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Simeon is barking as we approach the gate.
“Please tell me he hasn’t killed him,” Reese worries.
“How am I supposed to promise that? You’re the one who invited him here.”
“I didn’t know.”
Tennyson’s flashlight is aimed in our direction as we approach, and for a brief second, I can see a smile of amusement on his face before he masks it.
“Just in time,” he clips, shining the flashlight on the man who is on his knees, whimpering.
There’s a part of me that almost tells Tennyson to cut it out. But then there’s that other part of me that remembers riding in the back of a cop car on my way to jail. I think Reese could use a little reminder of what happens when you play games you can’t win.
“Tennyson,” Reese cries, taking a step forward, but halting when Simeon stops her with a vicious growl. “Please don’t do this. I didn’t know the rules. I’m so sorry.”
A pregnant beat of silence hangs in the moist evening air as Tennyson stares intently at my wife. None of us are trusting individuals, but Tennyson, even less so. He’s been betrayed in a way that I’m surprised he hasn’t burned the world down and taken everyone with him.
Tennyson scrubs the light stubble on his chin. “Tell you what, if you answer this question correctly, I will spare your driver and Simeon will kindly escort him off the property.”
Reese turns back, and I shrug.
“Let’s say I didn’t offer you this deal, and let Simeon have him for dessert? Would you report me like you did my brother?”
I swallow, noticing the tension along Reese’s shoulders.
“You are a part of our family now. And what happens in Eden stays between the brotherhood. So, I ask you, Mrs. Cain, will you betray us if we do not spare this man?”
Even the crickets go quiet in anticipation of her answer. This is a test that we’ve all taken, and at times, we have all failed.
Reese hesitates, her eyes dropping to the man on his knees and back up to Tennyson.
Just like me, she feels the weight of Eden and its presence. She knows what Tennyson wants to hear, and knows what she should say. But that’s not who she is. She’s fighting her base nature, just like we all do.
Several beats of silence go by before she finally sighs, and the tension releases in her body as her shoulders slump. “Yes, I would report you. This man is innocent. He has nothing to do with my past or my future in this brotherhood.”
Tennyson doesn’t react, and neither do I. In all honesty, I’m not shocked by her answer.
“So, you would betray your husband again?” Tennyson prods, finally. “For a man you don’t know?”
Reese steps up, and Simeon growls, but this time, she doesn’t let his growl stop her from approaching the man.
“My husband is a good man,” she claims. “He doesn’t kill innocent people, but if he does, I would have no problem abandoning my loyalty as his wife to spare a human life. My husband wants justice. He would never take it from someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
A strange feeling comes over me as I notice chills break out along her arms.
Tennyson smiles. “It seems she knows you rather well, brother. Dare I say, she might even have real feelings for you.”
Reese’s eyes flare wide.
I know what she’s thinking. I told her to make my family believe we are in love. But Tennyson’s words speak otherwise.
“You’re right,” he says, his focus back on Reese. “Van is no murderer, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us aren’t.” A wicked grin pulls onto his face. “Let’s see how sacrificial you are when negotiating with a real murderer.”
Something like pride hits me straight in the chest when she stands taller, never looking back at me for support. She meets my brother’s gaze head-on. My fearless little obsession, standing tall, growing stronger in the darkness of the West.
“We’ll call it a lesson learned and let your delivery driver go without a scratch on him if you agree to one thing.”
Reese tips her chin for him to continue.
