Chapter Six
Kieran
Arcadia was founded on two principles. Power and control. Those in power had control. End of story. The students at Arcadia had always been simply a plan B. If they couldn’t conform, then they would be erased. They wouldn’t be avenged, they wouldn’t be mourned, they would simply be made ghosts.
Tomás had the right idea when he wanted to escape. It wasn’t a safe haven. It was a force of control. In the five decades of the school’s existence there had been four events that led to an erasure. Joel Emerson was the one the students knew about. Emerson had murdered Will Sabina at the school. No one understood why. It could’ve been something as benign as they both fucked the same girl to losing a fucking bet. They hated each other on the onset and one killed the other.
Then Emerson’s bloodline had been erased.
But what wasn’t known was that the school had two ways of handling power and control. The erasure of the bloodline was one consequence when the dead was murdered. Whenever an accidental death occurred on campus that wasn’t natural, the Four could call for funeral games. Blood games was said to purify the deceased person’s soul. Something stemming from archaic history which made no fucking sense. But Arcadia relied heavily on tradition as a way to control. This would be no different.
I shoved my meds in my bag while Tristan watched from the doorway. “My friends are there. I’m not going to let them get hurt.” Tomás was there. Once the school was on lockdown, none of the families had power over anyone inside that fucking school. Only the four delegates, already chosen by the families when they came of age, had power and control. Edward Marz, Constance Locke, Declan Brennan, and fucking Luca Mancini. The crazy motherfucker would enjoy the blood games.
With my bag over my shoulder, I walked out to the living room. Maddox was pacing while Alessandro watched him.
“This is fucking stupid,” Maddox said. “We need to make changes to that fucking school.”
Tristan didn’t argue but didn’t agree either.
“Babe, it’s tradition.”
“Fuck tradition!” Maddox roared. It made Alessandro flinch and I stopped in my tracks. Maddox took a step toward the front door with the intention of leaving, probably to break law and remove Tomás from the school. I’d be on board if I thought we’d survive it, but Arcadia thrived because of its rules, and in time of crisis, like this, the headmaster had to follow the letter of Arcadia law without prejudice. It meant the power of the Four meant shit. Alessandro got to his feet to pursue his husband, but Tristan was already there, stopping Maddox from getting killed. Jacob’s eyes remained on Alessandro as if the man could be a threat to Tristan. I had to fucking wonder. Alessandro gave off mixed vibes, and I was all out of fucks to give.
“I can’t just stay here and do nothing while Tomás is there, Tristan,” Maddox said. Sounding wrecked. “You don’t know him. He’s not like us.”
Tomás wasn’t technically a Brennan, but he was important to Maddox and by extension to Tristan. It’s how family worked. I only knew because I’d do the same for my Ark Boys.
“Tomás is a friend,” I interrupted. Giving Maddox a pass. “I’ll protect him.” Maddox turned to me. I saw the same desperation in his eyes that I’d seen in Tomás the day he killed Fortuna Bruno to save Henry. Now that I knew they were blood, I could pick apart their individual features and fit their similarities together. Like the shape of their eyes and the curve of their mouth.
“Please,” Maddox said with such pain in his voice it made me want to comfort him. I didn’t. But Alessandro did.
“You’re only getting in because you’re still a registered student. Casera knows you’ll be with Declan and his team,” Tristan said.
My team. After I found out Declan was going, I’d given Tristan my one begged favor—even adding salt to the wound by calling him father—to send Tor and Rumor. And he agreed. Rumor and Tor were Arcadia Alum and Ark Boys who treaded into the darker parts of the world collecting information we needed to complete our mission of destroying the families that ruined us. Taking over Brennan Holdings and killing Cillian had been part one of the plan.
After Maddox settled, I left with the group. Tor and I drove the lead vehicle, while Rumor drove Declan. We could’ve taken the one vehicle, but Declan was a dick on the best of days. He hated me for reasons unknown that I cared little to explore. And I needed the time with Tor.
I raked my hand down my face, my blood sugar out of fucking whack. Thank God for technology. I’d started consistently wearing my monitor and pump.
“How are you doing?” Tor asked.
“Let’s see. We are headed into Hell, literally, if this kid didn’t die via heart attack that ended with him in the lake. Wren is driving everyone up the wall since Alessandro married Maddox and we haven’t done anything to appease his soul. And … fuck!” I punched the console in front of me. I’d be lucky if the airbag didn’t explode in my face. “I have shit I’ve been hiding.” Fuck. I hated that Tor would never judge me and I still hid shit from him. I hated that we weren’t stopped and I couldn’t look at his expression when I told him I lied about shit. “I killed Cillian because he wanted me to kill Tomás and I couldn’t do it.”
“Because you love him or because he’s Maddox’s half- brother?”
The dry tone of his words made my blood drop to my ass. “How the fuck did you know about him being brothers with Maddox?” I ignored the dig on love, but Tor wouldn’t let me.
“So I take it that’s a yes on the love bit.”
“I don’t love him.” Even as I said the words I knew they were partly untrue. At that he did give me a sideways glance. Traffic needed his focus, thank fuck. “Yeah, I’m gay. We have, had, something because I fucked it all up.”
“And now you’re rushing over there to save him.”
“To keep him safe. There’s a difference.”
