47. Splash Of Truth, Hold The Caffeine
forty-seven
Splash Of Truth, Hold The Caffeine
Vexen: 2024
M y eyes fly from the small screen when Zeke lays on his horn behind me, alerting me that the light’s green. I’ve hardly pressed on the gas when my phone starts ringing.
“Where is she!” Hendrix roars into the phone making my brain vibrate in the cab of my truck.
Gathering my senses. “The coffee shop in Devil Ridge,” I answer.
Hendrix growls like an animal into the phone. “I told you to keep her safe for forty-eight hours. Not let her leave the state.”
“Easier said than done,” I mumble stupidly.
“What the fuck did you say?”
“I said she stormed out this afternoon when I told her not to go meet our dickhead teacher.”
“Teacher? From Edge?” he questions quickly. “Are you sure it wasn’t Nolan?”
The hits just keep on coming. Slamming my hand on the steering wheel. “Pretty sure I know the difference between the two. Besides, Nolan called, and she told him the sa —”
“You let her talk to him? I gave clear instructions. Keep. Your. Eyes. On. Her.”
I think I hear Dad start to talk, but I ignore him. “Fine, I’ll go to the —”
“We’re right behind Zeke,” Dad cuts me off before the call ends.
The three of us caravan across the bridge into West Virginia. I’m the first in the gravel lot, parking my truck beside her Jeep. Other doors slam as plastic crunches under my boot, causing me to stop.
“What’s wrong?” Zeke calls from the sidewalk when he notices I’m missing.
Fear stabs at my spine as I roll the broken plastic in my hand. “It’s…” My head snaps up. “Go! Hurry!” I try to shout, fear stealing all my air, restricting my throat.
Dad and Hendrix dart across the street as Zeke dashes towards me.
“What’s…” his words die instantly when he sees me holding the busted tracker in my hand.
He recovers quickly, dragging me by the arm to the shop. The closed sign fills one of the glass squares above the one they’ve shattered to break inside the empty shop.
“You said she was here!” Hendrix roars in my face, fisting the front of my shirt.
Zeke and Dad yell, struggling to break us apart before god knows what he does to me. We’ve all heard stories about his inventive mind when anger strikes him.
“She was… I thought… Her Jeep’s… FUCK!” I shout, rage finally taking over and numbing the fear. “Someone removed her tracker,” I spit out, showing the others what I’m holding.
Hendrix settles, brows pulled tight as he examines the mangled plastic. “Where was it?”
“On the ground beside her Jeep,” I answer.
“We put it inside the interior of one of the back doors,” Zeke clarifies quickly.
“So someone wanted us to know they found it,” Dad throws out, glancing around the small shop. “Nothing looks out of place.”
Hendrix follows his lead, pacing around the tables to the window, staring at her Jeep.
“Why would No —”
Hendrix turns. “What was the teacher's name?” he asks, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Brickman,” I answer.
“Tell us what’s going on,” Zeke presses when Hendrix and Dad refuse to look at us.
Hendrix drops his phone on the counter before slamming his hands on the surface. Dad steps in front of his back, blocking him from our view, giving him a minute to pull his shit together.
Dad crosses his arms, pulling in a deep breath. “Owens cut a deal with Rowland, sending his daughters to The Row. Rowland made them disappear, and Owens got his seat. But Rowland forgot to calculate Opal’s selfish plans. Instead of allowing him to pair her with Owens’s son, Chase.”
“She picked me, thinking everyone would be forced to bow at her feet. Including me,” Hendrix recovers, turning around and leaning on the counter. “When she discovered I wasn’t going to let her control me. Or worship the ground she walked on. She went crying to Daddy, but we were already expecting our first child.”
“It took her nine years to get a clue?” I question.
Hendrix swallows. “Our first daughter… Amethyst.”
Zeke and I glance at each other in confusion. Neither of us has ever been told anything about Onyx having a sister.
“Why didn’t she tell me?” I argue, refusing to think she’d keep such a huge secret hidden from me all these years.
“She didn’t know,” Hendrix confirms, proving my suspension.
At one point in our lives, Onyx trusted me with her entire soul. Someone broke that trust over the years. If I find them, I’ll have their head. Regardless, she’s mine. Hate or love, I’ll take whatever she gives me.
“And, where’s this daughter? How’s it possible none of us knew about this person?” Zeke questions, stealing every word from my brain.
“Shit settled down, and Opal seemed happy. Her daughter idolized her, which is what she always wanted. Someone to worship her after growing up with Rowland as a father,” Hendrix explains, ignoring Zeke’s question.
“But?” I urge, wanting to know what he’s telling us, and worried we’re wasting precious time we could be using to find Onyx.
“Rowland was pissed we didn’t have a son, because he thought he could strike a deal, forcing me to take the Sterling name. Which would gain him a seat. He even went as far as blackmailing to gain money to try and throw the ranks.”
“That’s pure ignorance,” Zeke chimes in.
“He talked her into wanting another child. I loved my daughter. Having another wouldn’t have changed anything. She was the one who never wanted more —”
“What happened when you had Onyx?” I blurt, anger coiling in my gut.
Hendrix smiles, and I swear his eyes turn glassy for a second. “She was perfection, and Opal hated it. She didn’t worship her like her sister. Onyx was her own feisty-independent-tiny person.”
Our eyes meet, and I don’t need instinct to know what he’s about to say. I think somehow I’ve always known but chose to ignore it. Now, I’m done living blindly.
“Which one hurt her?” I growl, squeezing my fists until my knuckles crack.
Hendrix starts to say something until his phone rings. His jaw flexes as he swipes it from the counter, raising it to his ear. “You get one chance to redeem yourself,” he rasps evilly into the phone. “Where’s my daughter…”