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“Bexley, I’m not sure—"
“You’re going to need someone to take Lincoln’s place, get a handle on that situation.”
“Now hang on, boy.” Phillip’s face flames as he narrows his eyes at Bexley. “You can’t just come in here and take over. You are Electi. There are ru—"
“Yeah, about that, Dad.” Brandon runs a hand over his jaw. “We’re done with your rules. It’s time for a new era. Time to take Gravestone into the twenty-first century.”
“W-what the hell are you talking about?” He glances at his son and to Bexley and back again.
“You got to make all the calls, dishing out your orders and carrying out all your ceremonies…” Bexley inhales a shaky breath. “You got to play puppet master over our lives, but we’re done taking orders.”
“Now just you hang on a minute, Easton—"
“Bexley is right,” Tim interjects. “The way we’ve been doing things, it doesn’t work. Quinctus is two members short. The Kingsley line is extinct. Things are changing, Phillip.”
He studies each of us, his eyes wide and clouded with confusion. Whatever Phillip was expecting before we arrived, it wasn’t this.
“What exactly are you proposing?” He regards Bexley with a hard look.
“You give me a seat at the table. My grandfather is gone.” He swallows, and I squeeze his hand in comfort. “I want to take his place.”
“That doesn’t seem too unreasonable. I’ll need to consult the other eld—"
“There’s more,” Bexley says.
“More?”
“Yeah, you might need to write this down.”
* * *
“Channing.” I rush over to his side and take his hand in mine. “Thank God.”
“It’s good to see you too,” he chuckles, wincing a little.
“Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t—"
“Relax, it’s fine. I’m fine.”
“Really?” I stare down at him, my eyes brimming with regret.
“Really. Now get in here and tell me what happened with Phillip.”
Bexley and Sasha move deeper into the room. Sasha climbs onto the end and tucks herself into his side while Bexley sits down, dragging me with him.
“You’re looking at the newest Quinctus elder,” Bexley says with a hint of sadness.
“For real? He bought it?”
“What choice did he have?” Bexley shrugs. “I laid it all out for him. Told him if he wanted to continue the legacy, things had to change. Starting with the prosapia bullshit.”
“Fuck.” He runs a hand over his jaw. “I bet he was fuming.”
“Deep down, I think he knows it’s the right call. Quinctus needs to move with the times.”
“Does that mean I have to call you sir now?” Channing smirks.
“Fuck you, man. I’m doing this for all of us. If I had my way, we’d be long gone and—"
