The Diamond’s Consort (Camelot Court #3)

Landon

TWELVE YEARS AGO

T he house had finally gone quiet.

No more screams.

I couldn’t stand it when they screamed.

He’d promised there wouldn’t be any tonight. Dad promised. But our family’s work was never done.

We needed to prove our loyalty.

We needed to rid the Camelot Society of anyone who might betray it.

They were always watching. Always testing us. Waiting for us to fail them.

I rocked back and forth in the dark. Arms banded around my knees, I squeezed my legs so tightly. Like it might stop the madness, quiet the chaos inside me every time I heard them screaming.

My closet door opened, its slow creak popping my head up.

But the body in the doorway wasn’t big enough to be him. And the cat ears poking up from the shadows calmed me further.

“Nana?”

“Hi, little brother.” She waited in the doorway, giving me space. “Want some company?”

I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. I wanted to be brave in front of my big sister. I wanted her to be proud of me.

“Can I pet Oscar?”

“He would love that,” she whispered.

She was fibbing. Oscar didn’t like anyone petting him. When he wanted touches, he rubbed himself on me until he’d had his fill, and then he ran off. If I tried to go after him, he hissed at me.

He was a grumpy cat.

Nana knew that.

But she knew I loved him, anyway. And I wouldn’t have to admit I was scared if she found me with Oscar in her arms.

That was why I loved her.

She noticed things about me. Things no one else cared about except her.

And Kingston.

Taking a seat beside me, she left a sliver of space between her body and mine. I brushed my shoulder against hers. Our secret signal.

Nana leaned in and snuggled closer, looping an arm around my shoulder while her hand stroked down Oscar’s back. As she pulled me in, her soft curls brushed my cheek. They fell around her face like silk ribbons.

The ones Mama always put in her hair.

Her voice trembled. “It’s happening more often, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “It’s been worse since…”

But I fell silent because it wasn’t her fault. She had to go to school. We all did.

When I turned twelve, it would be my turn.

We didn’t have a choice.

I didn’t want it to sound like I blamed her, but it had been happening more and more since she left for school. Their screams were getting louder.

I didn’t know what happened to them…or what made them finally stop.

Some things I didn’t want to know.

“It’s bad at school, too.” Nana sighed, settling Oscar closer to me. Letting me know he was ready for me to pet him. “Every day, someone is taken from class. Corrective action. That’s what they call it.”

“What are they doing wrong?”

“Nothing,” she snapped.

My hand retreated to my lap.

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head, stroking a path down Oscar’s back.

She played with his ears and ran her fingers over the top of his head.

“I just…I can’t find what they’re doing wrong.

I can’t figure it out. Most of the time, the kids are just playing with their friends.

When they come back, it’s like they’re different.

Changed, somehow. But I don’t know what it is that pulls them in. ”

I listened to her quietly. My body calming as she traced familiar patterns on top of Oscar’s head. Pushing away the fear that slithered down my spine.

“It’s scary,” she whispered. “Not knowing if I might do something without realizing it’s wrong. Not knowing if I might be next.”

“I wish I was there with you.”

She took my hand, squeezing tightly. “I’m glad you’re not.”

I squeezed back. “But then, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, pulling me in tightly against her.

The screams continued.

And I couldn’t stand it.

But as we waited for them to fall quiet, she held my hand in the dark.