Is he okay?
What happened?
Is he…?
No, he’s not dead. I refuse to even consider that as a possibility. I would know if he was, would feel it the way one notices a splinter in their finger despite not being able to see it. But, god, just the thought of him being dead has unencumbered pain fracturing my mind, turning it into nothing but finite motes of dust.
I move with purpose toward the door to the room, knowing it’ll be locked but not giving a damn either way. I’ll break it open with my own two hands if I have to. I’ll?—
The door swings open on silent hinges, revealing the face of my uncle.
I get hit with the strangest sense of déjà vu, like I’ve done this before. Been here before.
Because I have.
The first time we met, it went almost exactly like this.
Only…it won’t end the same. I won’t be cowed by the man who claims to be my uncle. Not anymore. Not ever again.
Raymond’s right-hand man, Teak, stands behind my uncle, his chin notched imperiously in the air and his hands folded behind his back.
I bare my teeth at both of them.
“What the fuck is going on? Where’s Landon? Why the hell did he”—I jab an accusatory finger in Teak’s direction, raw, unfettered rage pulsating through me like a heartbeat—“knock me unconscious?”
“You were hysterical,” Raymond says, his tone uncharacteristically formal and his eyes sharp as steel.
Perhaps that’s true, but it gives them no right to drug me and bring me here.
Where are the other guys?
Where’s Landon?
A red mist creeps across my vision in tandem with my mounting rage and pounding heart.
“Where. Is. Landon?” I demand, my tone steady despite the fire burning white-hot and blistering in my chest.
“He’s in the hospital, undergoing emergency surgery,” Raymond says in that way-too-calm voice, considering the circumstances.
My pulse misfires. “Surgery?”
“Don’t worry. I used my contacts to make sure there are no records of him at the hospital.” Raymond’s expression softens minutely, as does his voice. “He’ll be fine.”
“I want to see him.” I curl my hands into fists, my nails biting into my palms.
A frown tugs at Raymond’s lips. “I’m afraid we can’t let you leave here.”
“Why the hell not?” Venom laces each word.
“Because.” Raymond takes a single step into the room, glancing over his shoulder at Teak. “Can you excuse us for a few minutes?”
Teak appears unsure, his gaze flicking toward me and then his boss, before he nods once and steps farther down the hallway. Raymond closes the door with a soft snick and leans against it, his arms folded over his chest.
It’s strange to look directly at him, mainly because the resemblance between him and my father is uncanny.
My father…
Who was once a member of the Paragons of Prosperity—a secret society disguised as a cult that uses humans for their own demented amusement. Their victims are sold, tortured, raped, and eventually killed.
