Carlton purses his lips.
My devil looks at me, eyes unreadable, mouth unsmiling. He hates my brother. I know that without a doubt. He abhors him. I shudder as his gaze seems to settle deep under my skin. It takes all I have to remain upright as I wonder if he hates me too, if only for my name, the blood I share with Carlton.
“Dex,” he says, eyes still on me.
The door behind me opens. I step deeper into the room to put space between myself and Dex.
“Sir,” Dex says, unbothered by the palpable tension in the room.
“Take the girl downstairs.”
Downstairs? We’re already on the ground floor.
Dex nods and when I glance at him, he gestures for me to move.
I don’t. I can’t. My mouth opens and closes but nothing comes out. My brother is reading through those sheets of paper for the second or third time but the rest of them are watching me. Will Carlton save me? I’m not sure he could if he wanted to. For the Tribunal to be here means this man, my devil, has their blessing to do what he’s about to do. And Carlton will bend to IVI law.
My gaze shifts to the stranger who gives an almost imperceptible nod. Dex wraps a hand around my arm.
“Wait!” I cry out as he tugs me toward the door.
They all look at me. The one who hasn’t spoken, who looks so much like my devil I’d guess they were brothers, casually sips his drink, and watches the scene. I can’t read his expression. Can’t tell what he’s thinking.
My mouth and throat are dry. I lick my lips as I force myself to look at my devil. He’s the one making the decisions here. He’s the one dictating what happens. But what do I say?
When I am silent, he raises his eyebrows.
“I… I don’t understand,” I manage.
“Then your brother hasn’t done a very good job educating you in the ways of The Society. I’ll be sure to remedy that.” He shifts his gaze over me. “Dex.”
“Let’s go,” Dex says.
“But… Carlton?” I ask as I stumble toward the door.
Carlton glances at me then back down at the sheet as if I haven’t spoken at all. As if these men kidnapping me, and let’s be clear that is exactly what they’re doing, is totally normal. Acceptable.
“Dex,” my devil calls out and we stop. “If she gives you any trouble, keep her in the dark.”
Dark? Where the hell does he plan on taking me?
Dex nods and we’re out the door, his grip painful around my arm. When he closes the door behind us, I hear Carlton’s angry tone, his out-of-control tone. The one that tells me he won’t be getting his way, not tonight. Not against these men.
I look around as Dex leads me to the foyer. My heels clicking loudly on the onyx-veined white and gray marble. I think he’s going to take me up the marble staircase, but we pass it and the farther we move from the double front doors, the more urgent my fight becomes.
“You’re hurting me!”
He doesn’t bother to reply, just drags me toward a dimly lit corridor.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to pry his fingers from my arm as panic sends adrenaline through my veins.
He turns to me and I find myself leaning back. “Keep your voice down,” he says calmly. He unlocks and opens a steel door at the very end of the corridor.
I peer around him as he switches on the lights, but I don’t have to see anything to know we’re going into a basement. I smell the cool, earthy scent of an underground space. He keeps hold of me as we descend and I clutch my free hand around the uneven railing nailed into the stone wall.
“Where are you taking me?” I try again, counting my steps, looking in either direction once we’re at the bottom. A light blinks at the far end of the corridor to my left like the bulb is about to burn out. The other to my right is better lit and I see it’s lined by a row of old doors.
“Catacombs.”
I freeze. “What?”
He grins when he gets a look at my face. I’m sure I’ve gone white as a ghost.
“Catacombs?”
“Just kidding. We won’t go that deep.”
Kidding? I struggle against him, but he carries on, dragging me to the right. I’m grateful for that at least as I crane my neck to look behind me. I watch that bulb flicker once more then go out, plunging that other corridor into darkness.
When we reach the last door, he opens it, reaching in to switch on the light. A single light bulb brightens the room. It hangs naked from a wire at the center of the ceiling in this windowless room. A small bed is pushed against one wall, beside it, a nightstand with worn legs and a drawer that hangs askew. On it sits a shadeless lamp without a bulb inside. On the floor is a threadbare rug.
I turn to Dex who is watching me.
“What is this?”
“Old servant’s quarters. Not in use anymore, obviously. This is the half you want to be in, trust me.”
Trust him?
I look at the opposite corridor, the darker of the two, then back at him.
He gestures for me to enter.
I shake my head. “I need to talk to my brother. I need—”
“I can take the bulb away. I promise you, you do not want that. Pitch black is pitch black down here.”
I swallow. “Why? Why does he want me?”
“Bulb or no bulb?”
I won’t get anything out of him. I know that. So when he takes a step into the room, I cry out for him to stop because I know he’s not messing around. And I don’t want to be in the dark, not down here.
“How long?” I ask when he releases me once I’m fully inside the room.
He shrugs his shoulders, reaching for the doorknob. I see the key in the lock on his side. “Until Jericho decides it’s time to come for you.” And before I can get another word in, he pulls the door closed and locks it.
I wrap my arms around myself. I look around this small, haunted place, chilled to the bone in this stupid dress. And terrified of what’s to come.
6
Jericho
Like a chastised child, Bishop is silent as he and Hildebrand leave the house. He heard the evidence. Bits and pieces I selected just for him. The most damning fragments. He didn’t look at me once after that. Barely met the Councilor’s gaze. I wonder if Hildebrand is relieved not to have to stand him before The Tribunal. A Bishop. Founding family member and sovereign son plotting the execution of another member of The Society. The IVI justice system is an extreme one. Operating outside the norms of society, somehow above the law. Their punishments often exceed those of the outside world and this particular offense is a death sentence penalty.
In this modern day just a few years ago, an execution was carried out on IVI grounds for a similar offense. Granted, one with consequences that reached farther than Carlton Bishop’s limited imagination could conjure up. A man was executed and although proceedings of The Tribunal are secret, the details circulated among the members of The Society and serve as a warning to all, even Carlton Bishop.
The door closes and I turn to find Zeke watching me.
“Get the outcome you wanted?” he asks.
“What I wanted was for Angelique to have a mother.”
Zeke drinks a sip of whiskey, taking his time. “You’re not the only one who lost her, you know. She was my best friend. More.”