Chapter 9
“Oh my gosh, isn’t it magnificent? Everyone's loving the haunted house. The line's been out the door all night.” Melody clapped her hands with such enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but smile as she flitted around from group to group.
Standing in the main ballroom which was decorated in black and gold Halloween themed decorations, I had to admit that the room looked amazing and I had been very impressed when I saw the Haunted House structure outside in the courtyard as we had walked in.
The Courts girls really did well this year.
"You did a good job, Melody," I said with a nod.
"We did a good job," she corrected, bumping her shoulder against mine playfully. "Though I don’t think this would have been such a success without you Regents pitching in the way you did." I shrugged nonchalantly.
“Ryder and I did nothing,” I said as I watched as Ryder tried to pull Cade onto the dance floor, without much luck. “Logan was the one who got all the housemen doing the manual labour.”
“Yes, our Cadence does seem to have quite the effect on you three,” she said with a knowing smile.
“It’s just a role Mel, you know that as much as anyone,” I replied automatically, though the words felt hollow even to my own ears.
"Right. That's why you haven't taken your eyes off her since you arrived."
I couldn’t argue with that. Cade now stood across the room, talking with Luce, while Ryder whispered something in Max’s ear.
From the look on the poor houseman’s face, whatever Ryder was telling him wasn’t pleasant and probably was some sort of threat to his life.
But even from this distance, I could see the way the red dress clung to Cade’s curves, how the slit revealed tantalising glimpses of her thigh with each shift of her body.
The gold skull mask obscured half her face, but somehow made her blue eyes more striking, more mysterious.
She was fucking breathtaking, and judging by the hungry stares from around the room, I wasn't the only one who thought so.
“I’m just watching out for the Consort,” I said absentmindedly, but I knew Melody wasn’t buying it. She laughed again and leant in to kiss me on the cheek.
“Give her time Cole,” she said, “You and I both know she isn’t from this world, but she came here to find somewhere to belong. You guys can be that place if you do it right.” My eyes widened as she spoke and Melody smirked and shrugged.
“What do you think us girls don’t notice things?
” she asked. “I know full well what the girls in my house are doing, especially when it comes to Courts history.” She nodded over to Cade as Silvia Blake had joined their little group.
There was something about the intensity of their conversation that made me narrow my eyes.
I'd been tracking Silvia's movements since Thursday, and Ryder had hacked her computer to see that she had been digging into Cade’s mother.
Ryder glanced my way, and I nodded to show that I was aware of the girls talking.
We were doing our own investigation into Cade’s mother, but we hadn’t even known her identity until Ryder had pulled up that she was a former Courts girl.
All of Cade’s files had listed her grandparents as next of kin, and we knew that Cade’s mother had left her with the grandparents at five years old, but without a name we didn’t really have a direction to go.
Ryder had even said that Cade’s birth records had been altered and as far as anyone was aware her mother was a ghost. He had marvelled at the work it took to clean records so precisely, and it spoke to further intrigue for sure.
But now we had a name. Lissa Turner, and Ryder was mid way tracing that information to find out what else we could pull up on her.
"Cole." Logan's voice cut through my thoughts as he appeared at my side, his expression tense beneath his red skull mask.
"We've got company." I followed his gaze to the entrance of the ballroom, where Nicholas Bale had just arrived.
Even among the sea of formal attire, Logan's father stood out, his bespoke suit clearly cost more than most people's cars, his posture radiating the kind of dangerous confidence that came from years of ruthlessly eliminating anyone who stood in his way.
"Fuck," I muttered. "What's he doing here?"
"Nothing good," Logan replied grimly, already moving toward his father with the resigned air of a man walking to his execution.
I fell into step beside him, while signalling to Ryder that he was needed.
He nodded and leant over to pull Cade into his arms. He made it look casual, but much like the protection detail we had on Luce we were keen to ensure that anyone watching knew that Cade was ours as well.
Before we could get to Nicholas, Melody rushed forward and grasped his hands.