Tor gave me a look and then he did something unexpected. He started to laugh. An all out, open the window for some fresh air, laugh. “I knew it. Fox owes me fifty bucks.”
“You made a bet about me?”
“Yeah, stupid. He thought you’d tell him first.”
I opened and closed my mouth. “Fuck, he’s going to be pissed.”
“Yup,” Tor said, nodding with a satisfied grin. It was times like this that reminded me how young we all still were. We should’ve been in a real fraternity where the only problems we had were who to invite to a fucking party, what type of beer to bring in, and who would lug the kegs. Not rushing into a locked-down facility to investigate a death that would either erase a family bloodline or spill the blood of the students for some fucking bullshit tradition.
I closed my eyes for several seconds wondering how the fuck I ended up here. “Let’s focus on the fucking travesty of a situation we have here.”
“Agreed. Then I’m going to kick your ass for keeping shit from me.”
He wasn’t kidding. And I couldn’t argue. I deserved it.
Arcadia on lockdown meant no internet service and security upgrades. The whole area would be viewed as a black zone from space. Anyone traveling at the border of the property wouldn’t have cell service. The security protocols in place were better than military grade. No communication. Control the border. And then the population.
The guard towers were active with approval of live ammunition. The hairs at the nape of my neck rose at the threat level all around us as we met Toombs at the gate. They made us get out of the car, confiscated our bags, technology, watches, even gave us eye scans to make sure we didn’t have tech lenses. Once we were violated, which is what it felt like, Rumor took Declan to the mansion where the Four and their guards would be staying for their duration while Tor drove me to Arcas. The living room lights were on. I suddenly felt wrong being there after all this time. Fox knew why I had to stay away, but the others hadn’t been as understanding.
“You are still one of us, Kieran,” Tor said.
“Are you sure about that?”
“So long as you don’t do anything you cannot return from.”
I met his brown eyes and knew exactly what he meant. Don’t turn into one of the assholes who were on our kill list. Don’t betray them. Don’t put them in harm’s way. No more lies.
“I won’t.”
“Then go be the leader they need.”
I sucked in a breath, along with my balls, and jumped out of the SUV, grabbed my bags, and walked into Arcas. The closer I got the more I pushed out the Kieran my friends would need. The strategist, the killer, the leader they could count on. They needed me.
I walked inside and realized how much they fucking needed me.
River had Wren in a chokehold. Kicking off the sofa, Wren sent them both sprawling to the floor, breaking the end table into pieces. River stuck out in any room. His hair was a natural white you couldn’t fake, with pale brows and lashes. He kept his hair short, but with waves. His features were sharp and his eyes a pale blue like ice. And unlike Fox and Wren, River wasn’t a hot head. He liked to watch. To observe. He saw things with those colorless eyes that I would never see. And he loved Wren.
So why the fuck were they fighting as if … who the fuck knew as if what.
Fox stood, arms crossed, at the doorway watching. I was pretty sure standing as guard to keep them from killing each other. His eyes met mine and he offered me a tight nod.
“Fifty on Wren,” I said in way of greeting. At least if I lost, he could pay Tor for the bet he lost because of me.
Fox grunted and gave me an eyebrow raise at the same time. No deal.
“What the fuck precipitated this?” I dropped my bags and stood across from Fox under the archway, watching the crazy motherfuckers duke it out. River’s lip was dripping blood onto his chin and chest while Wren’s left eye started to swell.
Right now, River was getting his ass beat.
“River has been given special circumstances to leave Arcadia despite the lockdown.”
I shook my head. “How is that possible?”
“Marz request.”
River and Fox were cousins. The Marz family were one of the Four. Old Virginia money. “Why did Casera approve it?”
Fox looked as if he didn’t want to answer that question. But he did. “Betrothal. River needs to meet his bride. He’ll be back for the games.”
I turned back to the fight which made sense now. River and Wren had never been apart, as far as I could recall. They swept up from middle high, to high school, to college together. Just like Fox and me.
I turned my attention to Fox. His stern eyes on me.
Lies risked friendships more than anything else. The two fools in the living room were a testament to that. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kept this from you.”
Fox shook his head. “You’re a fucking moron if you thought it’d change anything between us. You do realize, I like dick too.”
I tapped the back of my head against the molding. “I know. It’s just I never had the need to do anything about it until…” I couldn’t even say his name.
“Why him? Of all the fucking dudes who’d like to suck your dick, why him?”
Heat bloomed on my cheeks thinking about Tomás sucking my dick. Fox grunted again and turned back to the fight. “Loyalty is earned. You’re going to have to earn it after this.”
“I know. I will.”
A loud crash boomed in the room. Wren lay face first on the floor while River straddled him as if he were riding a bull and Wren’s arms were the horns. “Ow, you fucker!” Wren cried out as River leaned back, pulling Wren’s arms and straining his shoulders. They were going to pop. I cringed.
“Call it, motherfucker, or I’m going to rip your arms out and beat you with them.”
“Well, shit,” Fox said. “I should’ve taken you up on that fifty.”
I lifted my bag and climbed the stairs.
“Oh, by the way,” Fox said as I reached the landing, “Tomás is gone.” I turned and glared at his smug fucking face. “Lives over at Harper House. Thought you may want to know that. We weren’t the only ones you abandoned when you didn’t come back.” I heard the slight hurt in his voice, but he’d already taken off before I could apologize. Again.