It’s their best creation, since it stores everything forever.
We’re an old organization with old services that continue to be beneficial for some reason.
As soon as we’re out of the building, Ten tugs my arm. “You take the cabin, I’ll take the tower.” Already knowing what he’s talking about, I agree and we split off. If for even a moment we are caught erasing data, we’ll be marked as traitors. But the alternative is every Emerald being killed, including Colt.
The trek to the cabin isn’t short. Instead, it’s cold and bitter, letting me know winter is most definitely here, even if the snow has somehow forgotten our annual date.
When I get to the house in the middle of the woods, I put in the pin and open the door. It’s black inside, but something feels off. Foreboding touches me like a promise in the dark and the air feels crisp.
Someone was here recently.
We haven’t been here since we watched Jordan and Lux fuck. It was one of the hottest and hardest things for me to watch. It’s not news to most of the guys that I jerk off to Lux fucking other people. It’s my burden, and to my knowledge, he’s not aware I fist myself to him and only him. The guys always think I’m joking when I ask to join. It’s my way of not sounding desperate while also sounding desperate.
When I head upstairs where the surveillance room is, I hear a creak. My heart races, forcing me to rush there faster. I shut the door, grabbing the 9mm we have stuffed in the drawer.
I sit, waiting out the noise, when my phone rings, thoroughly freaking me the fuck out. “Hello,” I rasp into the line.
“Ross, I need you to listen to me,” Lux says quickly, making my head spin. “You need to get out of Arcadia.” My heart hammers quickly, my palms sweaty around the nine.
“Lux,” I whisper, needing to tell him what’s going on but feeling my nerves eat me alive.
“Is there someone with you?” he asks.
“Chocolate is my favorite candy,” I explain, knowing he’ll know.
“I’ll check the feed right now from my phone.” His voice reassures me, keeping me sane while also making me laser focused on whoever is outside the door. “Ross, I need you to tell me you’re safe since I need to login and it’s taking time.”
“I really want a salad for lunch. Do you think you can get me one?”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he grouses, and for the first time in months, I feel safe and cared for.
“There’re two men inside. One outside of comms and one out back near the locked room.”
He explains these things, but I keep my gun pointed at the door, afraid to look away. “Yeah, I bought a camera for Ten for his birthday,” I explain, knowing he’ll understand.
“Is Ten safe?”
“He really likes the towers, he wanted to check them out and take photos for his birthday.”
“Fuck, Jordan will call him. I didn’t think of him, just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
Those words do me in and the emotions I’ve bottled for years tumble out of my eyes, blurring my vision. I swipe them away quickly. “I love you, Lux.”
He chokes up on the phone line. “I love you too, Ross. You’re my best fucking friend.”
When I look up, the door is bursting open and a man with a gun is rushing toward me.
“Goodbye, Lux.”
“Ross!” I hear Lux yell as gunshots sound out.
Chapter Twelve
Lennox
My heart pounds erratically as I hear several more gunshots ringing out before the line dies. This isn’t happening, this isn’t fucking happening. My chest beats as my heart attempts an escape, knowing part of itself is a state away, hurt, or worse… dead.
Jordan’s next to me on the phone with Ten. “Don’t fucking go to the cabin, there’s people there.”
“Ross is there!” I can hear Ten’s worry and my stomach clenches.
“Just run, Ten. Fucking run.”
“I don’t have my car, we agreed last year only Lux would bring one.”
“My spare keys are in my room in the Two Towers book on my dresser,” I explain and Jordan relays.
“Always knew you were a closeted nerd,” Jordan repeats for Ten. I don’t even smile at his words. All I can think about is my best friend and how shitty of terms we’ve been on since I not only got married, but since he found out I fucked Jordan.
That’s the thing with Ross. I’ve been in love with him since we were young. I may not have realized that that’s what love was, but it’s definitely what it is.
His declaration before the line died ripped me apart inside. Maybe he’s okay and he shot the guy.
We keep a gun in the surveillance room for a reason.
I check the camera and don’t see anyone at the cabin, outside, or in any of the rooms. I check the tower and see Ten finding the keys and heading to the tunnel passage that only the guys and I, along with past Emeralds, know of. It’s a secret we’re meant to keep. It safely takes you to the garage outside of campus, where seniors and Student Gov are allowed vehicles.
Our cameras don’t track in the tunnel or the garage. We’re limited to Arcadia grounds and since Ross is nowhere in sight, I’m forced to think the worst.
I don’t realize it until Jordan is off the phone and wiping my face that tears are streaming freely. “What happened?”
“He might be dead,” I answer, my voice void of anything graspable. At this point, I’m numbing the pain, knowing I can’t allow it to drive me.
If he’s dead, I still have to save Ten.
If he’s dead, I have to tell Colt.
If he’s dead, I will never forgive myself for keeping him at arm’s length.
“He’s okay,” Jordan says. I turn to him with a sour expression.
“How the fuck would you know? You didn’t hear him or see the guys he was up against. I’m sure he’s fucking dead and it’s my fault,” I rage, hearing my anger and pain.
Jordan puts his hands up in surrender but I can’t let it go. “I fucking chose you and Justice and Ten and Maxim.” The words tumble out of me like vomit after a kegger. “I fucked all four of you and so many others and never picked him!”
My voice gets louder and Jordan stares at me with understanding, only setting me off more. “I never chose him, his love, his body, his advances, anything… I always pushed him away, not wanting to ruin our friendship.”