AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sweeping away the thoughts of Lev and Riley, I return my attention to the wallet. I smack it a few times against my palm before saying, “Cade had some sort of connection to Dr. Edmonds.”
“Lev’s therapist?”
I nod. “Yup. Found the good doc’s business card in Cade’s wallet.”
“That can’t be a coincidence. Dr. Edmonds isn’t even from Glendale.”
“No shit. Hence why I said there’s some sort of connection.” Glendale is the small town where we all lived before we came to BCU. Dr. Edmonds became Lev’s therapist years ago after Lev was kicked out of his aunt and uncle’s home.
“Unless Cade was just being a nosy little shit, trying to see if he can get info on his cousin from Edmonds.”
“That’s a possibility. But I still think we need to investigate this.”
“Well, The Sleuth is on the case. I’m sure you’ll figure it all out.” He’s referring to my position in The Society.
“Fuck no. You’re helping me on this one, Mr. High and Mighty Guardian.”
He waves his hand through the air. “The Society’s worst Guardian.”
“Nah. I think Riley has you beat on that.” We both laugh because it’s true. Riley and Maddox both suck as Guardians. Hell, we all suck at our positions right now. But we’re still young, we have a lot of time to grow. “What's our motto?” I ask him, my mouth tugging up in a grin.
“We will reign.”
“Damn straight we will. And that means all of us. You, me, Lev,andRiley. And we can’t reign if there is a snake on the inside. We need to make damn sure this doctor wasn’t in cahoots with Cade.”
“Agreed.” Maddox stands up, his face drawn with stress, and I can’t help but notice the shift in his demeanor. He lets out a deep breath. “While we’re on the subject of weeding out snakes…” He rolls his shoulders before letting them relax. “I think my dad might have had some sort of connection to Governor Saint.”
My eyebrows rise. “What makes you think that?”
“I’m pretty sure he’s The Elder that’s forcing this inside investigation. I think he put out the assignment for you to find out what really happened that night. Thank fuck it was you who got it; otherwise, Riley might have been banished by now. Or worse.”
I think about that every day. All the what-ifs. If this assignment would have fallen into the lap of any other Sleuth, she’d be screwed. They would’ve found out she was the one who killed the governor. I try hard not to let it linger on my mind, but it’s impossible for it to not pop up from time to time.
“Well,” I begin, “I guess we’ve got another case on our hands. Seems Lev is preoccupied with his own shit, so it’s just me and you.”
“Yeah. No shit.” He blows out a heavy breath. “All right then. You dig up what you can on Edmonds, and I’ll see what I can find out about my dad.”
“You really wanna do this? You and your dad are pretty tight.”
“If he’s trying to wreak havoc on Riley’s world, damn straight I’m doing this.”
Seems we’ve got the same mindset on that. The thought of Riley falling for another guy rips my heart out, but if I had to choose the other guy in her life, it would be Maddox. We’ve both got her best interests at heart. Therefore, she’ll always be protected.
CHAPTER17
RILEY
My muscles are screamingin agony. My sexual encounters with all three guys over the last few days have me feeling like I engaged in another mud wrestling match with Melody.
Each day Lev has tightened the invisible leash on me more and more, keeping me within arm’s reach. Every time he texts me, things between us go further. There’s a part of me that is scared of what he might do next, but another part of me yearns for the thrill he gives me. Butterflies erupt inside me with each degrading word, every time he forces me to obey him. Fighting Lev is like a game of how far I can test the devil before I end up getting burned alive.
Then there are times like now, when I look at him when he doesn’t realize I’m watching. He appears human. Reading a page in his textbook, his eyebrows scrunched together, deep in thought. I steal a glance at the page number and flip my book to the same one and begin reading, trying to see what part he is at, just so I can try and guess what he’s thinking.
It’s actually an interesting topic about the human mind, although it’s not the same subject we’re currently studying.
He turns the page and I do the same, reading along with him. Every now and then, I steal another glance, and he’s none the wiser.
Lev is so bemusing. He's the type of person who instills fear in others when he’s not even trying. He walks around with a pissed-off expression all day, every day, and his fists are almost always clenched at his sides. His body looks like it’s constantly on the defense, prepared to attack and protect at any given moment.
