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“That’s the freaky part.” Lincoln’s eyes went wild. “She posted itafteryou two left the party.”
That wasn’t possible.
“Someone else had her phone. Someone before you,” I said.
“Congratulations, Caspian. Bob, tell the man what he’s won,” Lincoln said in a game-show-host-type voice.
Asshole.
The photo was generic, at best. It could have been anyone. The caption made no sense, and the hashtags were cheesy as fuck.
#HuntingtonandDonahue
Whoever posted it wanted the world to know what I’d said at that party—that we were together.
Can’t wait to celebrate our engagement on the island.
What island? What the fuck did that mean?
They also wanted the world to know we’d be going somewhere.Remote. Quiet. Off the grid. An island.
Lincoln moved to shove the phone back into his pocket, but I held out my hand. He slapped the phone down on my palm. “You really are fucking obsessed.” The toothpick rolled between his teeth. “But you’ve always protected her. Ever since that night at the lake.”
Chandler shot me a glance, and I took another drink, draining the glass.
“We all did what we had to do that night,” Chandler said. His voice was low, haunted by the demons that plunged us all from childhood into manhood.
“I think about it sometimes,” Lincoln said, then plucked the toothpick from his mouth. “About how fucked up it all was.”
I didn’t think about it. I’d shoved the memory of that night away into the darkest parts of my mind. All it did was remind me who I really was, what I was really capable of.
I got up and walked to the kitchen to pour myself another drink.
Chandler propped his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands.
“It’s this weekend, you know. The Brotherhood ceremony,” Lincoln said.
Yes. I fucking knew. It was all I’d thought about since I realized they’d taken her. I thought I had everything mapped out perfectly, but I’d played right into their hand. I’d been so preoccupied with Tatum and getting her the fuck away from her father and Khalid that I’d forgotten it was that time of year. Maybe that was part of their plan. Maybe they’d outsmarted me in that way. That would never happen again.
Every year at this time, all the members of the Obsidian Brotherhood congregated in the middle of a dense forest in upstate New York. They called it the Ceremony of Cares, and one year at Clearview Lake, when we were all barely teenagers, we got a small taste of exactly what it was they did. The sons were never invited to The Grove. It was an event strictly for the patriarchs of the families. But we’d all been initiated. We’d been prepped and groomed for the depravity of the Brotherhood our whole lives.
Lincoln cleared his throat. “You think that’s where—”
I threw the glass across the room. It hit the piano and shattered into a million pieces. “Shut up!” My breath came in hot, heavy bursts. “Just shut the fuck up.”
He bolted up from the couch. “Calm down, motherfucker. We’re on the same team.”
I cleared the space between us, stopping when we were chest to chest. “You fill her head with precisely the bullshit I try to protect her from. We arenoton the same team.”
Chandler lifted his head but stayed seated, always calm, always the voice of reason. “Both of you calm the fuck down. We’re all on the same team. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be here right now.” When I took a deep breath and a step back, he continued. “Now, I need you to think. What does that post mean? And if they did take her to The Grove—”
I pinned him with a glare.
He held both hands in the air. “I saidif, asshole.” His hands fell to his lap. “What do you think they’ll do with her?”
Can’t wait to celebrate our engagement on the island.
The world is a jungle, Son. You’re either the lion or the antelope. You either run or you take.
Which one is your precious Tatum? A lion? Or an antelope?I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
All eyes were on me as I unbuttoned the cuff of my shirt sleeve and folded it over, rolling it up my forearm, then repeated the process with my other sleeve.
The pieces all came together, like one of those cube puzzles that didn’t make any sense until that final part clicked.
I knew what we had to do.
“They’re going to hunt her.” My voice was ice-cold. I almost didn’t recognize it. “Then they’re going to kill me.”
