Chapter 26 Jace
JACE
“Whatever you say, foreskin,” I say to Xave as he pulls his car into the lot behind Hamilton House.
He tosses me a flat look. “That’s really not as funny as you think it is,”
“Well, I think it’s hilarious,” I tell him. “And that’s really the only thing that matters.”
He rolls his eyes and navigates into one of the empty spots near the door that’s reserved for senior members.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten our deal,” I say as he turns off the engine.
“What deal?” he asks innocently.
“Nice try.” I push the door of the car open and step out into the cool night air.
“I’m still deciding if I should pick a time when I could actually benefit from having access to some wheels, or if I should call it in when I know would be the most inconvenient time for you,” I continue as we head toward the house.
“But either way, your wheels are gonna be mine.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“You say that like it’s a new development.” I toss him a smirk as we pull out our IDs.
He rolls his eyes and taps his card on the sensor.
“These last-minute meetings need to end,” he says as I log my entry and step into the building behind him.
“It can’t be about anything important if they’re holding it in the dining hall and not one of the secure meeting rooms. So why bother calling it an hour before it’s supposed to start?
What could they possibly have to tell us that can’t wait? ”
“Yeah, everything about this is weird,” I agree as we make our way through to the main part of the house.
The dining hall is already full when we get there, and we head over to where Jax and Killian are already sitting at a table in the far corner of the room.
“Any idea what this is about?” Killian asks as we sit with them.
“No clue. I’m assuming you guys haven’t heard anything either,” I say.
“Not a damn thing.” Killian pushes his hair back from his face in an agitated way. “This is pointless. Why are we wasting our time having an unsecured meeting? What lies are they going to feed us today?”
“Easy, Killer,” Xave says in his ‘big brother’ voice. “Maybe rein in the rage before you lose your shit and we have to explain why you went off the rails with so many witnesses around.”
“I’m not raging,” Killian grumbles. “Not yet.”
“What’s got your panties in a bunch?” I ask him. “I mean, you’re not wrong about anything, but you seem extra bitchy today.”
“Just tired of the bullshit.” He glances around.
“I get hiding shit from the others, but why are we being kept in the dark?” he says in a low voice.
“After years of using us like their own personal minions and making the frat business our business, they just shut us out and expect us to fall in line while they hide shit from us? How are we supposed to lead next year if they won’t even tell us what’s going on right now? ”
“I don’t get it either,” Xave says, his voice low. “And I’m just as pissed about all of this as you are, but I’m pretty sure the secrecy is coming from higher up.”
“You think the alumni is putting pressure on them to keep things under wraps?” Jax asks.
Xave nods. “Whatever is going on is obviously bigger than what’s been happening here at school.
They wouldn’t have installed key logs on our doors and put in all these rules about guests and curfews if there wasn’t a legit threat.
And things at the main house have been tense for months.
You don’t see it, but Jordan and the boys are stressed the fuck out.
Something is going on, and I have a feeling they’re not getting all the info either. ”
Since Xave lives at the main house with the leaders and a select few trusted seniors, he’s privy to a lot of information that we aren’t, and he sees the leaders in their natural habitat, so to speak, so he’d have a much better idea of what’s going on with them.
And his instincts are always on point, so if he says there’s more to this than we know, I’m going to believe him until I see proof that says otherwise.
“So how about we put on our customer service faces so people don’t start talking shit about us, and you can rage out when the meeting is over,” he says, giving Killian a pointed look.
Xave might be just as unhinged and volatile as Killian, Jax, and me, but he’s always fallen into a big brother role when the four of us are together, and it’s been that way since we were kids.
There’s a reason Xave’s been toying with the idea of staying at Silvercrest for another year and picking up extra classes to get a double major, and it has nothing to do with him wanting to expand his knowledge horizons and everything to do with our dads not trusting Killian, Jax and me to represent the family without a chaperone to keep us in line.
Even if having him as our chaperone is the equivalent of letting the inmates run the asylum.
“This is my customer service face,” Killian says dryly, his expression as stony as a rock quarry.
A prickle of awareness dances over the back of my neck, and I swing my gaze to the door just as Shane and a group of his friends walk into the dining room.
I’m not subtle as I watch him walk across the hall and slide into a seat near the front of the room like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
It’s been almost a week since the night I brought him home from The Crypt, and he’s been shifting between hot and cold and throwing mixed signals at me like it’s his part-time job ever since.
Sometimes I catch him staring at me like I’m some sort of code he’s trying to decipher, and other times he does everything in his power to avoid looking at me—and really couldn’t be more obvious about it if he tried.
Then there are the times I catch him staring at me almost wistfully and with naked hunger in his eyes before he quickly looks away and pretends I don’t exist again.
I have no idea what’s going on with him, but something changed after that night, and I’d probably be annoyed if I gave a shit about that sort of thing, but I don’t.
Shane is mine, and he can freak out or have an existential crisis or decide that I’m the devil incarnate. It won’t change a thing.
One thing not a lot of people know about me is that I can be incredibly patient when I want to be. If something is worth waiting for, then I can wait until the cows come home or hell freezes over or whatever other idiom people like to use.
And it’s not like I don’t love a challenge, so this hot-and-cold routine isn’t the turnoff he probably thinks it is. And it won’t discourage me either, because the best way to make me want something is to tell me I can’t have it.
If Shane wants to play hard to get, then I’m perfectly happy to go along with that because the endgame is the same. Shane is mine, and he’ll either willingly accept that, or I’ll make him.
“What do you think about that?” Killian’s voice breaks into my thoughts, and I pull my attention from Shane and his very obvious efforts to look like he’s the carefree and chill guy he shows the world.