“Mr Bale, I just wanted to say thank you so much for all that you have done to facilitate tonight’s event,” she gushed excitedly.
“I know Logan did so much work on the haunted house and that you allowed for several of your men to join in the construction of it.” I smirked knowing what she was doing, and that it was working perfectly.
Nicholas was eating up her praise like nobody’s business and was happily telling her he was happy to help.
Nicholas’s need to be a part of this world made him an easy target for well-trained legacies like Melody.
She turned towards us and winked at Logan as she flitted away to talk to someone else.
I covered my smirk with a cough as we moved closer to the bastard.
Nicholas Bale's eyes turned cold as soon as he saw us approaching, his mouth curving into what might generously be called a smile.
"There's my boy," he said, his Cockney accent thicker than usual, a sure sign he was playing up his 'self-made man' persona for the university crowd.
"And Cole, looking particularly grim tonight.
Though that's hardly unusual, is it?" I inclined my head slightly but didn't respond to the bait. Nicholas Bale had been trying to get under my skin since he had taken me in when I was eleven years old. If it wasn’t the small jabs it was the outright threats of sending me back where I came from if I didn’t do what he said.
"What are you doing here, Dad?" Logan asked, his voice carefully controlled.
"I don't recall seeing your name on the guest list." Nicholas laughed, the sound devoid of any real humour.
"Since when do I need an invitation to check on my investment?
" His gaze swept around the room before landing on Cadence.
I saw the subtle gesture as Ryder noticed Nicholas was watching, and from the slight quirk of his lips so did Bale.
"Speaking of investments, I still haven't had the pleasure of dining with your new Consort. " Logan's jaw tightened imperceptibly.
"We've been busy."
"Too busy to honour a simple request from your father?
" Nicholas clicked his tongue in disapproval.
"That won't do, son. I want that dinner.
Before the term ends. And before you start making excuses, remember that I'm not asking.
" His eyes, so similar to Logan's in colour but utterly devoid of the warmth that occasionally softened his son's gaze, fixed on me.
"You're welcome to join us, of course, Cole.
I could do with sitting down with you on some important matters.
" I glanced at Logan before answering, he shook his head dismissively.
We both knew that Nicholas was only wanting more information on Logan.
He still thought I was his little spy, but that ship had sailed a long time ago.
"I'll check my calendar," I replied flatly. Nicholas's smile widened, revealing teeth that were just a fraction too white, too perfect.
"You do that." He clapped Logan on the shoulder, the gesture looking friendly to any observers but carrying enough force to make Logan stiffen.
"Enjoy your evening, boys. I know I will.
" We watched in silence as he moved into the crowd, immediately gravitating toward a group of Regents alumni, probably heading over to kiss their asses too.
"Fuck," Logan exhaled once his father was out of earshot. "That's all we need."
"He's fishing," I said, keeping my voice low. "He’s been like a dog with a bone since you told him about Cade’s grandfather knowing who he was.
" Logan nodded, his eyes tracking his father's progress through the ballroom. "We need to talk to Ryder. And pull together what information we have found on Cadence’s mother. I just don’t like that Blackwood seemed so confident about getting access to her. "
"I've been working on that," I said, drawing Logan's attention back to me. "Silvia’s files gave us a fair amount of information. Lissa Turner was a Courts girl as well."
“I don’t get it,” Logan said thoughtfully.
“That would have made her Legacy, surely.” I shrugged in response.
He was right. It was rare for a Courts girl to not be Legacy, but it did happen.
There were normally certain circumstances that led to chess pieces being moved on a board that we couldn’t see, so for someone to be a non Legacy and then to disappear so easily wasn’t a good sign.
“There is obviously some important piece of information that we are missing,” I said and Logan's expression darkened.
"Yeah, and I don’t like it. Especially with Killingham being so determined to replace her as our Consort." He paused, his gaze drifting back to where Cadence stood, now talking with a small group of Courts girls. "And why my father is suddenly so keen to meet her."
"We need to-" I broke off as I noticed Ryder heading toward us, his expression grim even behind his mask.