AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Keep talking, interloper. I’ll cut that tongue out and feed it to you soon enough.” Paxton’s vibrating with restrained fury. He’s about my size but way too eager, and his emotions are written all over his face. I look forward to meeting him in the woods too. He’ll be easier than he thinks to take down. I just hope I have the pleasure of getting to him first.
Artemis strolls in, wearing his usual Southern gentleman attire of suit and oxford shirt. He politely inquires about my health. Then we have to do the whole damn formal brunch thing, and it drags out for an hour. The pheasant is flavorful and tender, the asparagus in hollandaise exquisitely prepared, but I’d rather get down to business.
I refuse to allow this to be my last meal.
Finally, Artemis focuses his attention on me. “Your attendance is requested in our meeting room,” he says. Paxton flashes a gloating look my way. I can all but hear him crooning in his head. “Oooh, you’re in trouble…”
Fucking child.
We all wind our way through the house with the butlers trailing behind us.
We finally reach a large windowless room with a long oak table in the center. Oil portraits of the previous Franklins glare pitilessly from the far wall, the one that faces the door I’m entering. Isaiah Franklin’s picture is the largest, and it’s in the center. His eyes simmer with rage; I doubt that man ever cracked a smile in his miserable life.
There are seventeen men there by my quick count, lined up with their backs to the wall, facing me. They’re all formally dressed, like Solomon and Paxton, wearing dark jackets and ties. I can see varying degrees of resemblance. Seeing so many variations of my stolen face looking back at me is disconcerting. They range in age from early twenties to their seventies. All are dark-haired and blue-eyed like me. I recognize some of them, including Benedict, Senator Franklin, and Judge Franklin.
This might be the first time I don’t mind my new look. Sharing a face with these savages isn’t something I want. I might have darkness inside me, but they are black holes of nothingness.
Their gazes are hard and unfriendly. Solomon and Paxton go sit down next to their father, with the other men, and I sit alone at a chair on the opposite side as I am directed.
Artemis’s seat is in the center, underneath the portrait of Isaiah. It’s larger and more ornate than the other men’s seats. He speaks in a booming voice that rolls from his chest and rings from the rafters.
“I now convene the emergency meeting of the Franklin Family Council.”
This is in the charter, which I have memorized down to the last comma.
He recites a passage about the glorious family history, how the Franklins are men touched by God, apart from and above other men, who make their own destiny, and other florid crap repeated in this room ad nauseam for more than 200 years.
When he finishes, he requests the roll call, and every man announces their name and the name of their father, grandfather, great-great-grandfather, tracing their lineage back to Isaiah. When they finish, I state my name, my father’s name, my grandfather’s name, and I also trace my lineage back from the family tree that was a part of the charter. I see Paxton’s eyes flicker with annoyance; if I’d failed to recite my lineage properly, they would have executed me on the spot. No non-Franklin can know of the family’s secrets and live.
With the formalities finally over, Artemis’s eyes drill into me like laser beams. “Bastien Durand, I understand that you hacked into Troy’s GPS module and killed him yesterday evening. This is a violation of my rules as patriarch.” His voice has gone velvety soft. The same tone he used when he dumped the eggs on the floor and told the women to have them cleaned up, or he’d cut their fingers off.
The rules about usage of the GPS modules are not in the charter, of course, but this falls under Artemis’s powers as patriarch. The patriarch addresses more modern issues.
I shake my head. “No, sir, I don’t have that capability. I turned one of his chefs against him, and he poisoned him.”
“Bullshit!” Damion Franklin, Troy’s father, bellows, his face flushing red. Then he glances at Artemis. “Apologies, patriarch. Permission to speak, sir?”
“Granted.”
Damion glowers at me. “This is horseshit. All of my son’s employees were loyal. Artemis, I told you not to let this clown in. Now you’re allowing him to participate in the challenge? It’s a potential disaster for every last one of us. For our entire way of life. We don’t know enough about him. We—”
“The charter gives me no choice,” Artemis says coldly. “It is very clear on that matter. Are we weaklings? Are we afraid of him? He’ll be proving his worth, or lack of it, in two days’ time. Don’t question my decisions again, Damion, unless you want to enter the challenge and face me in the woods. Do you?”
Damion swallows hard. He’s broad and muscular; there’s not a single man here who isn’t fighting fit. But he must have a sense of what he’d be up against because he shakes his head.
“No, sir. I’m sorry. I do not question your authority.” His eyes bore into me, beaming hatred.
Come get me, asshole. I’d love for him to give me a reason to end him like I did his son.
Artemis returns his attention to me. He folds his hands in front of him on the table. “Tell me how you compromised the chef.”
“I found his weakness. I know that Troy was very careful about who he allowed to work for him, and he doesn’t hire people who have any living family members,” I say. “But as it so happens, the chef lied. He has a secret girlfriend and a daughter. I promised to spare their lives if he did what I told him to. He wasn’t even on the premises the day Troy died; he just prepared the meal for Troy to be served that night. I provided him and his family fake identification so they could flee the country.”
“Give me their names and locations,” Damion barks at me.
I look at Artemis. “I gave them my word they would be protected, and I always keep my word. I followed the rules of the charter when I killed Troy.”
Damion’s face flushes with anger. “With respect, Artemis, I believe he’s lying.”
