28. Ivy
Ivy
The limo sat in the abandoned parking lot. Once, the place had been a gas station, but it had been deserted for years. Weather and time had worn down everything around it, and the once beautiful sign swayed in the wind, barely hanging on.
I took a quick breath and composed myself for the meeting that was about to take place. In the next ten minutes, I would know what my future held. Cam. If they just wanted me, I would willingly give myself if they released him in one piece. I couldn’t even bring myself to think of the alternative. What if it wasn’t Cam they were holding? What if it was all a lie?
I took a sip of the bottled water I’d brought with me before swinging open the car door and willing myself to stand steady. For my muscles to not shake. To not cry knowing this was the point of no return.
I pulled open the limo’s door and glanced inside. A man wearing a black hoodie and a mask sat nestled against the other door, not facing my direction. I forced myself inside, shutting the door and sealing us off from the rest of the world. The hooded man’s wealth was evident in the interior. The scent of expensive cigars and leather surrounded me as I waited for him to speak.
The car didn’t move, and neither did the man. He didn’t speak, and in fact, I didn’t hear him breathe.
I wanted to yell at him to get it over with. He was the one who had requested the meeting and contacted me. The Order was the reason that I couldn’t have a normal life and be a normal teenager. I’d been sold by a man who claimed to be my father before I could even crawl.
Instead, I folded my hands in my lap like an obedient lap dog—like I was actually submissive, and there wasn’t anger building beneath my skin.
Finally, he spoke, still not glancing at me. “Ivy Spencer. I was wondering if you would actually come.”
I swallowed thickly, using the anger to fuel me. “Well, you have someone in your possession that you claim I want. How do I know you aren’t lying?”
His glove covered hands passed me a phone. On it, I saw Rhyker lying in a hospital bed. His body and face were covered with contusions, and a breathing tube was in his mouth.
I let out a shrill scream, throwing the phone against the partition. “Where is Cam?” I demanded. The rush of tears that I had been holding back burned my eyes.
The hooded man turned his body to me. “Cam? Camden Barrett?” He laughed, the sound reverberating in the interior. I glared, my nails biting into my palms as I waited for him to continue. “To think I called you clever. Even I can’t resurrect the dead, sweet little lamb.”
My cheeks burned from embarrassment, and a tear slid across my skin at the confirmation. Cam was dead. Really dead . Of course, he wasn’t alive. It didn’t change my decision to meet the unknown man. Even the possibility had made it worthwhile.
He tapped his fingertips against his thigh, seeming to weigh his next words. “Do you want your brother or not, Ivy? The choice is yours. You can leave the car now, return to your men, and our meeting ends. If you stay, I’ll release him as soon as he is conscious again. If you leave, he’ll die in the next five minutes.”
That it wasn’t Cam and was Rhyker didn’t change almost anything. All it meant was that I couldn’t save Cam from the Order. The fact that they would murder my brother if I didn’t cooperate left a sour taste in my mouth, and I hugged myself, seeking comfort that didn’t exist. If I chose to go back to Niko, Trey, and Caleb, the Order wouldn’t see it as defeat. They would just try harder. It wouldn’t protect Maya and Katya if I decided to walk away.
And if I walked away, Rhyker died. It would put Ros in the same situation I was in. She’d never given me all the details of their relationship. I knew it was complicated. I also knew I didn’t want anyone else to feel like I did, like a piece of my heart was missing. Like I couldn’t breathe deeply enough, no matter how much air I had. Like I was drowning and no one could see me.
In the end, that it wasn’t Cam didn’t change my mind. A tiny part of me still hoped he was alive somewhere, just waiting to find me again. And that made me feel foolish. I was the furthest thing from clever. Sitting in the back of the limo proved that. “Fine.”
“Are you certain? I will never force you to do something against your will. It will be of your own free will when you come to me.”
There was something familiar about his voice, but I couldn’t pinpoint it. If he thought making me a choice between walking away and the death of a brother I barely knew was giving me free will, he clearly didn’t understand the concept. Rhyker was one of my only family members, and abandoning him felt like a betrayal. I gritted my teeth. “I agreed, didn’t I? No turning back now.”
“Do you have any belongings with you?”
I shook my head. I only had Cam’s letter hidden in my pocket and Dominic’s keys. He held out his hand, and I gave him the keys I was holding. He rolled down the window and threw them out before tapping on the partition. “The ring, too.” I glanced down at my hand, and pain shot through my chest. I hoped that he wouldn’t notice. It was the one piece of them I still had. I removed the band from my left hand and clutched it for a moment before letting it drop into his palm. Unceremoniously, he threw it out the window. “Will, take us home.”
The hooded man did what I wouldn’t have expected. He lowered the hood and removed the mask. Horror twisted my features at the fact I knew him.
Detective Ross, one of Clearhaven’s finest.
“What the fuck?” I whispered, scooting into the corner of the car. He’d been hiding in plain sight all along. How many times had he shown up at the guys’ house? “Who are you? Really?”
He let out a small laugh and tilted his head to the side. “I’m the one who holds all the power, the Princeps of the Order. And you are going to marry me, Ivy Spencer. Everything you’ve been through has been a test. You were never promised to Abraham Wells. You were promised to me.”
My blood ran cold at his words. His expression never changed as he studied me like an insect he was dissecting. “You can’t marry me. I’m already married.”
He looked amused at my weak argument. “Of course I can. All we have to do is have it annulled. I’ll take care of that as soon as possible. You passed all the tests, just like I thought you would.” I tried to make myself smaller, and he laughed again as he pulled a bottle of whiskey from somewhere along with two glasses. “Calm down. What I said earlier stands. I’ll never touch you unless you want it. That’s more than the men you love can say, isn’t it?”
He gestured to the glass in his hand. “Would you like a drink to celebrate?”
I stayed silent, remembering the child I was carrying. He clicked his tongue at me. “You seem to have forgotten all of your manners. Don’t worry; I’ll give you adequate time to remember.”
“Why me?” If I was trapped in the space with him until we got back to Clearhaven, the least he could do was answer my questions.
He lifted a shoulder at me and raised an eyebrow. “Why not you?” He sipped on his drink for a moment. “You could have been any moderately attractive girl between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five to fill your role. You can breathe and give me heirs. In reality, you’re nothing special. No one. A wealthy, corrupt father and a poor mother who was caught up with the wrong people. Your identity isn’t what matters. Your role is.”
Crescent moon-shaped indentions lined my palm from how tightly I dug my nails in. “And what will that be?”
He gave me a small smile. “To give me heirs, Ivy. You’re the perfect breeding stock. Don’t worry. If you’d rather I not touch you, we can use artificial insemination.”
“How soon?” It was the only thing I could respond with as my throat went dry.
“As soon as possible.”
And I did the first smart thing I had done all day. I kept my mouth shut. I kept myself from touching my stomach and letting the tiny baby I was carrying know I was still there. That I would fight for them. That I wouldn’t let anyone hurt them because there was no doubt in my mind that the man who was sitting across from me would hurt my baby. It wasn’t his. I needed to come up with a plan, but I wasn’t sure what it was yet.