AllFreeNovel
Share Us
River leans back, resting her head against the top of her chair. “This is fucked up. Even for us.”
Vaden continues. “As you may have noticed, Perdita isn’t exactly as it was when our parents were around. The new Katsia has run the island for a few years now, and other than the odd rogue Lost Boy, there have been no other issues.” I know what he’s doing. Implying that we can step in and tear the crown from her head.
We shouldn’t.
“Vaden’s right. We could kick the bitch if we ever wanted to, but leaving Perdita to draw out its own infections has always been the best way to go. The island has a way of choosing its residents. We have to respect that.”
Halen ignores me. “We all know Perdita is purgatory for everyone who passes through, and it has nothing to do with the island choosing. It’s us who does.”
“Maybe so,” Priest murmurs. “But we ain’t changing that right now. Whether you like it or not, this is how it’s going to stay. She will stay.” Priest’s subtlety has never been his strong suit, and the smack he just landed on Halen to remind her to pull her head in where Katsia is concerned is proof of that.
Halen shrugs, not bothering to hide her cavalier. “You can have your toys. That’s not what this is about.” When Halen is annoyed, her tongue turns into a fucking weapon.I know her. Katsia isn’t what bothers her.
My thumb grazes the curve of my bottom lip. “I can share them if you want.”
“No thanks.” She reaches for the glass in front of her, swirling liquid around the edge. “And you already know everything about what we’ve been doing. Parties, jumping city to city to get laid, racing, you know—” No one says a word as she pauses.
Her hand rests on her bracelet to adjust the chain. “—the usual. I’m tired. I’m going to head to bed.” Without hesitation, she stands and makes her way to Priest, kissing him on the top of his head.
His jaw tenses but he lets it happen. He always does. In small doses, because she doesn’t do it often.
She throws up deuces before the elevator closes on her.
There’s no point censoring around the girls, so my eyes find Priest. “She’s hiding something.”
His finger beats a tune against the table, his metal ring clattering on contact. “Obvious. Knowing her, she’s not going to come clean. Not until she wants to. And as we all know, if you pull, Halen doesn’t pull back.” His pupils dilate. “She cuts the fucking line.”
He’s right. I just don’t know if he’s reminding himself, or warning me.
“How’s that gavel feel?” I change the subject. We’re all fatigued, and right now if I think too much, I’ll snap.
Shadows form beneath the hollow contours of his cheeks. “Like I’ve always had it.”
“Okay, well, I’d love to chill all night, but I’m fucking tired.” River claps her hands and scoops up the stray keys on the table.
The silence from them both was discernible tonight, until the elevator doors close around Stella’s burst of laughter at something River says. The bond between the three of them would be terrifying, if we didn’t know that it only meant they were always safe so long as they were together.
Before my wayward thoughts go rogue, my legs carry me to the floor-to-ceiling glass walls that flaunt the freckled lights of Riverside. A single light flickers on from the Castle, stealing my attention. All it takes is one, when that one means so much.
With one hand on the glass, and the other holding the tumbler to my mouth, I follow the shadow of her silhouette. “Whatever she’s hiding aside, there’s something we didn’t tell them either.”
“The Hunt,” Vaden agrees from somewhere behind me.
“We keeping it that way?” I ask them both, unable to move.
Priest’s silence is the calm before the storm. “Halen is smart, logical. She’s a lot like Dad, but she also hides a side that she refuses to allow people to see. She’s been my sister all her life, so she has always felt as if she has to make up for what I lack. It’s a guise. One I’ve always let her have.”
My body turns rigid. Everything is spot on. I’d felt the thunder of her dark side over the years, but I was yet to taste its rain.
What makes people like her and Bishop incalculable, is that it’s not their humanity that’s a guise, it’s the reason why they’re lethal. A monster is still a monster, no matter how sharp its teeth are.
“Is that a yes, or no?” My finger taps against the glass wall. Moments later, her bedroom light is out.
Vaden’s eyes burn the back of my head. “That’s a no. I’m sure they’ll find out sooner or later, so it can be later rather than sooner. And anyway, they’ll be too busy with college.”
“Yes, they will be, especially since I planted the idea in Mom’s head about the old EKC frat house that hasn’t been used for fifty or so years.” I swallow the remainder of whiskey. “I’m sure that’ll keep them all nice and busy.”
My mouth curves, but I don’t bother turning to face him. I can’t take my eyes off her, even if she’s not in the room. “Luna was there tonight.”
