Chapter 20 All For One #2
My hand comes away slick—his entire left side is soaked red, the bandage barely holding.
“Shit,” I breathe.
“Move back, Isobel.” Derek’s hands are gentle as he pushes beside me.
Derek’s fingers prod at the opening.
Luca blinks slowly, head rolling back. “Just… restin’ my eyes.”
“Hey, hey.” I lean in, slapping his cheek lightly. “Stay with me, Silvain.”
“He’s losing too much. That blade must’ve clipped an artery or something.” Derek grumbles
Noah slams on the gas. “ETA five minutes. I’ve already called ahead. Guild med team’s prepped.”
“Floor it, Vexley.” Max calls.
Derek grabs the rest of the bandage roll and presses it tighter, anchoring it with both palms.
“You saved my life back there.” Luca’s lashes flutter.
Jace sits opposite, silent, eyes locked on Luca.
“Didn’t want you to get skewered.” I give him a small smile.
“It would’ve… ruined my pretty face.” Luca’s breathing is shallow. He looks pale.
“Don’t be a damn idiot,” I say, my throat closing.
“Can’t help it,” he whispers, mouth twitching into the ghost of a grin. “It’s the charm.”
And then his eyes roll back and his body sags.
“Luca!” I yell.
Tex presses two fingers to his throat. “He’s still got a pulse—barely.”
The moment the van skids to a halt at the hidden Guild chamber, the back doors fly open. Two masked medical operatives rush in with a stretcher.
“Vitals are fading,” one says. “We’ve got him.”
I don’t want to let go. I don’t realize I’m still holding onto his arm until they pry my fingers away.
Jace silently steps aside, allowing them to lift Luca out.
As they carry him away, I watch the blood trail on the floor, my hands still stained crimson.
I hated him. But now all I can do is hope he doesn’t die.
I’m numb, nauseous, and exhausted. But there isn’t any time for that.
Max, Derek, and Preston lead us down to the Guild chamber.
The Guild chamber doors swing open with a low mechanical hiss, revealing the half-moon of masked figures already assembled.
The obsidian walls reflect the pale torchlight, casting long, flickering shadows. I can feel the eyes on me.
My boots echo too loudly against the stone as I step inside.
Lucian stands at the far end.
“You completed the objective,” one of the masked elders says from his left.
“Yes.” My voice is low but steady. “The weapons have been secured.”
“Casualties?”
“Luca Silvain got injured; he’s in medical now,” Derek says from behind me.
Another Guild elder leans forward. “And the mission compromise? Did anyone see your faces?”
“No.” I shake my head. “We stayed dark the whole way through.”
Lucian finally steps forward. “They succeeded,” he says, not as my father, but as Guild Master. “Despite a more complex route and heavier resistance than expected.”
“Impressive,” says a figure with a silver embroidered hood. “Perhaps the girl is more than just a legacy name.”
I can feel the backhand in that compliment. But I don’t rise to it. I just stand there, arms loose at my sides, blood on my sleeves, trying to breathe through the ache in my chest.
A new voice speaks. “You led?”
“I acted,” I reply. “We all did. It was teamwork.”
Lucian gives a slight nod. “Initiation task two: complete.”
The room murmurs in approval—low, like distant thunder.
Then the main doors open again. Jace, Tex, and Noah stride in, clothes torn, skin dusted with dirt and blood. Tex has a torn sleeve and a cut on his temple. His jaw works and he rolls his shoulders. Jace… his eyes meet mine once, sharp and searching, but he says nothing.
Lucian’s voice rings out again. “They fought beside her. As a unit. They passed not just the test but proved cooperation under fire.”
“They passed?” one of the masked councilmen says slowly.
“They did,” Lucian answers. “All of them.”
A slow ripple of nods followed. The Guild has seen us. And—for now—accepted us.
Lucian raises his hand and the room falls silent again, the weight of his presence immediate and absolute.
