Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
ARLO
Confidential — Personal Use Only
OBSERVATIONS:
I quite like it when she threatens me.
And I completely understand how sadistic that is.
But I do not care in the slightest when it comes to her.
She reluctantly breaks the kiss. No matter what she says, her physical reactions to me show me something different.
But I want those words. I know she can say them. I’ve made her use her manners before, and I can do it again. It’s just a matter of time now.
Her lips are red and puffy from our kiss, and I know I have her lipstick all over my mouth, but I don’t care in the slightest.
“Move, Arlo. I need to go.”
I rise from the seat, but I block her path. “Come home with me,” I say again.
“Why would I do that?” she asks, raising a brow.
I lean in close, and she doesn’t push me away. Fuck, she smells good.
“Arlo,” someone says from behind me.
I know who that voice belongs to. And I choose to ignore them as I whisper into Cora’s ear, “Because I can make you beg and use your manners.”
“Arlo.” He is more insistent now, so I turn away from Cora to face Soren. He gives me a meaningful look and says, “We have things that need to be discussed.”
“Is he your boss?” Cora asks.
“No,” I answer, still looking at Soren.
“So, do you plan to discuss things with your friend or take me home? Pick one.”
I turn to her, and my face lights up with barely controlled anticipation. “You want to come back to mine?”
Her hand lands on her hip, and she eyes me. “I’m in a mood. And Sebastian told me I should let you fuck it out of me. So, take me home before I change my mind.”
I look back at Soren. “I’m leaving. This can wait.”
“No, it can’t,” he insists, then peers over my shoulder at James. I ignore him and focus solely on Cora. Fuck, she looks incredible tonight. I would never usually say no to Soren—he is our Lord, after all—but right now, I really fucking want to say no to him.
“I guess I’ll have to find someone else to fuck this mood out of me.
Good night, Arlo.” Cora sighs, almost like she’s disappointed in me.
Her words are like gasoline on an open flame.
They ignite a wildfire of rage and possessiveness in my chest. Unleashing a feral beast that day by day is hidden under expensive suits, shiny shoes, and a practiced calm for a facade.
The need to bend her smart ass over the table and fuck her in full view of everyone here, wrapping my beads around that neck as I pound into her, is overwhelming.
It would be her punishment and my salvation.
I reach out and grab her elbow, not allowing her to get far. “You let anyone else touch you but me, Cora, and he won’t live to see tomorrow.”
“You can’t be serious.” She glares up at me.
“Deadly.”
She’s still as she waits a beat, just watching me.
Whatever she sees in my eyes, or on my face, it’s enough to have her smirking in something akin to triumph, but it’s the lick of fear and curiosity in her beautiful eyes that intoxicates me.
Cora doesn’t speak. She snatches her arm back, turns, and starts to walk out.
“Goodbye,” Cora says, not waiting for me to decide.
She walks past Soren and out to where her friend is waiting for her. I watch her until she’s out the door.
“This better be fucking good,” I growl at my friend.
“A member is going rogue. You know what that means,” he tells me.
“Fuck.” I run a hand through my hair.
It means it’s someone’s turn to die.
* * *
Gage stands in the field. It’s getting late, and the cold is starting to set in. Headlights illuminate the area for a moment, and Soren and I turn to watch Reon get out of the car. He saunters over, dressed in dark jeans and a leather jacket.
“Who else can we expect?” Gage asks.
Sometimes, and I mean on rare occasions, we have meetings out here. It’s quiet and far away from prying eyes.
“I think this is all of us,” Soren says as he turns to face us. His gaze takes us all in before stopping on Gage.
The only way out of the Forsaken Society is death.
We all know that.
It’s why Reon is still here. Even if he doesn’t want to be. Though he loves the fucked-up parts as much as the rest of us.
“Why are you all—” Gage cuts himself off as he frantically looks at each of us. I watch as panic starts to shoot through him. His gaze bounces back and forth, and his hands clutch together and then release.
He’s nervous.
He should be.
He’s about to die.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. Nothing.” He rubs his eyes as his head shakes back and forth.
Soren showed me the evidence. It’s there, and there’s a lot of it. We all know what he did—he told people about us, about the Forsaken. About Soren.
That was a costly mistake.
You can’t go against the Lord.
“I only told them about your underground fighting,” he blurts, now trying to cover for himself. “That’s not a secret.”
It actually is a secret. No one knows but the people who attend the fights. When Soren explains why he is battered or bruised, he says he boxes. That’s a half-truth, I guess.
“The Forsaken finds out everything,” Reon says.
The rule regarding ending a member’s life states that three other members must agree on the punishment. Hence, there are three of us here.
“I swear.” He holds up his hands. Gage is a banker and a good one at that.
He’s helped a lot of us funnel our money into untraceable accounts.
But rules are there for a reason, and he broke them.
Even though he’s been a member for well over ten years, he is bound by the same rules and consequences as the rest of us.
“Gage.” His head turns my way at the sound of my voice. “You are going to die tonight,” I let him know with a smile.
“Arlo, you know me. You know I would never do that.” His tone is pleading.
“Your body language is saying you’re lying, Gage. The rubbing of your eyes, fidgeting with your hands. It’s all very telling,” I inform him.
“You told her,” Soren growls at Gage.
“She was asking about you. And she spiked my drink.”
There it is—the truth. At least what he believes to be the truth. However, I doubt the drink was spiked.
“Who was she?” Reon asks, and Gage’s desperate gaze flicks to his.
“She said her name was Cressida,” he says, then looks back to Soren. “You believe me, don’t you?”
“I don’t,” Soren states.
“She’s a journalist,” I tell Gage.
“What else did you say to her?” Reon asks, stepping closer.
“Enough,” Soren barks, then to me, he says, “Your decision.”
“Dead.”
Gage turns to Reon, imploring, “Please, Reon. Please.”
“Reon?” Soren asks.
“Dead,” he simply says.
“Fuck you all! Fuck you!” Gage shouts.
And, as I’m standing the closest to him, he runs at me, but I already have my knife in hand. The minute Gage gets close enough, I lift it and slam the blade into his neck. His hands touch me briefly before going to his neck. His blood spills all over me, and I tear the knife out of his neck.
He drops to his knees at my feet, both hands clutching the wound.
It’s exhilarating to have this kind of power.
That’s one of the reasons why I love the Society so much.
It’s because it lets you explore all the dark tendencies that you have crawling around inside you.
While we have no issues killing on our hunts, we also have limits in that we don’t kill the innocent. Unless they betray us, that is.
“Bury him,” Soren commands as Gage falls to the ground, blood still pouring out of him and his eyes permanently open.
Dead.