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“Everything go alright with him?” Caleb asks.
“Yeah, it was fine. I just asked him some questions about his time working at the center,” I say as I get into the car. “Nothing big.”
“Let’s go home,” Caleb says. “Do you want to stop somewhere for dinner first?”
“Sure,” I say, giving him a small smile. “Maybe we can go eat at the diner.”
Caleb nods, pulling out of the parking lot. I’m glad he didn’t pick up on my turbulent emotional state. I just can’t handle trying to explain what’s going on right now. When I brought up my concerns before, he brushed it aside, but I think he’s too close to the situation.
Something is going on with Dr. Thornton and I intend to find out what it is.
39
BASTIAN
When we arrive home, I spot Sienna sitting on the couch staring off into space, as though lost in thought. The house is silent, save for the ticking of the clock above the TV set.
Caleb has been pacing the room and he turns when we walk inside, rushing up to greet us.
“How did it go today?” he asks, shifting his weight from one foot to another. Sometimes I forget just how young he still is, despite everything we’ve been through.
“It was fine,” I say, bringing my hand down with a clap on the shoulder. “We should talk in the living room.”
My phone starts ringing so I grab it as I hang up my jacket, watching Dominic and Caleb sit down with Sienna.
“Bastian,” I answer.
“It’s Nathaniel.” Joe from the hardware store says, forgoing a greeting. “They got him.”
My face instantly falls, and I feel as though someone just sucker-punched me in the gut.
“What?”
“It just happened. They cornered him when he was getting out of his car,” he explains. “Annabeth and Beau are absolutely in pieces.” A muscle in my jaw ticks and I clear my throat.
“I’ll call you back once I’ve figured out how we’re going to handle this,” I tell him. Joe hangs up and I run a hand through my hair, shoulders tensing up. How am I going to tell the others?
A growl erupts from my throat. I should have taken care of this sooner. They warned us this was going to happen.
Marching into the living room, I slam my phone down on the coffee table, making everybody jump.
“Joe just called. The Serpents killed Nathaniel Brant. Beau’s grandfather,” I add for Sienna’s benefit.
Sienna gasps, hands flying to her mouth. Caleb turns pale, gripping the sleeves of his jacket as he processes the news.
Dominic’s mouth sets in a thin line. “Nathaniel was one of the old guard, an original Crimson Blade,” he spits out. “They were sending a message by targeting him.” He clenches his hands into fists, shaking with unbridled rage. “Let’s go, we’re doing this now.”
“We can’t,” I tell him. “We’ve only just started implementing the plan. It’s going to take more than what we’ve got now to go up against them.”
Dominic’s eyes darken. “They’re not getting away with this!” he hisses.
“And they won’t,” I assure him. “We were going to talk about it anyway, so you might as well know that I’ve been recruiting, talking to people all around town about this, and a lot of them agree that they want to help us take the Serpents down once and for all.”
“What does that mean?” Sienna asks, chewing on her fingernail, revealing her anxiety about all this.
“It means that the Crimson Blades are getting new members,” Dominic speaks up. “We’ve got half a dozen peopleor more who are willing to join up with the Blades to take the Serpents down.”
“I called the bank,” I add. “Took out an equity loan on the house. We’ve put plans into place to get some of the cops back on our side, so they’ll look the other way if it comes down to a full-scale fight. We also started stockpiling weapons.”
