would be unwise to turn them against us on a whim.”
Harold spins his chair toward James. It’s always these two arguing. “It’s not a whim. They know too much.”
Surprisingly, Ashton Payne is the one to interject on James’s behalf. “We’ve already made the mistake of killing a Landry descendant without hesitation, and look where that’s gotten us. We need to be strategic about this.”
“We allowed that one to live long enough. That bit us in the ass. I say we finish her daughter off before she can sprout any more surprises,” the nameless woman dares to speak.
An older man in the front rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t count on it. That damn family has been popping up out of nowhere like cockroaches for over a century.”
Ashton shakes his head. “We didn’t offer Constance the choice to join us. Perhaps if we kept this one closer under our watch, she would have behaved better.”
“Doubtful,” Harold mutters.
“That doesn’t help us with the others,” Angelica Sunspire points out.
“They can join the Midnight Syndicate, too. We could use their sway if their family is so powerful,” Ashton offers.
But Ronald Everwatch is already interjecting, “These kids know way too much. There’s no way we can let them live and take the chance of someone else discovering what they know.”
“How did they find the journals, anyway?” Someone else calls out.
I’ve spent so much time zoned out of these meetings, I can hardly remember anyone’s name anymore. Especially when they all carry the same egotistical air about them.
But the mention of the journals has my ears perking up. When did they find out about those?
James blows out a breath. “Probably tucked somewhere in the Landry library. Hatchcroft doesn’t have a modicum of control over that place.”
“Let’s kill him, too,” the first woman says.
There are a few grunts of approval. That’s a kill I can get behind.
I won’t even offer him the choice to join us.
A door in the back swings open, and Brody and Niles quietly slip through. The first thing I notice is that they’ve changed their clothes in the hour since I saw them last. The second is the single nod Brody offers in response to James’s subtle eyebrow raise.
I’m immediately digging into Brody’s mind for answers.
What I find are memories of a gruesome, stomach-twisting scene.
They’ve killed Matilda. Slaughtered her, actually—with absolutely no remorse. My anger is a living, breathing beast trying to tear through my chest. It takes a concentrated effort for me to wrestle it down and stop it from retaliating right here and now. I’m no saint, but I believe there should be at least a shred of respect given to those whose lives we hold in our hands. Even the worst men deserve a sliver of dignity in their death.
Matilda was a far cry from being the worst. She was family.
That’s the difference between me and them. They’re mindless servants to the Midnight Syndicate, incapable of forming their own thoughts or maintaining bonds. They have noloyalty to anything outside of this fucked-up cult. I would never give someone that much control over me.
I’ll be sure to take a page from their own books when I rip their souls from their bodies.
There’s a ghost of a thought rattling around Brody’s empty brain. Something he’s trying like hell to avoid thinking of, but I pull it forward and examine it from all sides.
My little nightmare’s scream reverberates around the stone walls, assaulting his ears like a physical weapon.
Lights are blinking in and out as Brody’s gaze flits over to her cell, where she’s staring at him with her mouth wide open and nothing but pure abhorration in her blood-red eyes. I canfeelhis body recoil at the sight, and in the next blink, he’s telling Niles to leave Matilda’s body and get the hell out of there. The two don’t waste any time sprinting out of the damp cell, tripping over their feet as they put distance between themselves and the psychotic screaming.
