27. Vaughn
Vaughn
“We’re sorry about the loss of your High Master, but you must understand, what Redmond did with Main Master Draper came with consequences. Ones he didn’t survive.”
I nodded, letting instability collide with every emotion imaginable.
I didn’t want to be in this meeting facing Mr. Prescott from the Collective High Council.
I wanted to continue my search for Penelope.
I wanted to burn the city down until I found her.
But what choice did I have? Redmond was dead thanks to Gavin Draper and his connections, and my time had run out.
I was now the Unavowed. I didn’t have a choice but to step into my role.
Being here meant I couldn’t constantly search for her.
I did when I was able, but so far, she hadn’t surfaced.
After our last moments together, I wasn’t sure she ever would.
“If that will be all.”
“Actually.” He shifted in his chair. “That’s not all. I didn’t just come to offer my condolences. It would seem there’s something you want to tell me.”
I lifted one of my eyebrows at him. “I don’t think so.”
“No?” He let out a sigh. “You get further in life by making more friends, Mr. Masterson—Unavowed. You really want me as a friend.”
“I don’t have friends.”
A smile tugged at one side of his cheek, and light brown eyes searched my face.
It had me assessing him. At just under six feet, he was lean but built.
He was a good ten years older than I was, around his early-to-mid-forties.
Although he had dark hair, hints of silver were starting to take over.
He wasn’t a bad-looking man. Slightly average, if not slightly above.
“I hear you lost your queen.”
My shoulders widened, and I sat up more in my chair, feeling my lids narrow threateningly.
“And where did you hear that?”
His hands went up and out, almost as in a shrug or to say he didn’t know… but did.
“I’m a member of the Collective High Council, Unavowed. I hear everything. Where, is irrelevant. What you need to know is, she’s been collected. Right this very moment, they are getting everything they can from her. What is she going to tell them?”
Heat poured from me. Doubt tried to force its way in, but I knew the truth in my heart.
“Nothing.”
His head cocked to the side.
“You sound confident.”
“Because I am. Penelope will be my queen. She may have run away, but there’s no running from me.
I will eventually get her back. She knows this, and her loyalty is to me and The Order.
She is part of us just like we are part of her.
She swore vows to my guards. If anyone harms a single hair on her head...
” I moved to the edge of my chair, not able to stop the top of my body from leaning in his direction.
“I will kill them, and they will never escape The Order. It is done. There is no taking any of it back. Everyone who hurts her will die a most agonizing death. Do you understand me?”
Mr. Prescott smiled, not speaking while he kept trying to read me.
“You love her. A love match, then.”
“Don’t twist this around. I would kill for whoever filled that role. This is a decision I’ve weighed over my lifetime, and I stand by my choice. Penelope is mine. That is final.”
“You say you chose her. Did she choose you?”
My jaw tightened as I repeatedly flexed it.
“I take that as a no.”
“Then you’d be assuming wrong. She chose me. We had a fight. She’ll return.”
“Will she? I don’t think she will. I don’t think she could even if she wanted to.”
“What the hell do you mean? Who has her?”
He let out a small laugh under his breath.
“No one that likes you.”
“King Lawrence?”
My heart was pounding so hard, I could barely hear myself talk.
“Not him. Not yet, not that he hasn’t shown interest in retrieving her from the very beginning.
Have you watched the news? Have you gone into any store in all of London since you took her?
If you would have, you would have seen her picture posted everywhere.
” Prescott’s voice dropped lower. “That was him.”
Possessiveness had me breathing heavier. I wouldn’t think about him or what I’d seen with my own eyes over the last few months. I didn’t want to believe, but it was true. Mr. Prescott had just confirmed it.
“Who. Has. Her.”
He paused. “They’re called the Sovereign Liaison Bureau, and it isn't just any task force.
It's a bridge, officially linking the NCA and the FBI.
Elites aren't bound by borders, Vaughn. The SLB happens to think that Penelope may be a treasure trove of information thanks to you.
They're interested in what she can tell them. You say she won't talk. They’ll keep her until she does.”
He got quiet, but I could tell he wasn’t finished.
“Have you heard of the Jane Doe Foundation? They pose as a charity, but they’re really part of the shadow government, and they’re untouchable.
They rescue the right women, bury the right secrets, and sometimes…
they serve interests you wouldn’t imagine.
Assassins. Spies. The Bureau in America gives them cover in the US.
Here, in Britain, these women run the SLB.
It’s the shadow network, and Penelope is caught in the middle.
Right this very moment, they're trying to decide whether she's a pawn or queen on the board.”
My hands were nearly trembling through my adrenaline.
“You say women. Who decides this?”
Mr. Prescott’s smiled became razor sharp.
“That depends. If you’re right about her staying loyal, Penelope does.”
“I need to know names.”
His head went back and forth.
“I don’t have them. That’s even out of my reach. She’s in deep right now, and they’re doing lord knows what. When they make a decision, she’ll either never resurface or she’ll be placed until they get what they want. Or… she escapes them. I guess in time we’ll see.”
“Not good enough. I want information.” I gripped the arms of my chair. “You’ve been my handler for five years. That has to count for something. I know I’ve been distant, but this is important to me. I may be willing to be a ‘friend’ when you need it… if you help me.”