“This isn’t the end,” he says, his voice echoing through the stone chamber. “From this point forward, you all will rotate actively for Guild missions, you will remain under supervision by senior guild members.”
My pulse jumps. Active missions? That feels… fast.
“Hey! We are not seniors. We’re just experienced.” Max whines.
Lucian chuckles and continues, “You’ve passed your second initiation task, but the third is still ahead. Between now and then, you will be sent out regularly. Real assignments. Real consequences.”
Noah shifts beside me, eyes flicking up toward the council. Jace remains perfectly still, unreadable. Tex’s jaw twitches. None of them speak.
“The missions will not be ceremonial,” Lucian says, his gaze sweeping across the five of us. “You’ll be briefed only when assigned. You’ll work as a team, or you’ll fail. And failure is not tolerated.”
A pause.
“You want to wear the crest of the Guild?” His voice drops low. “Earn it.”
There is a final nod from the council. The torches hiss with a fresh burn. The chamber, heavy with tension moments ago, suddenly feels charged.
Lucian gives me one last glance—just for a second—and then turns away, his cloak swirling as he leaves the chamber.
The sterile lights of the Guild infirmary waiting room buzz faintly overhead, a soft hum that only makes the silence between us heavier. I sit curled in one of the chairs, arms wrapped around my middle, eyes fixed on the scuffed floor tiles like they can offer answers.
Across from me, Tex leans forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped tight like he’s trying to keep himself from punching through the wall.
He hasn’t spoken since we arrived. Jace stands by the far window, posture tense, his neck still stained with a splash of Luca’s blood.
His fingers twitches at his sides, like he isn’t sure what to do with the rage coiling just beneath his skin.
Noah sits beside me, hood pulled up, earbuds in. Every now and then, he taps his foot or cracks his knuckles. Restlessness masked as calm.
No one says it, but we are all thinking the same thing. He lost so much blood. Too much blood.
The moment Luca collapsed in the back of the van, it felt like time fractured. His blood had soaked through the bandages. My hands still carried the ghost of it, sticky and warm and terrifying. He’d joked on that van like he wasn’t about to bleed out. Like it was all some game.
I had to stop the bleeding, to keep pressure. I had to hold him together. Now all I can do is wait.
A clock ticks somewhere. It’s too loud. Every time the door at the end of the hall creaks, my pulse skips a beat.
Still no word. Still no Luca.
I’m not sure how much time passes. Noah sits up, lowering his hood and pulling out his earbuds. For a moment, he just stares at me.
“What?” I can’t take him just staring.
He doesn’t say anything. He turns to stare at Tex. I follow his gaze to Tex, his eyes moving over to me.
“Well?” I look back and forth between them. “I’m too tired for this shit, can you guys just get the torture or whatever you’re about to do over with already?” I sink back in my chair.
“There’s something I found I think you ought to know,” Noah says slowly.
“No,” Jace barks before Noah can say anything else.
When I look over at him, his eyes are shooting lasers at Noah. His facial expression a clear warning.
I watch as an entire conversation passes between them in complete silence. I obviously wasn’t invited. The only thing I know is that whatever Noah wants to say, Jace does not want me to know about it. Noah turns to me again.
“I looked into your file, to research who you are and what we could use against you,” Noah says.
“Obviously.”
“We found files on your stepdad, Daniel.”
I feel like a bucket of ice water is thrown over me. They’re going to bring this up here? Now? While we’re waiting for Luca? Are they serious?
“It’s not about what he did to you.” Tex walks over and crouches in front of me.
“Then what about him?” My voice is small.
“When I got into your file, there were redacted documents embedded underneath. Buried deep, like someone doesn’t want anyone to ever find them. But they were Guild-marked,” Noah says.
“What does that mean?” My voice cracks.
Tex leans forward. “It means your stepdad wasn’t just some random scumbag. He was a Guild member.”
I can’t speak. The floor shifts under me — not literally, but in that vertigo way where everything I thought I knew tilts sideways.
