Page 47 of Splitting Secrets
“Are you watching, red? Wouldn’t want you to miss the show. It’s in your honor, after all,”I torment into his mind, repeating the words he said to Sonny before killing Matilda. Then, I break his neck.
“We’ve got to call the rest of the members in for a meeting,” James declares in a somber tone. “This has turned into a complete shit show.” The others hum their agreement, and he turns his attention toward me, his eyes intense with anger.
“Get these two fuckers out of here, and then start hunting those miscreants down. I don’t care what you do to the other three, but keep the redhead alive. I want to be the one to deliver her punishment.”
The Supremes shuffle out after him, carefully stepping over the two dead bodies lying in their path. I pull out my phone to shoot off a text, informing the rebellion that it’s time to move our refugees. Then, I get to work disposing of the dead bodies at my feet.
25
Raze
It’s been three days since their escape, and the Supremes are getting more uncomfortable with their freedom at every passing minute. The Syndicate members are turning on them, questioning why they weren’t able to decide in the first place and how four people were able to escape the enchanted cells.
They’re going to have to act fast if they want to regain any semblance of respect they’ve lost.
The disappearance of Matilda’s body has been conveniently kept under wraps. It would be far too great of a failure for them to admit on top of everything else, and the Syndicate members have conveniently forgotten about her altogether.
But Nocturne Valley won’t forget. One of their citizens was last seen with Brody and Niles dragging her out of her shop and hasn’t returned in over a week, and they want answers. Up until now, the Midnight Syndicate was a dangerous, unspoken secret whispered among Nocturnians to keep them in line, andI was the face of it. A necessary evil that no one ever wanted to acknowledge.
With desperation at an all-time high, the Supremes have done away with all the mystery and intrigue of their little society and have now taken to turning the town against one another.
Signs have been plastered onto every light post and town bulletin board, begging citizens to speak up if they hear any rumblings of a rebellion. Given that there’s no trace of the four prisoners leaving Nocturne Valley—and they’ve exercised their power to check every mode of transportation—they’ve deduced that the rebellion has taken them in.
The same rebellion they wrote off as a temper tantrum and deemed unworthy of their time or resources.
I’m sent to answer anonymous tips nearly every night, questioning innocent people who were turned in by neighbors and friends. Where people would simply avoid me in the streets before, they’re absolutely terrified now. No one wants to be caught in the Syndicate’s crosshairs.
The idea is to smoke the rebellion out before the winter semester begins in January. They believe it’s a numbers game—that if we respond to every call, we’re bound to have one that leads to the people who are actively trying to take them down. What they aren’t counting on is that a rebellion member is heading to each house to answer the calls. If someone truly has a lead and is willing to betray us, they don’t live to see the next day.
The lack of answers is making every board member at Ravenshurst squirm. It’s one thing to completely fumble the punishment of four individuals who knew too much. It’s a completely different offense to risk the bottom line of the lifeblood of the society. Their legacies must be protected at all costs.
Admission rates are already dropping as the days pass and rumors spreadno answers. Dean Hatchcroft is an absolute mess,spending his days muttering promises into the phone to parents, assuring the issues will be sorted out before their precious legacies return.
While life has been a nightmare for the Syndicate, it’s been a different version of hell on the rebellion side. None of us were fully prepared to fight the Syndicate right now. We had plans in place—specific events that needed to happen to weaken them from the inside out. No one is particularly happy with me for expediting the process, but we’re adjusting. We’re working together to pivot where we can and find new ways to reach the same end result.
My mother has arranged for them to stay in our best safe house—despite my argument against it—and Griffin, our best fighter, is willing to train with them. Forrest, our Viridian healer, has agreed to continue making tonics for their muscles to heal faster and build up their strength.
We’ve just begun to unleash the first phase of the rebellion takeover. Every Syndicate flyer that threatens the lives of anyone who sides with the rebellion has been covered by a bigger one from our side with a warning to the Supremes.
The Landry descendant has come to claim her throne.
Disproportionate power will be re-centered.
The Supremes have been losing their minds in Syndicate meetings, singling out those who they believe are playing double agents and killing them on the spot to prove a point. By squeezing their fists against their member’s throats, they’re cutting off their own air supply.
While the Midnight Syndicate is crumbling under pressure, we’re creating diamonds. We’re breaking down the paradigm right before their eyes and exposing secrets they intended to keep buried forever. And when the time comes, we’re going to use those diamonds to destroy them for good.
26
Sonny
Bane hasn’t come to visit me again, but Finley has.
He’s appeared at the end of my bed the past two nights, only once everyone has gone to sleep. I can’t seem to get on a reasonable sleeping schedule, and Finley helps pass the time by talking my ear off.
“This place hasn’t changed one bit since it was built,” he muses. He’s sprawled across the end of my bed, his ankle resting across the other knee as he stares up at the ceiling.
“You’ve seen it before?”
