101. Scarlett
Scarlett
T he bottle had made its rounds again. And again.
The fire had burned low, just embers and shadows now. The ocean hush behind it. Zeke tossed a twig into the glowing coals, eyes flickering orange. Rhett sat across from me, half-asleep.
The tequila didn’t numb everything.
But it sure as hell made me bolder.
I was warm, not from the tequila—though that helped. From them. From the fucking mess we were living.
But under the buzz and firelight, something tugged.
A hollow space I couldn’t name.
There were memories I couldn’t reach.
Edges that felt worn down, like someone had scraped them clean.
I took another sip and looked around at all of them.
The Hollow Order.
My enemies. My protectors. My fuck-ups. My family.
Their tattoos marked them. Sworn to the Hollow Order.
But me?
I was something else. The Red Veil’s heir. Their opposite. Their balance. Their fucking curse, maybe.
I ran my thumb along the rim of the bottle, then looked up. “Does the Order resent you for being tied to me?”
Kane shifted, the firelight catching on his profile. Rhett’s glass hovered near his lips, untouched. Alden stayed still, but the tension in his shoulders said enough.
Zeke was the first to speak. “They didn’t expect it. You weren’t supposed to survive, let alone be... her.”
My chest pulled tight. “But they knew I was alive.”
“We knew someone was out there. But the Red Veil went dark when your bloodline vanished. There were whispers. A chance.”
“But no proof,” I murmured.
“We didn’t expect you,” Alden said, voice low. “And we sure as hell didn’t expect... this.”
He didn’t say the word bond.
“And none of you thought to tell me?”
Rhett winced. “It wasn’t that simple.”
“Because of the bloodline?” I asked, voice sharper now. “Or because I was the missing piece no one wanted to find?”
My eyes drifted to Trace. “And what—do they hate that it’s me? That it’s not someone they picked?”
Rhett leaned forward, forearms on his knees. “They’re not thrilled two of us got tied to the heir of their enemy’s line, no.”
“It was never supposed to happen,” Zeke said. “The bonds are ancient. Rare. Uncontrollable.”
“Sounds like bad planning,” I muttered.
Kane let out a quiet laugh. “Welcome to the Order.”
“It’s old,” Zeke said, cutting in. “Ancient. Predates the split between Orders. No one’s seen it happen in our lifetimes.”
“And now?” I said, voice tight. “Now it’s real, and I’m sitting here like a loaded weapon, and none of you know how to defuse me.”
Kane whistled under his breath. “Sounds about right.”
I gave him a deadpan look, but the corner of my mouth twitched.
“You, the bond, the legacy. All of it. Why four of you? Why not one spy tucked into my friend group? Why an entire damn entourage?”
Kane shrugged, smirking. “We travel in packs. Very intimidating.”
Rhett gave him a look. “Because we didn’t know what we were walking into.”
“You mean who,” I said, quieter. “You didn’t know it was me.”
Alden’s gaze dropped to the fire. “We knew someone survived. There were whispers. But the Red Veil covered its tracks after the bloodline went dark.”
Zeke nodded. “We were sent to observe. Not interfere.”
“Right,” I said. “And then two of you bonded with me. Really subtle.”
That earned a snort from Kane. “Not our most low-profile assignment, I’ll give you that.”
“I think you all knew something was wrong with me,” I said, scanning the circle. “Back then. When we met.”
Rhett shifted, gaze flicking briefly to Trace, then away. Kane stared at the fire, twirling a twig between his fingers until it snapped in two.
Zeke didn’t blink. “You weren’t whole. Not completely.”
Alden’s fingers grazed the edge of my blanket like he might say something. He didn’t.
“None of you said anything,” I said softly.
“We weren’t sure,” Rhett admitted. “Just... signs. Something in your eyes. Like your head didn’t match your blood.”
Kane leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “It’s like your fire was there, but someone had built a wall around it.”
Alden’s fingers brushed the edge of the blanket. “We weren’t sure if it was trauma. Or... something else.”
“You think someone did it.”
“We think something did,” Rhett said carefully.
I inhaled slowly, the weight of it all settling on my ribs. “And now? Now that you know I’m the heir and bonded to two of you—what does the Order do?”
“They wait,” Zeke said. “Watch. Try to predict the outcome.”
I leaned back, rain-softened air curling through the trees. “What happens if they can’t?”
“They’ll try anyway,” Zeke said. “They always do.”
“They’ll try to control it,” Alden added. “The bond. The legacy.”
My mouth tilted. “Try to control me.”
Kane barked a laugh. “Good fucking luck.”
Rhett grinned into his glass. “Yeah, let us know how that works out.”
Even Zeke’s mouth twitched. “They really didn’t do their homework, did they?”
I let the moment stretch, firelight flickering across their faces—these boys who had been sent to watch me. Now they were circling a girl they couldn’t contain.
“They’ll learn the hard way,” I said, voice soft but sharp. “I don’t break easy.”
Trace’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “No,” he said quietly. “You burn.”
And the way he said it—low, reverent, almost afraid—made the air pull tight again.