Chapter 18
Chapter 18
BEAU
I t’s nearly noon by the time we arrive at the cabin. Iris slept until we pulled off on the dirt road and she hasn’t asked me a single question for the nine miles it’s taken us to park. I glance over at the barn just before she takes off in the same direction.
I move to walk in front of her, wondering what we’re about to walk up on this time around. I’m thoroughly satisfied as I look inside and find everything is in its place. There aren’t any signs of murder and torture remaining, thank fuck. To be fair… I didn’t torture him. I’m the one who is forever changed from watching the horrific video.
“Are there horses?” She runs her fingers over a leather saddle as she strolls by.
“I haven’t seen any.”
“How long are we here for?” She continues walking around the barn, taking it all in. I’m imagining her keeping inventory and planning her escape if it comes to that.
“However long we have to be.”
“Doing as you’re told?”
“Yes.” I swallow hard and watch her expression shift.
“For the society?” My heart drops at her mention of the group, knowing we’re supposed to keep it a secret from anyone outside The Brotherhood. I hope King hasn’t been talking to her.
“What do you know of it?”
“You mentioned it the last time I was in your room.” She was drunk. I don’t remember mentioning it, so it must’ve slipped.
“Am I your next kill?” I almost choke. How in the hell? ... She’s not supposed to know about the dark side of our lives.
“No.”
“How do you know?” Her question is fair, but it means I’ve done a shit job of letting her know how much I care about her. I guess I should look at it from her point of view. What’s she supposed to think after the way I’ve treated her the past few weeks? I’ve mocked. Berated. Ignored. Made her hate me…not a winning combo when it comes to the woman I love and intend to protect with my life.
“Because I’d die before I hurt you.”
“What if they make you?”
“That’s not possible.” I manage a few steps toward her, but she holds out her hand, stopping me in my tracks.
“I need a little time. I didn’t think you’d ever put me in a position like this, Beau.”
“What position? You’re with me. Safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“We’re at a cabin in the middle of nowhere, completely open to any type of bullshit invasion the players of this stupid game decide to try. What if they come in with forty guys armed with guns? Can you promise me we’re safe from those surprises?” She has a point and it’s something that crossed my mind on the drive over here. Everything is happening so god damn fast and it’s much harder to go through these kinds of situations without King. We work well together, and I’d take one of him over forty others any day.
“I can only promise you that I’ll do everything I can to keep us both safe.”
“We can leave here. Let’s go now before whoever is making you do this has a chance to catch us.”
“They’ll find us.” They’re already listening to our conversation, there’s not a doubt in my mind. My skin prickles from feeling the invasion by the minute.
“So, until they decide, we just sit here like the pawns we are?”
“That’s part of it. We have to trust the system.”
“There’s no we in this, Beau. I trust you and King. Period.”
“Then trust I won’t let anything happen to you. We have, from what I can tell, a few days here and then we’ll get orders to go back.”
“That’s it. We have to shack up together for a few days then life goes back to normal.”
“Well… it’ll never be normal now that I’ve drugged King and kidnapped his girlfriend.” I admit, my skin growing warm from confessing it aloud.
“You what ?” she hollers from across the barn.
“I had to get you out of his room without a distraction. It was either drug him or you to make it happen. I chose him.” I shrug with my answer, confident I made the right decision, but she doesn’t seem to think it’s a minor deal like I do.
“Jesus, Beau. How fucked up are you? He’s your best friend.”
“And you are my entire world, Kens. He’d do the same and I’d expect no less.” She takes a deep breath and holds her stomach.
“Is he okay now?” Worry stretches across her face.
“I have no idea.”
“We need to call him.” I stop her before she passes me in a rush.
“We can’t call him. It’s for his own safety. I threw your phone out the window on the drive over and mine is off until we absolutely need it.”
“What? This keeps getting better and better, Beau.”
“I couldn’t have him tracking us down. My job is to remove his distraction. You were that distraction. Now the rest is up to him. He’s probably on some mission they’ve put him on and once it’s over, we’ll most likely get sent back.”
“Is this the first time you’ve been to this place?”
I shake my head, dreading the next words to come out of her mouth.
“What did you do the last time you were here?”
