Chapter 36
The sleek rental car idled at the end of the long, winding driveway, its headlights cutting twin beams through the evening mist. Beyond the illuminated path, Alyssa Knotty's estate loomed like something out of a gothic nightmare, all stone and angles, the windows glowing with warm light that I knew was a lie.
Nothing about that house was warm. Nothing about her was warm.
My hands trembled on my thighs as I stared at the mansion, memories I'd spent years burying clawing their way to the surface.
I could feel the phantom touch of her hands on my skin, hear her voice cooing praise while she,
"Cole." Logan's voice cut through the spiral, anchoring me back to the present. "We don't have to do this. I can go in alone." I shook my head, my jaw clenched so tight it ached.
"No. She won't help if it's just you. She needs to see me." I swallowed hard, tasting bile. "She always did like having power over me." Logan's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.
"I won't let her touch you." A bitter laugh escaped me.
"A bit late for that."
The silence that followed was heavy with all the things we couldn't say.
The clock on the dashboard blinked 9:47 PM.
In less than forty-eight hours, Cade would face a tribunal stacked against her.
And with the way things were going, she could be sentenced to the Hole.
The thought of Cade, who had already endured so much, in that place was enough to make me reach for the door handle.
"Let's get this over with," I said, forcing steel into my voice.
The gravel crunched beneath our feet as we approached the imposing front entrance.
Each step required conscious effort, my body fighting the instinct to run in the opposite direction.
Until a few months ago, I hadn't seen Alyssa Knotty in years, not since I'd been rescued from the Underground, but her presence had never left me.
She lived in my nightmares, in the scars that mapped my body, in the broken pieces of my psyche that had never fully healed.
Logan stayed close beside me, his presence solid and reassuring.
We'd come a long way from the days when we were just two broken boys thrust together by circumstance.
Now, we were men with power and resources of our own.
Yet standing before Alyssa's door, I felt like that terrified child again, waiting to be led into a room where nightmares became reality.
Before we could ring the bell, the massive oak door swung open.
And there she was. Still beautiful in that cold, predatory way, her blonde hair artfully styled, her makeup flawless.
She wore a simple black dress that probably cost more than most people made in a month, diamonds glittering at her ears and throat.
Her smile, when she saw me, made my skin crawl.
"Well, well," she purred, leaning against the doorframe with casual elegance.
"If it isn't my favourite boy, all grown up.
" Her eyes raked over me with a hunger that made me want to scrub my skin raw.
"What a pleasure to see you again, Cole.
" Logan stepped slightly in front of me, a subtle but clear gesture of protection.
"Mrs Knotty. We need to talk." Alyssa's smile didn't falter as she pushed away from the doorframe.
"Of course you do. Why else would you be darkening my doorstep at this time of night?" She stepped back, gesturing for us to enter. "Come in. Let's not conduct our business in the cold."
I forced my feet to move, crossing the threshold into a house that represented every nightmare I'd ever had.
The foyer was exactly as I remembered, marble floors, a crystal chandelier, and the scent of expensive perfume hanging in the air.
Nothing about this place had ever felt like a home.
It was a stage, a facade, hiding the rot beneath.
I had spent many weekends here, loaned out by Dominic Blake.
"You've filled out nicely," Alyssa commented, circling me like a shark. "Those unique eyes still as striking as ever. I always told Dominic they were your best feature." She reached out as if to touch my face, and I flinched back instinctively. Her smile widened. "Still so responsive, my dear boy."
"He's not your 'boy,'" Logan snapped, his patience clearly fraying. "He never was." Alyssa laughed, the sound like glass breaking.
"Oh, but he will always belong to me, in one way or another." She turned her predatory gaze on Logan. "We leave marks on each other, don't we? Especially the first ones."
I felt bile rise in my throat, but forced it down. We weren't here for this. We were here for Cade. For Cade, I could endure this. For Cade, I could face the monster from my past.
"We're not here to reminisce," I said, proud that my voice remained steady. "We're here about Cade." Something flashed in Alyssa's eyes, annoyance, perhaps, or disdain.
"Ah, yes, my mistake. The poor girl who turned out to be a Consort. How very... predictable."
"Your daughter," I corrected, watching her reaction carefully. "Cade is your daughter, and she's in serious trouble." Alyssa's expression didn't change, but something in her posture stiffened.
"What kind of trouble could she possibly be in?"
"She's been accused of fraud against the Trivium," Logan explained, his voice tight with barely contained anger. "Falsification of scholarship credentials and violation of the Legacy Code."
"The penalty is the Hole," I added, watching as Alyssa's perfectly manicured hand tightened around her wine glass. "Unless you come forward and claim her as your daughter. Acknowledge her legacy status."
For a moment, silence stretched between us, broken only by the soft ticking of an antique clock somewhere in the depths of the house. Then, to my horror, Alyssa laughed, a cold, cruel sound that set my teeth on edge.
"And why on earth would I do that?" she asked, moving to an ornate sideboard where a crystal decanter of amber liquid sat waiting.
She poured herself a generous measure, not offering us anything.
"That child was a mistake. A stain on my life that I tried to erase the moment I found out her vile seed took root in my womb.
" The casual cruelty of her words hit me like a physical blow.
I knew Alyssa was capable of monstrous things; I bore the evidence on my body, but the complete dismissal of her own child still managed to shock me.
"She's your daughter," Logan ground out, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Your flesh and blood." Alyssa took a delicate sip of her drink, regarding us over the rim of her glass.
"She's an inconvenience. And if she's sent to the Hole, well.
.. that solves all of my problems, doesn't it?
No more risk of her digging into the past, no more chance of her embarrassing me or my husband with her existence.
" She smiled, cold and sharp. "So you see, I have absolutely no incentive to help her.