“Sounds plausible,” Xave says as Jax nods.
“What he said.” I tick my chin in Xave’s direction when Killian glances at me.
“Could you at least pretend to listen while you eye fuck the fourth member of our leadership team?” Killian asks dryly.
“I could, but then you’d have nothing to bitch and complain about,” I say sweetly.
He shoots me a flat look. “Do we need to have an intervention?”
“No.”
“Really?” he looks between me and Shane. “Because it seems like whatever the fuck is going on between you two is going to be a problem for us.”
“There isn’t going to be a problem.” I flick my gaze to Jax. “Shut up.”
“Did I say anything?” He arches one eyebrow at me.
“That was a preemptive shut up,” I tell him.
“Someone’s awfully defensive over something that’s not a big deal and isn’t going to cause any problems,” Killian says, his tone light.
I haven’t told either Killian or Xave that Shane and I have been hooking up, but they’re not idiots. They know something is going on, and they’ll be dicks about it because that’s what we do, but they won’t actually confront me about it unless it becomes a real problem.
“Kinda like how you were acting when Felix moved into your room?” I ask Killian just as the door to the dining room swings open.
The room instantly quiets as Jordan, Nico, and Axel stride inside.
“Is everyone here?” Jordan asks when the three of them are standing at the front of the room.
There’s a low murmur of affirmation.
“Good,” Jordan says. “The meeting is now called to order.”
Nico takes a small step forward. “There are a few things we need to discuss with you.” He glances at Axel, who smirks at him.
“Well, discuss is the wrong word.” He looks back at us.
“There are a few things we need to tell you, and the sooner we get through them, the sooner we can get the fuck out of here.”
“The first is that the official investigation into the fire has been completed and we can finally share what was discovered,” he continues.
Jax and I exchange a quick look. The investigation has been over for more than a week, and they’ve had ample opportunity to share the details with everyone before now.
“The fire was caused by a faulty wire in the electrical outlet, and the problems with the suppression systems were caused by technical issues that have since been resolved,” Nico says.
“I know there’s been lots of speculation about exactly what happened, but we’re here to tell you that whatever you’ve heard about arson or any intentional interference with the fire suppression system are rumors.
So stop spreading shit that isn’t true.”
“The official report will be sent to all of you so you can read it if you want,” Axel says.
“But the evidence is clear that what happened was just a combination of unfortunate events and mishaps that created a perfect storm. And now that we know about the issues, we’ve taken steps to fix them so something like this doesn’t happen again. ”
There’s a low murmur of voices, but a sharp look from Jordan is enough to instantly quiet them.
“The other thing we called you in here for is that we’re going to be pushing some new security features to your ID cards tonight,” Axel says when the room is silent again.
“Most of you won’t even notice when they’ve happened, but Carter has calculated that the update could negatively affect a handful of cards and end up demagnetizing and wiping all the stored info on them.
We don’t know which cards, or exactly how many, will be affected, but if you find that your card isn’t working after ten tonight, then text Carter and he’ll fix it.
If you text him and he doesn’t get back to you in fifteen minutes, text me and I’ll do it. ”
“What if you don’t answer?” someone asks from the back of the room.
“Then you’re shit out of luck until one of us does,” Axel says bluntly. “Any other stupid questions?”
The room stays quiet.
“Good,” he says. “And just so everyone knows, Carter and I are the only ones who can fix any cards that are affected, so don’t go bothering anyone else about it. They can’t, and won’t, help you, and all you’re gonna do is piss them off, which will piss me off.”
“That’s all we needed to get through,” Jordan says. “The meeting is officially adjourned.”
A low din of voices rises in the room as people start talking quietly among themselves, and the leaders make a beeline for the exit.
“Well, that was a nothing burger,” I say dryly when the door bangs shut behind them.
“Yet another meeting that could have been an email,” Xave says.
“Did you hear anything about this update?” Jax asks me.
I shake my head.
“Whatever,” Killian says and pushes his chair back. “If they’re not going to let us in on what the hell is going on, then fuck them. They can handle this on their own since they obviously don’t need us.”
“I know I should say something about how there’s obviously a bigger plan in place and we should trust the process,” Xave says as the rest of us stand.
“But I’m with Killer on this one. Fuck them and fuck their plans.
If they want to keep us in the dark, then they can deal with this one on their own. ”
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I tell him. “And his too.” I point at Jax. “Right?”
“Yup,” he says as the four of us follow the flow of guys heading toward the door.
We’ve almost reached it when Shane bumps into me.
“Well, hello there,” I say with a teasing grin as his cheeks flush soft pink. “Fancy meeting you here.”
He takes a step back so there’s about a foot of space between us. “Yeah, totally unexpected that we’d both be at a mandatory meeting.”
“The meeting might be mandatory, but you being so overwhelmed by my presence that you walked right into me was all you, bro.”
He rolls his eyes. “Egotistical much? Someone bumped into me, and I bumped into you. I wasn’t overwhelmed by anything.”
“Of course not.”
“It was an accident,” he insists.
“Of course it was.”
The line moves forward, and we step up to the door at the same time.
I make a big show of motioning for him to go ahead. “After you.”
He rolls his eyes, but slips out of the room ahead of me, and doesn’t look back as he strides down the hall and catches up with Paxton and a few of his friends.
“Still want to go into town for a bit?” Xave asks as he comes to stand with me.
“Yup.” I tear my gaze from Shane’s retreating form.
“Hell yeah.” He grins and pulls his keys out of his pocket. “Time to raise a little hell.” He tosses me a little smirk. “Or a lot, depending on your mood.”
“Bring it,” I say as we head down the hall in the opposite direction that Shane went. “Because I’m definitely in a mood.”