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“Your mom was the most beautiful and amazing woman I’ve ever met,” Ash says with a sad smile. “She took me in like I was her own. God… she didn’t deserve this.”
Tears run down his face, and as I stand before him, I realize what he's about to say will be bad. Walking around the body, I sit next to him. “Ash, you can tell me. I have to know,” I whisper.
Ash never cries, so I know this is going to be horrible.
“Your dad was asked to go out with the trucks, and something went wrong. They had less people than expected. He explained the situation to his employers, and they said he would be fined. The assholes never explained the fine would be brutally raping, torturing, and killing his wife,” Ash says.
My world turns upside down, and I vaguely realize I’m screaming. “This was mine!”
Kicking the body of the man responsible for getting my mother killed, I rage, wishing I could kill him again.
“Jonas!” Ash yells, pulling me away from the body and pinning me under him. If I wanted to, I could buck him off me, but I would never hurt him. “Baby, I’m sorry, it’s done. Your hands are clean. I’ll throw myself at the mercy of The Society, and they will show leniency because of what I found out. The Society’s resources have been used for selling skin.”
“They still are,” I realize, tears stinging my eyes.
Holding onto him, I purge myself of the pain, wishing I could apologize to him for yelling at him. The devil is dead, and my mother’s true, inadvertent killer is gone.
Chapter24
Ihave a meeting with the Elders, and I’m nervous. The guys fucked up. Everything was set to go off without a hitch, and Ash killed someone he wasn’t supposed to. Granted, if it were me, I would have done the same thing, consequences be damned.
But I’m a member of The Society, and I can occasionally break the rules. Ash has been caught messing up too many times.
Goddamn it!
Swallowing hard, I move through the tunnels, emerging in the Dragon’s work quarters. There are times he needs to be closer than an hour away for Society stuff, so he has a secret office here at the Academy.
Walking into the room from behind the bookcase that hides the tunnels, I nod to the masked and hooded Elders.
“Good evening, Elders,” I murmur.
“Good evening, Levi. You know why we’re here, so let’s move through things, because we have a lot of planning still to do,” the Eagle says.
Nodding, I know he’s right. There’s so much shit still to do, even after figuring out who passed their trial and who didn’t.
“You’re right, Sirs. So… how did we do with this year’s Adams?” I ask.
The Eagle—my dad—huffs. “We did well, but Miles failed. He puked, got DNA all over the crime scene after botching his kill, and he had to call his handler for help. Basically, we had to send in a clean up crew, who ended up killing his mark and then torching the place.”
My lips twitch as I try to contain the bubble of laughter that wants to be released. “That’s terrible,” I manage to say instead.
“Miles is a legacy, but was never truly meant to be a Society member.” My father sighs. “The weak are always meant to be weeded out by these trials.”
The Elders spend the next twenty minutes going over every Adam, except for mine, and I struggle to keep my composure. The only one I’m worried about is Ash, and by extension Jonas, because he didn’t complete his trial.
Fuck, fuckity, fuck!I swear, these men go on and on to torture me.
“Finally, we have the last of the Adams,” intones the Dragon.
Ugh, finally. Thank God.
“How did they do?” I ask, almost in a bored tone, and Jacob’s lips twitch. They are definitely enjoying messing with me.
“Bastian did very well. There was no DNA left behind, and no one saw him leave. Father Monroe was found by a Sister the following morning, who called the police. I think he also found some closure after his trial, because he looks lighter as well,” the Dragon says.
I agree with that, because he’s been smiling easier, even though his father is a prick. It wasn’t Bastian’s fault he was continually molested by a priest, who was an authority figure in his life. But when Bast finally had the courage to tell his father, he beat him horribly. Bast sported a broken arm the following summer, stating he had a football accident.
“And then there’s Ash,” sighs the Panther. I wince inwardly, refusing to show how worried I am about him. “He took his mark down very easily, and showed absolutely no remorse. It’s impressive how well he can compartmentalize when he needs to. We had cameras in the warehouse to watch him in action, and he was impressive.”
