Page 64 of Power
Bailey
I dress quicklyand head downstairs before Archer comes out of the shower. I didn’t need to see his hot, naked, wet body. Or more like, Idid, but I would’ve jumped him, and as much as I want that, I need answers. I’ve figured some stuff out, like the Wonderland thing, and the higher-ups have names taken from the book. Archer is their leader, with Owen as his…protector, I guess, and Finn fits in here somewhere as well, but not sure where.
I follow the scent of coffee and find a huge kitchen that is bigger than my whole apartment. It’s beautiful, modern, and pristine.
“You cook?” I ask, with a raised eyebrow at Owen, in suit pants and a white shirt but with an apron over his clothes to protect them from the food he is serving up with impeccable timing.
He grins at me and pushes a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon toward me over the gigantic kitchen island. “Eat.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice.”
I sit on a high stool and pull the plate closer to me, picking up a knife and fork to dig in with gusto. I realize how hungry I am and give Owen a grateful smile when he places a full mug of coffee at my side.
“Archer says you have answers as well,” I mumble around a mouthful of toast.
“While you eat, I will give you a quick rundown. Ready?”
I nod.
He starts speaking, and I listen. This is probably part of their master plan, so I don’t interrupt him. They’re geniuses. I’m too famished to interject anything into his tale of a global Secret Society that pretty much runs a portion of the world. It works on only the elite being allowed in, hand-picked from the best universities around the world, only four at a time. It’s split up into chapters, and every chapter has their own initiation process and rules. The one major thing that none of us can forget is the favors owed process. Once a year, anyone can call upon anyone for a favor, which must be granted.
I want to ask, what if you can’t follow through, but I’m guessing the whole death thing might come up again, so I just carry on eating.
When he finishes, so do I, pushing my plate away. “Okay. I know more now, but I still don’t get why me.”
“This is the bit that you might not want to hear,” Archer says, appearing in the kitchen in a dark gray suit and white shirt that makes him look like a god.
“Go on. You might as well spill it.” I fold my arms and wait.
Archer and Owen exchange a cautious stare, but then Archer looks at me with a smile. “One of our Court members, Gryphon, is your father. That is why we have come for you, that is why you were initiated, and the reason you are on the Court as Alice, initially, is because your bloodline can be traced all the way back to the original chapter from 1865. You are a pure elite, Bailey, and that is why we want you. It’s why more than one chapter wants you.”
I got stuck somewhere around his words ‘your father’. I heard the rest, but it doesn’t really process.
“What?” I spit out. “Are you fucking joking?”
He runs a hand through his hair nervously, which almost makes me laugh. He is the most self-assured man on the planet. He really didn’t want to tell me this. Props for that, I guess, that he did.
“No, I’m not joking. Chester Chase, your dad, is Gryphon.”
Gryphon.
I think back to the fancy crest on the letter he sent me and sigh. He’s not joking. Not even a little bit.
“Why wasn’t he there last night,” I ask. “Or was he?” I cringe with shame at the thought of my dad watching me with Archer.
“He wasn’t there,” he says quickly, probably reading the expression of disgust and ick on my face. “I wouldn’t have done what I did if he was.”
Well, thank fuck for small mercies. I guess only Finn’s dad had the pleasure, seeing as neither one of them has mentioned their own. That will make meeting Viscount Cavendish a truly godawful experience if I’m ever presented with the displeasure. He sounds like a horrid creature to do what he did to poor Finn.
“Have you always known this?” I ask, not that it makes much difference. I’ve known these men for less than a week. Which kind of puts my mental stability under the spotlight. Perhaps, I need to take a long hard look at my poor choices of late. But then I meet Archer’s gaze, and he drags me back under the spell he has woven over me, and I’m lost.
“Yes.”
I nod. “I mean, what else can I say? He’s a dick who left my mum and me in near poverty.” I push away the rising anger with incredible difficulty. It’s only when Owen takes my hand that I succeed.
“He is a dick, but he did what he did to protect you, Bailey,” Archer says with a grimace. “There is a bigger picture here. He was trying to keep you out of the life.”
“Then why did you pull me in?” I ask, blinking back the tears that have sprung into my eyes.
