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“How unlucky you are, my friend,” Bones says quietly. “I’m in a mood.” He slams his right foot into the poor guy’s lower back, and the sickening sound of breaking bones mingled with the man’s hearty scream reverberates through the empty corridors, bouncing off the walls like echoes from the deepest depths of hell.
Bones’ smirk grows more expansive, and he’s just about to proceed with his torture when Pocus comes out of the room, but not alone this time. My heart slams hard against my chest as I gape at the lifeless body in Pocus’s arms.
Hex?
* * *
Ifall back against the wall with a groan, raising my hand to wipe off the blood trickling down my broken nose. Hex lurches at me again, but Bones quickly pulls him away.
“You motherfucker!” Hex spits venomously, glaring hotly at me over Bones’ shoulder. “How could you?”
I hang my head, welcoming the shame and disappointment that pierces me in waves. I deserve the pain.
“Stand down, Hex,” Pocus says quietly from his place at the head of the table. It’s the first thing he’s said since the commotion started. He had quietly watched with an inscrutable expression while Hex expressed his outrage upon entering the meeting room.
Hex shoves at Bones’ chest and walks over to his seat, mumbling a brash curse.
Pocus waits until everyone is settled before returning his attention to me. “What the hell happened back there, Seer?”
I look at the faces of the men I call brothers, wondering why they all suddenly feel like strangers. Then it occurs to me that the moment I feared since my sight started to fail has come… It’s time to be straight with the club about what’s happening to me. They want justification for my actions, but how do I even begin to explain a pain that even I don’t understand?
The why is inconsequential at this point. All that matters is that I have broken the ultimate code of brotherhood, and I need to pay.
“I’ll accept any punishment you deem fit,” I say to Pocus.
Hex scoffs loudly. “And that’d be all? Hell, no!” He slams his palm over his thigh, glaring at me with an unyielding expression. “I fucking want to know why you left me back there. Why, Seer?”
“I badly needed a smoke,” I reply with a casual shrug. “I couldn’t risk drawing the attention of Rugal’s men, so I had to excuse myself.”
I’m pathetic. The lie sticks in my throat, but the truth is unbearable.
I cringe inwardly as Hex’s expression morphs from anger to disgust. “What the fuck?”
“Are you saying you neglected your duty because you needed a smoke?” Pocus slowly asks, as if he is trying to wrap his head around the whole situation.
“I was away for just a couple of minutes,” I reply with a casual shrug. “How was I to know he would get himself caught in that time?”
A hushed silence suddenly falls over the room. I didn’t have to look at the guy's faces to see their disappointments. I want Pocus to pass judgment. I want to take my punishment and be on my way. I can’t bear the accusatory stares of my brothers.
“Seer?” Pocus says my name as if to confirm my sanity. “One of our brothers could have died.”
I turn to look Hex in the eyes, hoping he sees my sincerity. “If it’s worth anything, I’m sorry, Hex.”
Hex holds my gaze for a tense second but looks away wordlessly. My chest clenches painfully at his blatant rejection. I don’t know which hurt more–his blows or his silence.
“I know that the past few months have been rough and demanding,” Pocus starts, breaking the awkward silence in the room. “But what you did was inexcusable, Seer. We are brothers, and you failed your brother. You’ll be stepping down as VP.”
I gape at Pocus in stunned silence, unable to process the clashing emotions that claw at my chest at that moment. I’d expected my flesh to be torn from my body, and I was okay with it. Even the pain of the worst beating was something I was ready to accept. Anything but this.
How could he strip me of my identity?
How could he confirm my fear so quickly?
I shake my head slowly in disbelief. “You can’t mean that, Prez,” I whisper, keeping my eyes intently on his. I wish he would reach out and feel my pain, guilt, and confusion.
“That’s my verdict, Seer,” Pocus says.
A snort escapes my throat, but it soon becomes a crazed cackle. I never thought the day would come when I’d ever feel this way again:an outcast.
