I let go of Jack’s throat and take a step back because I want him to say something. I need him to say something.
He sucks in a long breath. “You’re part of something very big, Cooper. Something very special. But it’s not a guarantee. It comes with conditions and pledges of loyalty. And by pledges, I mean blackmail. But don’t worry, we’ve all been here, brother. We’ve all sat in this room and faced the truth. And then we all went out and did our jobs. Just like you’re going to do now. Do you really think we keep pretty little blonde girls on the edge of things because… what? We’re generous?” He laughs. “Come on. Cadee’s a part of this too. She was a plan. It was never about you. It could’ve been Lars or Ax, I guess. You’re no one special, really. But you’re the one who will…” He pauses to grin at me. Then he shrugs.
I’m the one who will go through with it.
That’s what he’s thinking. They—whoever they are—they must think I’m the one who will rape this girl to save another girl’s life.
That’s just the kind of guy I am.
“Who did you rape, Jack?”
His eyes narrow down into slits. But it’s not a defensive look. It’s not guilt. It’s… conviction. “She didn’t make it so it doesn’t matter.”
“Dane wasn’t killed because he had to pay for what he did to Cadee. He was just an example. That’s why they pass the babies around, isn’t it? Father needed to raise a boy that wasn’t his so that one day…” I stop to take a deep breath. “One day he could use him. Just throw him away like a… sacrifice.”
“Now you’re catching on.”
“And you’re gonna keep it going, aren’t you?”
“We all keep it going Cooper.”
“Why?” It comes desperate. Because I just don’t understand. “Why would you be a part of something like this?”
He sighs. It’s not a frustrated sigh, it’s a sigh of… longing. And I am suddenly reminded of the way Elexa was looking at Valentina last summer. When she was showing off her diamonds and talking about mansions, and boats, and men.
“You can’t even imagine the power, Cooper. You have no idea what you’re in to. This is such a small sacrifice. One stupid girl. Who cares? She is worth nothing in the grand scheme of things. You, on the other hand—Cooper, you could rise. You could really, really rise.”
He looks drunk on delusions. I don’t even recognize him. “Is this why Ax had to grow up with the Judge?” I turn away from Jack. I can’t look at him. “He was nothing to that man. Nothing but a… an offering.”
Jack starts a slow clap. It’s loud, even with the muffled sounds of the party leaking through the walls. “Yes. Very good, brother. An offering. We don’t have much use for mongrel boys like Dane and Ax. They are tools, nothing more. Mistakes. And if Cadee had gone through with it and gave birth to a little baby Dane, well.” I turn back in time to see Jack shrug again. “He’d just be another Ax. Just another Dane.”
“And if she had a girl?”
“Just another Cadee. Just another Mona. Just another Sophie.”
The true evil of this plan finally sinks in. And then my father’s words come back to me. Back when we had that talk on the Old Inn porch.
The oldest did everything he was told. He took the wife he was offered and he was happy. Content. The youngest didn’t want anything to do with the girls at High Court. Not the legitimate ones, anyway. You see, he loved a girl on the edge of things.
I know you think I’m evil. I walk into that tomb every month and condone what happens in there.
But I was you once. I was the youngest brother. The underachiever. I wanted the girl on the edge of things. She was a town girl, not a pretty thing in the woods. And I got her, Cooper. That was your mother. And I still ended up here.
He still ended up here.
Mona’s words come back to me too. They hit me in the chest like a fucking sledgehammer.
Your family are a bunch of psychopaths.
You are a whiny bitch of a boy.
You don’t deserve Cadee or Isabella.
It’s your fault they’re in this mess.
It’s all your fault.
And she was right. Everything that’s happening to Isabella and Cadee is because of me.
They want me in line.
They need me to follow orders.
Everything has consequences.
And she was right about the rope too.
I have a lot of it. And I’m not using it to climb out of the hole. I’m using it to bring them all down with me.
“No.” I say it loud and I say it with conviction.
“What?” Jack is incredulous.
“No. I’m not doing it.”
Jack grins. “I don’t think you understand what will happen next if you say no, Cooper.”
But I do.
I absolutely do.
And I still walk away.
I leave by way of the back stairwell and then make my way around to the front of the building. There are a ton of cars in the parking lot and I’m not in the mood to wait for the valet to bring my car around, so I shove my hands in my pockets and start walking down the highway towards the Old Alumni Inn.
Victor and Ax should have data by now. And I want to see it. I want to take these motherfuckers down. I want to make sure no more girls are fed to the lions just to keep the Kings in line.
This is how they do it. They hold something over you—like Cadee and Isabella—and then they threaten them. Do as we say or these people you love will be dead by morning.
They always give you a way out, though. That’s the only way they can control you.
Rape this girl, Cooper. Rape this girl and Cadee and Isabella will still be alive tomorrow.
And I said no.
I walked out.
What have I done?
I walk faster. I need a fucking plan. I’m starting to panic.
They have them.
Jack has them.
My father. The Judge—I feel sick.
Cadee and Isabella are probably at the tomb right now and these monsters are doing God knows what to them.
I start to jog. My expensive shoes splashing in the slushy snow on the side of the road.
The inn comes into view, the lights on, and I have a wave of hope that Ax will know what to do. He will have a plan. We will figure this out and win—and then a black van pulls up in front of me. The door slides open to reveal men dressed up in black. They grab me, pull me in, slide the door closed, shove a hood over my head, throw me down, zip-tie my hands and feet, and then one of them says, “Tell Lars we got him.”
CHAPTER THIRTY - TWO - CADEE
Leela does not put me in a dress. It’s a school uniform. Not regulation, but it’s definitely a school uniform. Except it’s all in white.
A short, pleated skirt, a crisp button-down shirt, and a sweater vest with the High Court Lions logo embroidered on the left breast.
She does not explain this, nor do I ask about it.
Because I don’t care what I wear to the tomb tonight. I just want my secrets.
My hair is hastily pulled up into pigtails. She makes me sit and then pulls the thigh-high stocking up my legs. But she doesn’t linger. There are no soft touches. She doesn’t kiss me again. It’s like she flipped a switch and now she’s cold, and focused, and businesslike.