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This wasn’t good.
“May we have the room,” Diesel said, his shining eyes flicking over the many faces eager to watch whatever the fuck was about to go down.
The Saints left one by one, and I turned my head to see Grey, Rook, and Corvus still standing just a few feet behind my chair.
“Do I need to repeat myself?”
Diesel’s jaw flexed.
“You can wait outside,” he offered them. “I’ll let you know when you can come back in. I’d like a word with our new initiate in private.”
“Is this really necessary?” Corvus asked, and Diesel narrowed his stare on him. “It’s an antiquated tradition. We should—”
“This isn’t up for discussion.”
Slowly, I turned back to face Diesel, saying nothing.
A prickle of unease skated down my spine, making my stomach sour with dread, but I didn’t show it. Not even as Diesel’s sons dutifully left the room as they were asked.
Something I don’t think they would have done if any of them truly believed he was the one responsible for the man who tried to inject me with fucking Diazepam.
That was enough to quell the rising dark within at least a little bit. Though we all knew Diesel wasn’t interested in making me a Saint. That he didn’t trust me and would do anything in his power to see to it that I failed. So, maybe the darkness could hang around just a little longer, in case I should need it.
“Ava Jade Mason,” Diesel intoned, leaning back in his leather high back chair like a king on his throne. “Eighteen years old. Deceased father. Addict mother. Lived in Lennox your entire life until recently coming into the care of your aunt and moving here to Thorn Valley. Right so far?”
I didn’t answer, but my fingers itched to reach for the blade in my lap.
“It was difficult to find very much information aside from that, however, given your street smarts and skill with a blade, I’d wager you had adifficultchildhood. Is that right?”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
He shrugged. “I like to know what sort of snakes I’m inviting into my house.”
“And?”
He tapped his fingers absently on the table. “And I like to know who my sons have invited into theirs.”
“Well, now you know.”
He pursed his lips. “Not nearly enough.”
“If there’s something you want to ask, just ask.”
He cocked his head to one side, considering me in a new light. “I don’t trust you, Ava Jade. I think you’re a viper. All shining scales and alluring eyes. Lulling my boys into a sense of false security while you await your perfect moment to strike.”
Officer Vick crossed my thoughts, but I pushed him away, afraid Diesel would be able to see the truth hiding just below flesh and bone.
“Then why agree to let me take the trials at all?” I asked instead.
He didn’t like that question. It was clear in the way his expression soured. “My son asked me for this favor,” he told me, surprising me with the truth. “Greyson has never asked me for anything. Not since the day I took him in.Not a single thing.”
His eyes found mine, holding me there with a warm intensity. “He asked me foryou.”
“And you think he made a mistake?”
“I know he did. I just hope they all see that before it’s too late. There are some lessons I can’t teach them. Ones they’ll have to learn themselves.”
Something in my chest cracked at his admission and in the haunted look darkening his eyes.
