Chapter Four
Slate
Kalen paces the airport, his anxious energy, caused by his ADHD, pissing Onyx off. Everyone is twitchy already without having to absorb his restless excess energy on top.
My stomach twists. It’s been almost six weeks since she left us, after refusing to hear us out.
Sawyer told us to wait at home today, but Kalen insisted on being here, and there was no way I trusted him to be the first – well, second – Knox to see her.
Dad sent Sawyer to get her, probably because he knows he’s the most rational of us all.
If anyone could convince her to come back, it would be him.
While I wait, I can’t help but think back to the day she left. It was a total shit storm. No one would have known it was her that posted all the files if she hadn’t made it so damn obvious. Why would she do that?
The only people spared from her wrath were Elsie and Branson. Elsie I understand; they had become good friends in a relatively short space of time. Why she felt loyal to that fool, Branson, though, baffles me.
The announcement comes over the loudspeaker to declare that her flight has landed which brings me out of my thoughts. Hopefully, it won’t be long before people start exiting. I keep watch while Kalen continues to pace.
I know it’s stupid, I’m still mad as hell that she spilled our secrets, but our father says we need to play nice and I promised I would try.
Half of me is seriously channelling my twin right now and I want to wrap my hands around her dainty little neck and squeeze until she takes her last breath.
Yet the other half of me wants to see her run through those gates and when her eyes land on me, run into my arms like you see in movies.
Which is definitely more Kalen’s style. Sappy twat.
Both of those options are ripped out from underneath me when she comes into view.
She steals my breath away. I couldn’t lay a hand on her if my life depended on it, and she certainly doesn’t look like she’s about to run into my arms. She completely ignores us and heads in the direction of the customs check before the exit.
Well, I guess she’s still pissed off then.
Sawyer heads in our direction.
“Hey, bro,” Onyx says. Kalen has already taken off after Amelie.
“She still pissed?” I ask.
“Yes, she made some old lady switch seats with me after she fell asleep and woke up with her head on my shoulder.”
“Did she do that?” Onyx asks, pointing to Sawyer's black eye, a smirk on his face like he’s hoping Sawyer will say yes.
“No, I had a run in with her brother and the best friend. I wasn’t exactly welcome.”
Kalen comes running back towards us.
“Uh, guys, so...Amelie just left.”
“What do you mean, she left?” Sawyer demands.
“She got in a car and it drove away.”
“Fuck!” Sawyer snaps. “Let’s go!”
We parked Onyx’s car in valet parking, because screw navigating through the cheaper car parks, so we take off in a rush to find Amelie.
We all hurry in silence to the car, worried.
Amelie doesn’t know what she’s walking back into at Knox; she isn’t exactly a crowd favourite right now and she will need our protection.
I pull my phone from my pocket. I don’t want to make the call, but I have no other options. Amelie is more important than pride. The call rings once before he answers.
“Calling in your favour?” I hate the smug glee in his voice. “I do remember you saying you would die before asking for my help…”
“Fuck you, Branson.” I spit. My brothers’ heads snap in my direction at the mention of our enemy’s name. Disbelief, horror and resignation are etched on their faces.
“Unfortunately, you don’t have the anatomy I require for that, but by all means if you want to suck my dick…”
“It’s Amelie,” I say, cutting him off.
“Then tell me what you want me to do before I hang the fuck up,” he snaps back, instantly serious and focused.
“She’s on her way back to Knox. Without us.”
He curses and now knows why I called him. “Fine, but this is us even.” He cuts the call. Of course he would use a favour, even when I know he likes Amelie. For some strange reason he’s had her back since she first arrived and it’s obvious he likes her. Not enough to cover this one for free though.
“Why would you call him?” Onyx huffs getting into the driver's seat.
“Because he’ll beat us there. She’ll need protection, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out she wants nothing to do with us.”
The drive back to Knox Academy is long, thanks to the rush hour traffic.
One of the disadvantages of being an institution for criminals is that the school isn’t in the best of neighbourhoods.
We drive right by our “Elite” campus, where our father insists it breeds our future connections.
Having lawyers, doctors, and politicians in your pocket is something he takes seriously.
He really wouldn’t if he had to meet the dicks that go there.