" My stomach twisted with disgust and a rising sense of desperation.
We'd gambled everything on this confrontation, on appealing to a maternal instinct that clearly didn't exist. Cade was going to pay the price for our failure.
"Besides," Alyssa continued, setting her glass down with a deliberate click, "I have a new life now.
A better one." As if on cue, the sound of light footsteps drew our attention to the doorway behind Alyssa.
A young girl, no more than thirteen, appeared in the entrance to the living room.
She was the spitting image of Alyssa, with the same blonde hair and delicate features, but an innocence that her mother had long since lost.
"Annalee, darling," Alyssa called, her voice suddenly warm and maternal in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Come meet our guests." The girl approached hesitantly, her eyes wide as she took in Logan and me.
There was something in her gaze that set off alarm bells in my head, a wariness, a fear that I recognised all too well.
"This is my daughter, Annalee," Alyssa introduced, placing a possessive hand on the girl's shoulder. "My real daughter." Annalee dipped in a small, practiced curtsy.
"Pleased to meet you," she murmured, though her eyes said otherwise.
"What do you think of her, Cole?" Alyssa asked, her fingers squeezing Annalee's shoulder just a little too tightly.
"She's quite something, isn't she? So much potential.
" The implication in her words, the way her eyes glittered as she looked between Annalee and me, made my blood run cold.
I'd seen that look before, knew exactly what it meant.
Bile rose in my throat as understanding dawned.
"With that bitch out of the picture," Alyssa continued, her voice a poisonous purr, "perhaps you might consider coming back to me.
We had such fun together, didn't we? And Annalee is so eager to learn.
.. everything." Horror crashed through me in a sickening wave.
She was offering her daughter, her own child, to me, the way she had once offered me to others.
The casual depravity of it, the monstrous suggestion cloaked in her silken voice, left me speechless with revulsion.
"You sick fucking bastard," Logan snarled, taking a step forward. "She's a child. Your child." Alyssa's smile didn't waver.
"She's an investment. Just like Cadence was supposed to be, before that interfering old man got in the way." She waved a dismissive hand. "There's time. Annalee is still young, still developing. But in a few years..."
"Stop," I choked out, unable to bear another word. "Just stop."
Annalee's eyes met mine briefly, and in that moment, I saw a silent plea that broke what was left of my heart.
I'd been that child once, looking to adults for help that never came.
The thought that history was repeating itself, that Alyssa was grooming her own daughter for the same fate she'd once subjected me to, made me want to burn the whole house down with her inside it.
"Annalee, go to your room," Alyssa instructed, her voice suddenly sharp. "Now." The girl obeyed without question, scurrying from the room like a frightened animal. The moment she was gone, Alyssa's mask of maternal concern dropped, replaced by the predatory smirk I remembered from my nightmares.
"You always were so sensitive," she said, moving toward me with a sinuous grace that set every nerve in my body on edge. "So responsive to every touch, every suggestion. I've missed that about you." Logan stepped between us, his body a barrier.
"Stay the fuck away from him." Alyssa laughed, undeterred.
"Protective, aren't we? How sweet." She sidestepped Logan with practiced ease, her eyes never leaving mine. "But Cole knows who he belongs to. Don't you, darling? You can play at being a powerful Regent all you want, but deep down, you're still that frightened little boy with the pretty eyes."
Her words slithered into my mind, finding all the cracks and insecurities I thought I'd sealed away.
Part of me, the broken, conditioned part that had survived by submitting, wanted to agree with her, to fall back into the patterns that had once kept me alive.
But I wasn't that boy anymore. I was a man who had fought and clawed his way to freedom, who had built a life and found people worth fighting for.
"I don't belong to anyone," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Especially not to you." Something dangerous flashed in Alyssa's eyes.
"We'll see about that."
Before I could react, she was in front of me, her hand sliding down my chest in a caress that left me frozen in place.
Her touch was like ice, seeping through my clothes and into my skin, triggering a cascade of memories I'd spent years trying to forget.
My body locked up, muscles seizing as panic clawed its way up my throat.
"I'll always be watching you, Cole," she whispered, her breath hot against my ear.
"And someday, I'll have my hands on you again.
You can count on it." Logan's reaction was instant and violent.
He grabbed Alyssa's wrist, yanking her away from me with enough force to make her stumble.
His face was a mask of cold fury as he towered over her.
"Keep your sick, twisted hands off my family," he growled, the threat in his voice unmistakable. "Touch him again, and I'll end you." For a brief moment, fear flickered across Alyssa's perfect features. Then it was gone, replaced by her usual calculated amusement.
"Your family?" she echoed, rubbing her wrist where Logan's fingers had left red marks. "How touching. The lost boys found each other and made a home." Her smile turned cruel. "But you're forgetting something important: homes can be burned to the ground."
She turned away, the dismissal clear in every line of her body.
"I think we're done here. I hope Cadence enjoys her time in the Hole. I hear it's quite... an educational experience."
"You're condemning your own daughter to torture," I said, finding my voice again as the initial shock of her touch receded. "Is that really who you want to be?" Alyssa paused at the doorway, glancing back over her shoulder with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Darling, I've always been exactly who I am.
It's the rest of the world that needs to catch up.
" She gestured toward the foyer. "See yourselves out.
And Cole? Do think about my offer. Annalee would benefit from your experience.
" With that final, sickening suggestion hanging in the air, she disappeared into the depths of the house, the click of her heels on marble fading into silence.
For a moment, neither Logan nor I moved.
The weight of our failure, the horror of what we'd witnessed, settled over us like a shroud.
Cade was doomed to the Hole, and we'd just discovered a child who might be headed for the same nightmare I'd endured.
The helplessness of it all threatened to swallow me whole.