He smiled.
“I like friends, and I’d very much enjoy being yours. I’ll tell you what, Unavowed. I’d be happy to relay any information I come across about Penelope.” He paused, staying coldly calculated. “All I want is a promise.”
I squeezed into the arm of the chair, keeping the emotion from my face.
“And what’s that?”
“That you don’t forget your friends on your way to higher places. That’s your plan for after you get your queen, right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I smiled, but it was far from nice.
His face morphed to one of deep contemplation.
“Evidence is the key word, I believe. And if I also hear correctly, you’re in search of it. Perhaps I come across some names or information on that as well.” He stood extending his hand, and I rose, shaking it. “I’ll call soon and let you know. Friend.”
As I watched Mr. Prescott leave my study, I was already picking up the receiver to the landline. What the fuck was the SLB and how the hell did I find a way to get Penelope out of it?
A ring sounded, and The Reeve’s deep voice answered.
“Unavowed.”
“I need you to come to the study.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hung up, shuffling through the papers of contacts on my desk. I needed someone that could help me with Penelope. Someone who had reach in places I didn’t.
Trailing my finger down, I focused on occupations linked to anyone who might have access on information concerning the SLB. There had to be someone. Elite wouldn’t help. I wasn’t even sure King Lawrence, himself, could retrieve Penelope if he wanted.
“Barrister—Lawyer, specializing in criminal law. Yes...” I followed the information over, letting out a deep breath.
Theodore Hart—untitled Duke—The Duke of Shelton.
Once his line had been our closest ally.
Sadly, the friendship ended with the death of both King Vaughn and his namesake.
Theodore didn’t have a clue who I was. I hadn’t reached out to him yet, despite already deciding to reestablish the title as per my plans.
Knocking sounded, and I stood.
“Come in.”
The Reeve entered, shutting the door behind him. He was wearing his standard blue uniform with white upside-down crowns on the collar signifying his rank as the guard leader. He held a tablet, stopping before my desk.
“Unavowed.”
“Any news from your sources on Penelope?”
“Yes. I was about to bring it to you. I have video, Sire. We were able to track her after leaving your home.” He pulled it up, handing the tablet to me.
At seeing her running through the street in the slave dress, my stomach dropped.
“I’ve increased the speed so you can see the track she took.
She headed for her parent’s townhome. As you can see, she makes it to the front door, only to get apprehended by two women before she can enter.
From there, they take her to a building in Westminster.
I looked into what could be in that building.
It’s filled with different law and consulting firms. We’re currently going through the footage to see if she leaves. So far, she doesn’t.”
I grabbed my keys, halting and squeezing them in my fist. All I could see was Penelope…barefoot… scared. I did this. I had hurt her again.
“Sire, I can step in while you go.”
“I’ve been given assurance that Main Master Draper has already left London, but I don’t trust him or those two men he was with.”
“You mean the former Main Master of Whitlock, Bram Whitlock.”
“That’s right. And his pesky cousin, who, if I heard correctly, is the New Main Master of The Garden of the Gods, which should be up and running in no time. This could be a trap. Maybe it’s all connected. I can’t be sure.”
“Would you like me to send in a team?”
“Not yet. When we go in, we have to be sure. We can’t afford any mistakes, and I don’t want them to know we’re aware of the possible location.
Delete the footage from wherever you got it.
I don’t want anyone tracking her back to my house.
” My brows drew in as I lowered to my chair.
“What do you know about the Sovereign Liaison Bureau, Reeve? It’s referred to as the SLB. ”
A seriousness hardened his face.
“I’ve only heard of it once. It was concerning a slave a few years back.
She’d been en route with scouts when she was…
rescued. A woman who went by the name Jane took her and killed our scouts.
We were never able to find either of them.
Later, one of my contacts mentioned the SLB in association with this Jane.
From what I hear, they’re all named Jane. Jane Doe.”
I cursed under my breath.
“That’s because Jane Doe is SLB as well as the FBI in America. At least, a department of the FBI. They’re agents, assassins, spies. They’re whatever the hell they need to be.”
“For what… or who?”
I shrugged. “Whoever’s pulling the strings.
I’m sure they work with the Collective High Council, but possibly others as well.
Mr. Prescott says they’re untouchable, and they have Penelope.
I’m betting if she went into the building, not only is she not there anymore, but they didn’t take her out of the front door. ”
The Reeve shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about this. Our reach is unlike most, and when I tell you I’ve never hit so many walls like I did with the SLB…
they’re ghosts. Mr. Prescott was right. They’re dangerous, and we’re going to have to dig deep if we’re going to get Penelope back.
I’ll reach out to my sources. We’ll bring her home. ”
Emotion got trapped in my throat. “We will. Thank you, Reeve.”
The door shut behind him, and I closed my lids, leaning forward to rest my elbow on the desk and fist my hair.
Penelope had no idea what she was getting into once she left her room.
If I wanted to be honest, neither the hell did I.
I expected threats because of my title and association to The Order, but this went beyond that.
Those women were already waiting. And Mr. Prescott pretty much already told me it was about me.
They wanted Penelope, and they wanted her for a reason.
If I didn’t find her fast, that reason could very well trigger a war I wasn’t ready for.