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She pauses. “On the cliff of Devil’s Cockpit.”
Vaden throws me a semi and I catch it with one hand. “Step away from the cliff, baby.”
The whimpers of her pain tug at something feral and wild that lives deep inside of me, that only exists for her. The grip I have on my phone tightens until I swear I hear the screen crack.
“It doesn’t stop. It won’t stop.”
The phone line goes silent and the realization of every-fucking-thing we didn’t want to happen floats to the surface like the fat of boiled meat.
Maybe we were wrong. Fuck.
My phone’s back in my pocket and I’m across the room once more, my palm hitting the button to the elevator. “Devil’s Cockpit.” We all pile in together but I know Priest and Vaden are both asking the same question I am.
Did we have it wrong? Surely not possible.
“Talk. Right now!” I snap at the girls. They’d been hiding shit for Halen for a long time, if I’m going by the little hints thatthey’ve left over the past month. Priest’s thumb flies over his phone as the elevator reopens onto Creed. He’s the head of our security, and by security, I mean his hands are in everything.
His beady eyes bounce around us all. “Get in the caddy. I’ll drive.” We slide into the back and as soon as we’re on the road, Stella opens her mouth.
“The first thing you need to know about what’s happening right now, is that you can’t kill them.”
I squeeze the barrel of my gun to stop myself from choking her out. “Oh, that’s real funny, Stells. Next joke. This time be sure it’s funny, instead of making me want to kill you instead.”
She glares at me. “Jesus Christ.” I wouldn’t. Or maybe I would. The control I’ve spent so many of my years honing is weak right now, and I know that at any given second, I could tear someone’s head off if they so much as joke about her being in danger.
Her exhale is steady, but before she can continue, River interrupts her.
“Maledictionem…”
The word sucks warmth out of the space and my eyes land straight on Priest, and then move to Vaden.
“What?” My head tilts to the side. Priest’s eyes narrow on mine for a second, before understanding settles around him. “What curse?”
River’s head shifts to the side window. “We don’t know a lot about it, but I’m sure Halen will tell you.” Yeah, because she’s been so forthcoming leading up to this moment. “There’s a curse that runs through Riverside, and now, through her.”
I find Priest again, his eyes falling to his phone before lifting back to mine.
“We don’t have a curse,” Vaden answers smoothly. “Pretty sure we’d all know.”
“Faster, Creed!” I call out, but keep my focus fixed on River.
Her thumb plays with the strap of her semi.
I sit back in my chair. “Hurry the fuck up, River.”
She clears her throat. “There’d been tales in the old days about it, but since it didn’t get to our parents’ generation, they didn’t warn us.” Outside ceases to exist as she talks. “It seems to skip a generation, which is why there’s always one generation of Elite Kings who are sane and morally in line, and then there are others who are deranged. Filled with rage, hunger for power, and dobad things.”Her words leave her mouth in a whisper.
For the first time since this morning, a steady breath leaves my lips.
“What the fuck has this got to do with Halen being in dangerright now,and I swear to fucking God, River, if you don’t hurry the fuck up and spit it out, I’m throwing your whole ass out of this car!”
“It has to do with her, because this is what it does to you, War! Are you not listening?!” she yells back as tires hit gravel. “This!” She gestures around us all. “Doesn’t leave!”
“I’ll kill them.” Priest shoves his gun back into the band of his jeans, and I place mine to the side, away from my thigh.
“You’re not listening,” Stella repeats. “The curse isn’t there for you to touch. It exists inside your mind. Coming only when you’re asleep, when your mind is at its weakest. They visit you. They come to you,” she says with certainty.
I feel them both out. “Who?”
