Page 150 of Wicked Lord

A chill crawled up my spine. He didn’t look like a man anymore. He looked like the reason people whispered about blood rituals and sacrifices to the devil.

“You’ve all been gathered on such short notice to deal with a very unsettling issue.”

Jasper Bishop’s deep voice traveled through the atrium, quieting the hushed conversations. “It has come to my attention that our brother Axel Vanderhart is in a precarious legal position because another brother has betrayed us.”

Murmurs erupted through the crowd, and masked faces turned to each other. Did they notice the Domnus was missing?

A door on the left opened. A cloaked Lord dragged a man into the atrium with a burlap bag covering his face and his hands tied behind his back. Tension infiltrated the atmosphere as the Grand Domnus placed a wooden chair on the center of the stage and roughly forced the detained man down.

My fists curled by my sides as the bag was ripped from Vaughn’s head. Gasps ricocheted, and I wasn’t sure if it was because the traitor was the Domnus or because welts and bruises mottled his face. Dried blood stained his upper lip, and the bottom one was busted open.

The gas lanterns and candlelight danced on the split and bruised knuckles of the member who dragged him in. If I had to guess, it was Bass, and he’d beat the shit out of Vaughn.

Who needed enemies when you had friends like Sebastian Davenport?

The Grand Domnus lifted his palm to quiet the brothers before angling toward Vaughn. “Mr. Radcliffe, you’ve been accused of betrayal. How do you plead?” As Vaughn opened his mouth—probably to deny it—Jasper interrupted. “Remember who you’re dealing with. We can easily uncover the truth, so rethink any lies you’re about to spew.”

Vaughn should have known this was coming the moment Brock went to the police with the video Susanna Michaels recorded. His nostrils flared, eyes burning with fury, but he finally bowed his head in submission.

“I gave brotherhood secrets from the archives to an outsider without permission,” he muttered.

Several members cursed—Lords and the older Ascended—and fury permeated the catacombs. This was serious treason. The secrets held in the archives were used to keep members compliant, but passing anything to an outsider was a monumental fuckup.

And to make matters worse, it landed in the hands of the police.

“Do you understand the severity of what you’ve done, Mr. Radcliffe?” Jasper shook his head, the horns of the ram skull ominously curling from the crimson hood.

Vaughn stared at his feet. “I apologize for my lapse in judgment, sir. It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t.” The Grand Domnus withdrew a ceremonial dagger from the pocket of his robe. “Mr. Vanderhart, come and deliver your retribution.”

The blood drained from Vaughn’s cheeks. And the same time dread coated my veins. Of course, I’d known this was coming. This was how the Serpents & Daggers dealt with treason.

“B-but I’m the Domnus.”

When Vaughn attempted to stand, Bass shoved him back in the chair.

“As the Domnus, you know the type of punishment your mistake has earned.” Jasper held the hilt of the knife toward me.

I took it in my shaky hand, knowing I couldn’t refuse. But the thought of spilling more blood soured my stomach.

At least Vaughn wasn’t innocent.

Bass suddenly removed his white mask, his grip still digging into Vaughn’s shoulder to keep him still. “Grand Domnus, before we carry out Mr. Radcliffe’s punishment, I would like to announce that I’ve secured evidence capable of exonerating Axel.”

Um, what?

Someone cleared his throat, and Killian stepped forward. “Wewere able to secure a way. And Conrad Vanderhart was an integral part.”

Bass gave a pacifying smile. “It was a group effort.”

My hand clutching the knife lowered as I studied the two warring Davenports. Bass definitely wanted something big once this was all said and done if he was willing to work with his stepbrother.

A door on the right opened, and my father entered the atrium, gently towing a woman with a burlap bag over her head. His calm blue eyes met mine, soothing the storm of emotions crashing inside.

What the hell was going on?

The Grand Domnus stepped down from the dais and met my father at the edge. “Care to explain why you’ve brought a stranger into our sacred domain, Conrad?”