Too much money and way too entitled. They do throw killer parties – not that they invite us – but when we show up, they know to bow at our feet.
They don’t know why we’re important, but when the name Knox is thrown around, they know their place. Below us.
“We have a fight night scheduled for tonight,” Onyx declares randomly as we drive past. Yes, we fight the rich kids because what else are a bunch of reformed criminals supposed to do? “Taco’s associate called earlier.”
I have no idea why the kid is called Taco, he’s as white as they come.
He has a talent for organising underground fights and taking bets.
Since Knox is invite-only, a lot of kids are from poorer areas, despite Amelie’s early assumption that it was a school for rich kids that fuck up.
Yeah, we have a few kids from rich families, but most are scholarship kids and they could use the cash.
A lot of the fighters are part of The Order of The Snaidhm, or they will be if we deem them worthy enough.
The fights are an excellent way for us to scope out potential pledges.
Initiation is coming up soon, and Amelie has taken up so much of our thoughts that we’ve slacked at making this year's picks. That includes Amelie.
I’m not looking forward to initiating her; there is no separate initiation for girls. We are basically using Amelie as a test dummy, but I still don’t fully understand why it has to be her though.
Sawyer will amp up her training in the coming weeks to make sure she is ready, then before the term ends she will be in or out. Right now she is unaware of what being in or out actually means. Hell, right now, she has no idea The Order even exists. But that’s going to have to change soon.
When Onyx parks the car, we all head inside to face our father. This is going to be fun. He is in his office as usual, and all four of us step inside and close the door. Even with all of us in here, there’s still plenty of room.
“Where is Amelie? Did you drop her off on campus already?” He frowns. “Shouldn’t someone stay with her? I thought I made my instructions with regards to her safety very clear.”
Oh that’s a great start. He’s already pissed and he doesn’t even know the truth yet. I push Kalen forward.
“We kind of lost her,” he says, with too much humour in his voice.
“You what?” Dad booms. “How do you lose a girl that small?”
“She’s swifty, she ducked outside and jumped straight into a car. It pulled away before I could see who was driving. Plus, like you said Dad, she’s small. Hard to spot in a crowd and all that.”
“Could it have been that friend of hers, the girl, or Branson, that picked her up?”
“Highly unlikely. Elsie isn’t happy with her, and Branson didn’t sound like he knew when I called him,” I say. Father takes in a sharp breath and glares at me.
“Why did you call him? I don’t want him near her. He’s a loose cannon and he knows too much.”
“What choice did we have? She can’t walk onto that campus without protection and for some crazy reason, Branson is willing to look out for her.”
“You all best go look for her and not come back until she’s found,” he barks. We scramble to comply.
“Don’t sweat it, Dad,” Kalen says, slapping him on the back in what he probably thinks is a reassuring manner.
“If anything happens to her, I swear I will…” Dad pauses and pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s the most stressed I’ve ever seen him. He sighs. “Just leave.”
We do as he says and head back out to the car, though my mind whirls as we do.
Why is Dad so stressed? I highly doubt it’s because his fiancée’s daughter is at risk.
His reaction is too much. Even with what he told us before she ran away, something still isn’t adding up.
And why hasn’t he ended things with Laura yet?
He has to be playing some sort of long game, but why?
“Reckon she’s back on campus?” Kalen asks me. I shrug. I can’t imagine where else she’d go.
I briefly wonder if Branson was the guy who picked her up from the airport and if he just played me, but I dismiss the thought. I have to hope that he wouldn’t do that. I guess I’ll never know; my pride won’t let me text him to ask if he has her.
“Let’s head back and search for her. We’ve got time before we need to leave for the fight. And we need to sort out surveillance and protection for her. We’re going to need some sort of rota or schedule or something.”
Everyone nods, so that’s what we do, though we drop Sawyer off en route.
As he’s not technically employed at Knox Academy anymore, he has no reason to be on campus.
He tells us to message him as soon as we find her.
All I see as we drive away is worry in his eyes.
He’s not mad at her at all. Why? He, of all people, should want to kill her.
She’s wrecked his life. I have to be angry on his behalf, but I suspect that when I come face to face with her, that’ll be easier said than done.