I choose not to answer her, and she exhales, knowing it’s not good.
“Okay. It seems like I have to trust you’d never put me in danger, and I’ll have to learn to go with the flow of chilling here until we get word to leave. How will they contact you?”
“They’ve been texting. I have to open my phone every few hours if we don’t get any other information in the meantime.”
“I guess we have nothing left but for you to show me around.”
We spend the next hour opening every door and cabinet to the cabin and I burn all the contents to memory. I don’t know what I’m trying to prepare for… so, I consider everything a potential need.
The kitchen is fully stocked, which is good because she starts pulling out boxes of cereal, immediately digging inside to pick out the marshmallows. That’s something I remember her doing back in the day, so she has me pausing to watch.
“Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving.” She pops a few pieces of cereal into her mouth and keeps talking. “Maybe once we’re done looking at all the rooms in this place, we can cook something. It’s been a while since we’ve made a meal together.” It’s been years, to be exact. How can something so simple sound like so much fun?
We explore the bedrooms, and she freezes mid-step, noticing the duffle bag I left here a week ago. “Shhh. Someone else is here,” she whispers, slowly backing out of the room.
“Nah,” I reply, loudly, making her jump a little. “It’s mine. I left it here over a week ago.”
“Did you think to pack some clothes for me?”
“No. I had no idea I’d be bringing you here.”
“Guess I’ll be wearing your t-shirts and underwear. Hopefully you can handle sharing.”
“I’ll manage.”
We spend the rest of the day playing house in this cabin, showcasing what life could be like if we had a normal one. I catch her frowning here and there and want to ask her what’s on her mind… but I already know the answer. She’s worried about King. If I hadn’t spent my entire life getting fucked up and then handling school or business alongside him like a pro, I’d be concerned.
“He’s fine. He’ll be mad at me… but he’s fine.”
“He’s going to be so pissed at you.” She sends me a smirk and it’s in this moment that I know she understands us. She’s not na?ve to the demands our families put on us. Hell, she’s in the same situation with her own.
“What happened when you moved away?”
“I don’t want to talk about all of that.”
“I want to know. I’ve missed so much of your life… and now I’m missing even more.”
“That’s your own fault.”
“Maybe it is now, but what happened when you were gone isn’t my fault.”
“I know. But it’s better if all of that stays in the past.”
“What are you not telling me, Kens?” I sit forward on the couch and look her way.
“My father shipped me off to a boarding school. Things happened. Then when I found out my mother died while I was away at school, I couldn’t handle it. I ran away and lived on my own until my grandfather found me in Georgia. I had to do some crazy shit to survive.”
“How’d you get here?”
“My grandfather set up a college fund for me when I was a baby. When I graduated high school, the money became mine to use as long as I attended Bentley University.” She gives me a fake smile. “My dad let me come back to the states as long as I chose an elite university, which Bentley also fits. So, here I am.”
“Was it your father’s father?”
“No, my mother’s.”
“Does your father know you’re here?”
“He knows. But he can’t control me now. So, I don’t even think about him.”
“Why Bentley?”
“Your family isn’t the only one who has generations of Bentley graduates.”
“What things happened ?”
“Oh, I caught the Rector sneaking into my room. I broke his hand in the door when he opened it. The next day I was taken into isolation, where they kept me for over a month for not obeying the rules of the class. Apparently, I wasn’t sitting in my chair properly and lacked professionalism.” She reaches for a magazine and continues while she’s flipping pages. “When he came to see me in isolation, I broke out. I used the moves you and King taught me, and I beat his ass before I stole the key and locked him inside.” My heart swells with admiration and equal sadness for everything she’s been through.
“What was his name?”
“That’s not important.”
“It is to me.” I will end every fucker who has done her wrong in the past without hesitation. I just need to know who I’m going to kill next.
“Well, it’s in the past. I’m not looking back, and neither should you.” She says one thing and my entire being screams another. It’ll just have to be something King, and I take care of once the initiations are over.
“I think I’m going to find a shower and then go to bed.” She stands and moves toward the room my bag was in and I stay behind to give her some privacy. “I’m taking some of your clothes!” she yells from the other room, and I smile just thinking about her wearing my stuff.