2. echo
echo
I dropped into the kitchen chair, hooked one finger beneath the stupid bowtie at my throat, and tugged hard enough that Father Two’s eyes lifted from the little row of things he’d already stolen from my jacket.
“Before anyone starts telling me what I’m not allowed to bring, I need breakfast and an apology from whoever decided Aldrich uniforms require neckwear.
I look like I’m about to serve tea to someone’s haunted grandmother. ”
Aeron set a plate in front of me before I finished complaining.
Steak, eggs, toast, roasted tomatoes, and more food than any normal person needed before eight in the morning, which meant Father One had decided calories could fix my attitude.
They couldn’t, obviously, but I respected his commitment to the lie.
He placed a sealed container beside my elbow next, gave the bowtie one brief look of disapproval, and said, “Eat. Then complain.”
“I’m going to a university, not war,” I said, even as I picked up my fork because Aeron had the patience of a saint only when people were bleeding in a way he approved of.
Breakfast was not negotiable. Not eating was treated like a personal insult, and I’d learned years ago that arguing with Father One over food only ended with more food and a very quiet stare.
Samael looked up from the folder beside his coffee. “You packed three knives.”
“I said what I said.”
Slash slid a slim blade out from beneath the folded edge of my jacket and set it neatly beside the lock picks already on the table.
There was wire too, and one small tool I hadn’t technically packed so much as lovingly considered packing, which felt like an invasion of my privacy and my artistic process.
“Aldrich has high-density metal detectors at the main gates and in several interior buildings. You’re not bringing steel through them. ”
“I could,” I said.
“You could get stopped.”
“I could be charming.”
“You could use what’s available on-site,” he said, nudging the blade farther away from me with one gloved finger. “You’re better when you improvise.”
That was probably a compliment. With Father Two, compliments usually came dressed like professional criticism and holding something sharp behind their back, but I decided to take it because I was generous and because Aeron had just moved another piece of steak onto my plate.
“Fine. I’ll go to school tragically under-accessorized.
When I’m forced to defend myself with a sharpened cafeteria spoon, I want everyone to remember this moment. ”
Runo laughed into his coffee from the opposite side of the table.
Father Four looked disgustingly entertained for someone who’d helped create this entire problem by encouraging me last night and then pretending “do it wisely” counted as responsible parenting.
“I’d like that written in the incident report,” he said.
Aeron tapped the edge of my plate. “Eat, Echo. Just for the record, I despise this idea.”
I glared at the man, narrowing my gaze in his direction. Everyone was so concerned that I was going to go off and kill my ex when these men had literally terrorized a goddamn city for years. And Father One ate them.
“I’ll be fine. I might even get another degree after all of this bullshit.
Besides, I’m not going to threaten administrative staff,” I said, then paused when all four of them looked at me with varying levels of disbelief.
The bowtie tightened when I shifted, so I pulled at it again and added, “Before lunch. Probably.”
Samael didn’t smile. Father Three had a folder open because apparently reviewing Aldrich logistics at the office last night hadn’t been enough.
He needed to do it again over breakfast, while I wore a uniform that made me look like a private-school cautionary tale. “What did you agree to last night?”
“That question sounds hostile.”
“What did you agree to?”
I took a bite of eggs to buy time, but it didn’t work because Father Three had raised patience into a weapon and pointed it at me every chance he got. “No bodies today,” I said once I swallowed. “Which I still think was an unreasonable clause to force on someone under emotional duress.”
“You were not under duress.”
“I was near a murder board and low on cookies. You don’t know my struggle.”
Runo made a sympathetic sound, which earned him a flat look from Samael and made me like him a bit more.
Father Four was always my favorite but that was because he enabled my bad decisions.
Granted, he also was the only one with a medical diagnosis that supported his mindset and the alters he used to converse with.
Time and medication helped, but everyone was just waiting for me to sprout something similar... or worse. Hate to break it to haters, but I’m sane, I thought to myself. Well, mostly.
Aeron kept watching my plate, because the men who raised me had priorities and apparently my protein intake ranked higher than my moral development.
That was fair. My moral development had been a lost cause since fifteen, maybe earlier if anyone asked my mother, which they shouldn’t because she had terrible opinions and worse taste in husbands.