“No way,” I breathe.
“Rogue Guild,” Jace says. “Years ago. He broke one of the codes. Not just stealing — he killed someone. A Guild operative. It’s how he got exiled.”
My mind reels. “He… he killed someone? And the Guild…”
“Erased him,” Noah finishes. “Scrubbed him from the records. That’s why it wasn’t in anything the police knew. But the Guild keeps receipts. Quiet ones.”
“He disappeared underground,” Tex adds. “Made enemies. Made deals. When he took you and your mom… it wasn’t random. He knew what he was doing.”
I shake my head, the air feeling too thick to breathe. “No. No, that’s not… My mom took me away. She said she ran because my dad was dangerous.”
Jace’s jaw flexes.
Noah looks down again. “That’s what she believed. Or needed you to believe.”
“What does that mean?”
“It wasn’t a kidnapping,” Tex says. “Not technically. We believe it was a revenge plot. Daniel was dating your mom right before she met Lucian.”
“No.” The words feel fragile. Weak. “She wouldn’t…”
“He manipulated her,” Noah’s eyes soften behind his glasses. “She was young, scared, and had a history of drug use. I can only imagine that he used her addiction against her.”
My throat closes. A thousand images flash through my mind — my mom, distracted and strung out, clinging to promises no one else could hear. Her frantic whispers when she thought no one was listening. The way she used to flinch at shadows in motel windows.
“She really believed she was doing the right thing,” I whisper.
No one says anything. But their silence is answer enough.
The weight of it all presses into my chest.
“So what?” I say, too loud, too hollow. “You’re saying… I was some kind of revenge plot?”
No one answers.
Noah’s voice is softer now. “We thought we were tormenting a rich girl with a throne waiting for her. We didn’t know the full story.”
Jace looks away. “None of us did.”
For once, none of them are smirking. None of them look amused. Just grim. Tight. Like they are standing in front of a storm they don’t know how to stop.
“I’d have told her when she was ready,” came a low voice from behind us.
I turn. Lucian stands in the doorway, his coat still dusted with rain, his expression unreadable but unmistakably tense. The room is silent.
“You weren’t supposed to tell her.” His eyes flick to each of them in turn—Jace, Noah, Tex—his voice calm, but deadly. “That wasn’t your truth to reveal.”
“She deserved to know,” Noah says, not backing down.
“And she would have,” Lucian replies. “From me. In a way that wouldn’t tear open any decent memory she managed to salvage of her mother.”
His gaze lands on me, softer now, regret simmering just under the surface. “You’ve been through enough, Isobel. I wasn’t trying to protect her—I just… didn’t want to destroy what little peace you had.”
I pick at my nails. I don’t know what to say. My thoughts are too loud. A war between old loyalties and new truths rage in my head.
“I get it,” I finally say, voice quiet. “But it’s too late now.”
Lucian nods slowly, eyes dark. “I know.”
He draws a slow breath, the tension in his shoulders loosening slightly.
“Luca made it through surgery,” he says, the exhaustion clear in his voice.
“The doctors were able to stop the bleeding and stabilize him. He’s resting now, and you’ll be able to see him later—after you’ve all had some time to recover. ”
A collective exhale fills the space.
“He’s okay?” I ask, almost afraid to hope.
Lucian gives me a tired but steady nod. “He’s strong. Stubborn, too.” A faint flicker of something—maybe pride, maybe just relief—passes through his eyes. “He’ll pull through.”
I slump back against the chair, the adrenaline draining from my system all at once. My limbs feel heavy. My head throbs. But underneath all that… a thread of calm.
Lucian looks at us all. “Get some rest. Eat. Shower. You’ve earned it.”
Then, to me alone, with a faint gentleness in his voice, “We’ll talk more later.”
And just like that, he’s gone, the door closing softly behind him—leaving us all in the thick silence of aftermath and everything that still lingers unspoken.