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Following Damien’s stare, I turn to Alex, my glare pinning him to the spot.
“I want a list of every single time you’ve stepped foot in this house over the past month.”
Alex stiffens, his eyes narrowing as he takes in that request. He knows I’m not fucking around; the stakes are miles high, and his next move is crucial.
“Fine,” he mutters, jaw set. The reluctance is there, thick in his voice, but so is the resignation.
“Make it quick,” I command. “Your memory had better match mine, Alex. Because if that imposter has been here more than today’s twice,youare in deep shit.”
He doesn’t argue. Instead, he strides over to the bureau—an old piece of furniture that’s all dark wood and history—and yanks open a drawer for a pen and paper. He sits, the chair creaking under the sudden weight, and scribbles down dates and times from his phone.
I watch him, every line he draws, every number he writes, a knot tightening in my gut. His presence here, in this room, at that bureau—it’s always been benign before. But now, suspicion taints the air, colouring everything with potential betrayal.
“Remember,” I say, my voice low, a warning threading through each syllable. “Details, Alex. Exact details.”
He nods, not looking up, focused entirely on the task at hand. His hand moves quickly, but there’s a tremble there—a slight shake that betrays the nerves he’s trying so hard to hide.
I turn away, giving him space to work but not enough to breathe easily. The truth is out there, tangled in lies and shadows, and I’ll drag it into the light, no matter what it takes. Nobody fucks with us—nobody fucks with our girl—and gets away with it.
“Another thing,” I murmur, my voice cutting through the silence like a blade despite the low tone. “You need to talk to your parents. Now.”
He glares at me from the bureau, his pen pausing mid-sentence. “Alistair, I can’t?—“
“Can’t or won’t?” I take a step closer, feeling the edges of my self-control fray. “Because if there’s some clichéd, evil, long-lost twin out there wearing your fucking face, screwing with us, I need to know.Weneed to know.”
He drops the pen, a soft clatter against the polished wood. “It’s not that simple. You think I want some stranger claiming part of my life?”
“Fuck whatyouwant,” I say coldly. “This is bigger than you.”
From the corner, Damien moves, a shadow peeling away from the wall. His eyes are hard, watchful. He’s been quiet too long, but when he speaks, everyone listens.
“Ever is in danger,” he murmurs, his voice low enough that you have to strain to hear. “If you’re telling the truth, which remains to be seen, by theway, that means a twin exists; we have to find out for sure. For Ever’s sake.”
Alex runs a hand through his hair, a mess of frustration and fear. “Fine,” he relents, the word sounding bitter. “I’ll call them. But this is going to stir up so much shit, Alistair. Real shit. Your mother will be calling on you after my mother gets through with her about whatever pile of manure this is. So don’t you fucking dare come at me again telling me I’m lying. You fucking owe me.”
“Fuck off, you little cunt. Distant cousins or not, I don’t owe you shit.”
“sect business means family comes into it. It’s always the way it’s been, it’s always the way it will go. This is enormous, Alex. Don’t you get it?” Charlie is way more tactful than I am, and at times like this, I’m glad of his easy presence. I know I’m too intense for people to be comfortable around me, but it’s the way I was brought up, the way my childhood played out. The way I was made a Duke at twenty and not just any fucking Duke, but the Duke of goddamm KnightsGate. The stronghold for everything we hold, all that we live by.
Damien nods once, a sharp, decisive movement. “There is no choice, Alex. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it gets for her. You should know by now that I won’t stand by and watch that happen.”
Silence settles heavy as a shroud. Alex reaches for his phone with hands that aren’t quite steady.
“After you’ve made that list, asshole,” I growl, giving him a slight reprieve. The list trumps the twinin this present moment. If an outsider has infiltrated us, shit hitting the fan isn’t even going to cover it. We will all have some serious explaining to do, me most of all.
So we wait and watch as our world threatens to unravel thread by thread, but then I move into action and grab my phone and pen. I know by memory every sect meeting we’ve had in the last month, in the last year, even, but there have been times when Alex has been here alone while we planned his descent into Ever Knight’s life as her best buddy and confidant. Those times are hazy.
Compiling my list and snatching Alex’s from him, I dismiss him. “Make that phone call as soon as you get back to your house,” I instruct.
He nods reluctantly, but I know he will on the knowledge that if he doesn’t, he is done for.
“We need a meeting.”
The other guys nod.
“I’ll tell Ever we’ll be out,” Damien says. “So she doesn’t come down and freak out if we’re not here.”
Nodding my agreement with that, the thought of her being afraid because we aren’t here settles nicely in my gut. It means her dependence on us has grown. But personally, I don’t think we are there yet. If anything, it’s probably the opposite.