“I’m not killing him today,” I said, repeating my earlier orders, because the kitchen had gone quiet waiting for me to stop being adorable and reckless long enough to prove I understood the plan.
“No bodies. No stabbing. No creative interpretation of stabbing. No suspicious puddles. No making Aldrich regret its admissions standards before I’ve found the cafeteria. ”
Slash’s gaze moved to the confiscated tools again. “No hidden blades.”
“I already agreed to be boring.”
“You agreed to be searched.”
“I did not agree. I was ambushed by my own family in my own home while wearing a bowtie. There are laws against this.” I tugged at the fabric again, wondering why rich people wore stiff clothing. I stuck two fingers between the fabric and my neck. “Huh.” I could strangle someone with this if I...
“Echo.” Samael’s voice cut into my little fantasy. “Tell me one last time you’re not going to be stupid with this.”
I narrowed my gaze at him, wondering why he thought I couldn’t do this.
I was 23. I had helped him on numerous investigations.
I had even... The look in his eyes darkened and I just sighed.
“Fine, yeah. I’ll be the least stupid with this as I can but no promises.
Runo’s my biological father after all.” I pointed my fork at Father Four who just grinned.
Samael groaned. “Both of you stop smiling. Runo, that’s not a fucking compliment.”
Father Two stepped up to me, gently squeezing my shoulder. “We know you’re more than capable, Echo. But you have a tendency to not care about anything other than the goal.”
I shrugged him off and looked up at him, the grays taking over his dark hair.
“Look, I get the concern and I love it. Or maybe if I was normal, I’d love it.
But these pep talks and conversations are useless when I know what you four used to be.
I’m going to kill my ex. You guys terrorized a whole ass city for several years.
We are not the same.” I looked at the four of them, at Father One with food in his hands, Father Two with my knives confiscated, Father Three with the map, and Father Four smiling like he hoped the day ended with sirens as long as none of them were attached to our address.
“This family is so supportive. Deeply unhealthy, but supportive.”
Samael walked me to the back door before I could say something worse and patted the side of my bag once, probably to make sure I hadn’t stolen anything back.
I had, technically, but not steel, so I counted it as personal growth.
His hand settled briefly at the back of my neck before he opened the door, warm and heavy and familiar enough to make me want to squirm just on principle.
He only left me with one thing. “If anything happens, you come home.”
I didn’t argue with him because that was the only thing I really agreed on. Having four men in my house that would gut and eat a man without blinking gave me the advantage over anyone trying to mess with me.
I just hoped I wouldn’t have to use them.
I gave them all one last wave before throwing my leg over my bike and speeding down the street toward Aldrich. The campus was far enough from home that I knew my fathers wouldn’t be showing up every other day but close enough I could come back if I needed a breather.
Now, though, the only focus was Nichlas’ head in my hands detached from his body. The sooner I could complete this, the better.
Aldrich Institute appeared between thick trees and iron fencing.
The buildings were just a bunch of old stone and sharp roofs, with newer glass additions tucked between them like rich people had tried to modernize history without upsetting the donors.
Cars lined the arrival road in gleaming rows, all polished black, silver, deep blues, and luxurious red.
I parked my motorcycle between a sleek black car and something red enough to make its owner unbearable, then killed the engine and sat there for a second with both boots on the pavement.
Students moved along the walkways in tailored uniforms, pressed coats, polished shoes, and the kind of posture that came from never having to wonder if the electric bill would clear.
I tugged once at my bowtie, looked down at my boots, and decided Aldrich deserved whatever happened to it for letting me through the gate. “You got this, Echo,” I whispered to myself as I headed for the main entrance.
Sure enough, the security was locked down.
The metal detector stayed silent when I walked through.
Father Two would be smug about that later, which was unfortunate because he’d earned it.
Glancing around, I braced for someone to stop me, to ask questions, or literally anything other than gesture for me to move along because I was holding up the line.
There were a few odd stares as I made my way to the library, already working through Nichlas’ schedule. I had memorized the map of this place and the exact time that fucker would appear. Now, I just had to hope I was right.