Chapter 30
THIRTY
ARLO
Rylas hates to miss out on things. He’s always fucking jealous of everything. And to pull me out of bed while Cora is sleeping is unacceptable. But if she weren’t in my bed right now, I would have killed him and dealt with the consequences later.
Rylas thinks that because he’s been a member for many years, he has a say in things. But he knows there’s a hierarchy to follow, and everything in the Forsaken first goes through the Lord, Soren. Then through Reon and me.
Some members call us his henchmen, but we look at it as we just don’t put up with his shit and call him out on it.
The others suck up to him because they want the power that he has.
All members, except Reon and me, have to give Soren a piece of their equity.
He asked us once, and we both told him to get fucked, and that wasn’t going to work for us.
The equity isn’t always in the form of a business or property. It can also be secrets. The Forsaken holds many secrets that could get each of us locked up or killed.
Soren is a great leader. However, some of the members have been getting a little too bold for his liking lately.
Like Rylas here. He thinks he should have had a say in the decision to kill Gage.
Soren would have informed the other members of Gage’s betrayal after he was dead.
Rylas is acting like a spoiled brat about not being a part of the kill.
Fuckhead.
Maybe we should kill him next.
He is getting on my last fucking nerve, that’s for sure.
After Rylas leaves, I shake my head and walk back to my room. When I step inside, I find her sitting on the edge of the bed, holding my mask.
Fuck.
I switch on the light, and the mask, which is made from shards of a broken mirror affixed to the plastic underneath, reflects back onto her neck. Her skin is still inflamed, and it makes me itch to touch it.
I’ve never felt the desire to fix something I marked, but right now, I do.
“What is this?” she asks, staring down at the mask.
I must have moved it and forgotten, not thinking she would be staying over.
I should have known better. No parts of the hunt are ever to be brought to public knowledge.
And while this isn’t public, her knowing about the mask is dangerous.
If she told anyone related to the Forsaken that she saw the mask, they would kill her. No questions asked.
“Put it down,” I tell her.
Her perfect green eyes find mine, and then they lower into slits.
“I’m going to leave,” she states as she stands, still holding the mask in her hand.
I eye it, and she stares at me for a moment before dropping it to the floor, where I’m guessing she found it.
She grabs her phone from the nightstand, and the light from the screen illuminates her face as she presses a few buttons before she raises her head and meets my eyes. “Move… so I can leave.”
“You’re naked. You aren’t going anywhere. Get back in bed and go back to sleep.”
“No.” She quickly swipes my discarded shirt off the floor and slips it on. “I’m dressed, and now I’m leaving.” She goes to step past me, but before she gets too close, she holds up a finger. “If you touch me right now, you will never see me again. Do you understand me?”
My cock jumps in my pants at the authority in her voice. It’s the dichotomy of her subservience when I fuck her and the confidence she exudes when confronting me at every turn.
“I do.”
“Good. Now move so I can gather my things and leave.”
I step to the side, clearing her path to the bedroom door. I stand silently as she starts picking up her clothes from the living room floor. Then we hear a car honk from out front.
She looks at me from over her shoulder and asks, “What’s the hunt?
” My fists clench at her question, and her gaze drops to my hands.
“Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.
” She hurries outside, without a backward glance or even shutting the door behind her.
She gets into her car, and I watch her disappear down the street.