Page 53 of Reckless Covenant

“They didn’t. She’s stayed at her parents as much as she could, whenever they weren’t paying attention enough to send her on her way… Fucking gems they are.” Madds crosses his arms, looking a little uneasy.

“I don’t get it. Why doesn’t she just run away?”

I look at Finn, then at Madds, who knows the answer to that question. It’s not our secret to tell, but then again, it’s the one we need to, if we’re going to help her. And at this point, no matter what, the whole Sanctum is involved, no matter if the pact was made with me.

“Because he helped her bury a dead man, and Holt is blackmailing her.” We all turn at the same time, watching Carter walk quickly towards us.

“What the fuck?! How the hell did you know?!”

I agree with Madds. What is going on here?

“We’re in. I finally got into his personal computer, but I have limited access. The bastard is not great with technology, so he doesn’t back up to clouds or online servers. I only have access when it’s actually turned on. One of my guys traced it and got in about an hour ago. We didn’t have much time before it got disconnected. We only managed to copy about twenty percent of his drives. And one of the things we copied”—Carter turns his gaze to me—“is an album of photos of a younger Morrigan, digging a hole in the ground and looking over a dead body.”

“Is there any way to find out where else he holds this information? If he copied it on an external hard drive?”

“Wait, you know of this?!” Finn leans over, looking between us.

“Yeah… found out the other day, pretty much at the same time as her. She had no idea the bastard took photos and had them this whole time,” Madds responds.

“Wait, I understand why Vin would know, but why doyouknow?!”

“Because Holt decided to reveal this to her when we were at the dinner party the other day, the one O’Rourke invited us to. Before he left, he gave her an envelope of photos and we walked in on her after she opened it,” I explain, and he rubs his jaw as he listens.

“And… who killed the guy she was burying? Although I think I have an idea what you will say…”

“She did… and it was my fault.”

The room goes silent at those last words. Madds is the only one that knows the whole story… almost. Finn and Carter had different interests at the time, and they were away for most of it too. Jesus, I don’t want to be a soppy prick and bear my fucking heart out to them; this is not who we are, no matter how tight our bond is.Shit.But they have to know something, they need some context.

“Fucking hell…” I swipe a hand over my face, sighing. “Look, Morrigan and I were together. A long time ago. You guys were in uni and I was here… I mean, Madds was here for most of it too. And… yeah, shit happened. We were at that point when all of this”—I point around us, at our bar—“was starting, when we were making our first deals and establishing ourselves. And it ended.”

“You’re skipping a few parts of that story, brother…” Madds’ tone is lower, pinning me from under his eyebrows.

Fuck, I know I’m skipping over a few parts! I’m skipping over the way her green eyes stood out in the crowd of girls that always seemed to notice us in school. I’m skipping over the fact that I always noticedher, only her, even when no one else seemed to, and I couldn’t believe that wild red hair framing that freckled pale skin and those forest eyes could ever be overlooked. I’m skipping over how I broke up a fight one day between her and some kid that was bullying her, and she was winning. I’m skipping over how I actually stood there and admired the fire in her for a while, before I stopped her from making a big mistake. I’m skipping over how I pulled her away and dragged her behind the maintenance building to calm her rage. I’m skipping over how I felt when her heaving breaths were turning to something else other than rage and I had to step away from her… how she ran to me after I left, jumped into my arms, and pressed her soft lips to mine… Over how pure and wild it felt. I’m skipping over how she smirked at me and ran back to class, but not before telling me…

“I saved that one for you… the first one.”

Her first kiss…

I’m skipping over how she left me speechless and confused. How I finished school and moved on. How I found her again a couple of years later, beating up the guy who was forcing himself on her. I’m skipping over how important she became, how deep she crawled under my skin, seeped into my blood and filled every part of my heart.

I’m skipping over how I got to ask her…

“Did you save this first for me as well?”

And she did… and it meant more than I ever thought something like that would. Because it was her. Because everything she was, her mind, her soul, her heart… they fit with mine like perfect puzzle pieces, and it made no sense how it was possible.

I’m skipping over all of this… and more.

“Madds and I saved her from the guy we told you about a while back, the one whose jaw she broke. And we got together not long after, for a few months.” I hold myself straight, pulling that shield up, strapping the armor on, the one that contains The Serpent they all know. It’s not a mask, this is all me, but that armor protects and conceals those vulnerable parts of me, the softer sides that enjoy their privacy. “When we broke up, that same guy came for her, because he knew she was no longer under my protection, that I was gone and she… was all alone.” I finish off telling them the story she told Madds and I and by the end of it, Finn has a sympathetic look in his eyes, whilst Carter… well, emotions aren’t his strong suit, so that analytical look in his doesn’t quite surprise me.

“Why did you break up?” The bastard’s calm, cocking his head subtly.

“It doesn’t matter now.” My eyes flicker to Madds for a split second. “What matters is that Morrigan O’Rourke cannot leave. The guy threatened to kill her parents, her brother, and when she seemed not to care that much about that, he threatened her with jail. And there’s no way she would get out on self-defense, not after hiding it and burying the guy. He threatened Loreley too… and she cares more about her than she does her own freedom. She’s stuck, hence—”

“Why she asked you for help.” Carter nods.

“Yeah… well, she asked for my help when it wasn’t even quite this bad. I think she still had some hope then. But I’ve seen how Holt treated her. He kidnapped her from the sidewalk, threatened… slapped her. And there’s one more thing that has to stay between us only.”

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