Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Onyx: I did my best, and the devil did the rest.
The scarier the man, the fewer words they used, and I learned that at a very young age.
“Close the door,” my father ordered, walking into his office.
I did, then leaned against it with my arms crossed over my chest. There was only silence as my dad poured himself a drink. He didn’t offer me one, meaning he wasn’t pleased. The silence was supposed to be a form of punishment, but to me, it was so fucking satisfying.
“Explain,” he demanded, sitting in his leather chair in front of his huge, rectangular mahogany table.
He was sitting at the head, dressed in his three-piece tux, trying to intimidate me. It was his go-to move, except I wasn’t a kid anymore, and he never acknowledged it. I was easier to control this way, or so he thought.
Except this was where I usually decided how badly to provoke him. I needed some form of entertainment to deal with all the bullshit I dealt with on the daily.
Our conflicts were never really about me, not unless I wanted them to be. Most of the time, our battles were for shit that happened decades before either of us were even alive. It was the consequences of being born into a legacy family.
He tipped his head to the other side of the table.
“I prefer to stand.”
“So did your grandfather.” He regarded me for a moment before taking a slow sip of his drink. The amber liquid reflected off the fireplace.
I’d spent my entire life under that stare. Every conversation with my father turned into an examination. It was just how he was made.
“I wasn’t aware this was story time,” I stated.
“It isn’t.”
My father’s stare shifted toward the fireplace, his reflection flickering against the wall. When I was a kid, I used to envision puppets dancing across the white paint. Sometimes I’d still see the strings attached to my old man.
His words were quiet now. “They buried him standing.”
I resisted the urge to tell him I didn’t give a fuck, instead, I mocked, “Should I be taking notes?”
“No.” His gaze shifted back to me before he questioned, “Did anything happen that wasn’t supposed to?” He took another slow sip from his drink, setting it down on the table. It loudly clinked against the wood.
I followed the sound. “You tell me.”
“I already know what happened.” His voice never rose. “I want to know what you think happened?”
“I found her, didn’t I?”
The room suddenly felt smaller.
“I know.”
“Then why am I here?”
He reached for the decanter and refilled his drink. Everything he did had a purpose. “Again, I ask, did something happen that wasn’t supposed to?”
I shook my head.
“No?”
“No,” I sternly repeated.
“You answered too quickly.”
“I answered.”
“You reacted.”
“Some people would say they’re the same thing.”
“Since when are you some people?”
Losing my patience, I asked, “Is there a point to this conversation?”
“Why, son?” He leaned back into his chair. “You have somewhere more important to be?” He gestured to me. “Considering you show up to a party in our home dressed like you don’t live here.”
“You should be grateful I’m here at all.”
He cocked his head to the side. “You wear that hoodie because you think it separates you from this family.”
“No.” I paused for effect. “I wear it because it’s comfortable.”
“One day you’ll realize everything I’ve done is for you.”
“And one day you’ll realize all the guilt you keep aiming at me is just a gun you’ll never fire.”
He growled, standing abruptly. “You’re becoming insufferable.”
“I learned from the best.”
He considered me a moment. “Don’t confuse provoking me with winning, Onyx. You’ve done it your entire life.”
“Yet you’re still surprised.”
Inhaling sharply, he straightened the lapels of his jacket.
“Are we done here?”
“No.”
I reached for the doorknob anyway.
“I didn’t dismiss you.”
I laughed. “I’m done asking.”
Three strides was all it took for him to close the distance between us. He stopped close enough that I could smell the whiskey on his breath. Once upon a time, I would’ve taken a step back.
I didn’t.
I held my head higher.
His eyes searched mine, waiting and measuring what he was up against. Looking for any sort of hesitation from me like I had when I was a kid.
Finally, getting close to my face, he bit, “You’ve forgotten your place.”
I didn’t falter in reminding him, “My place is taking yours.”
He gripped the front of my hoodie, dragging me up to his face. “Don’t you ever think you’re replacing me, Onyx. I’m your fucking father, and until I die, you stand behind me. Do you understand me?”
“Don’t tempt me,” I clenched out.
“You’re defiant like your mother.”
I grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“She fucking spoiled you. I warned her that—”
“You don’t get to rewrite history, old man. Now”—I scoffed—“I suggest you let go unless you want me to remind you I’m not a kid anymore.”
He cautiously did as he was told, and I smiled.
“At least you learn fast.”
“Don’t lapse restraint for weakness, Onyx.”
“No.” I opened the door. “I mistake it for intelligence.” With that, I left him there.
There wasn’t a chance in hell I was walking into the ballroom where the party was still being held, so I took the back stairs to my bedroom.
I didn’t stay there often. I had my own floor suite back at the Academy.
All the Blood Oath Brothers did. It came with the title.
I’d be staying there more now regardless.
I shoved open my bedroom door. The extravagant suite hadn’t changed. It never did. I threw off the hoodie, annoyed that his hands were on me. Frustration quickly followed along with anger. I tossed the rest of my clothes and jumped in the shower to wash off the grime.
I cranked the water as hot as it would go. Steam swallowed the glass within seconds. I scrubbed my body raw, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. It didn’t wash away the night. Her face found me nonetheless.
“What the fuck…” I swore under my breath.
The heat pounded against my shoulders, drowning out everything except for the thoughts in my head.
It wasn’t her.
I hated loose ends, and now she’d become one.
Leaning my forehead against the tile, I contemplated what I couldn’t let go. They say your body gets used to whatever it’s given. It’s our natural state of survival. It was adaptation in its truest form.
I was lucky if I slept two to three hours a night, never fully reaching the deep sleep phase. The faintest sounds woke me up, always feeling like I had to look over my shoulder, unable to trust anyone.
Including my own father.
“Devereaux,” Caspian interrupted, shouting into my bathroom suite.
“Fuck off,” I greeted, not bothering to get out.
Caspian Hawthorne was another founding family of the Graves Academy like mine. He was also one of the brothers I was closest to. We grew up together. We’d been thrown into the same life since we were old enough to walk, raised under the same rules, the same expectations, the same blood oath.
Our mothers were best friends and people assumed that made us closer. Maybe it did. That didn’t mean I trusted him. Trust wasn’t something I was ever capable of giving anyone, not after the way I’d been raised.
However, if one person had earned the closest thing to it, it was Caspian. We’d been through a lot together, including our initiation.
“Nice,” he hissed. “Aren’t you just a delightful bag of shit this evening?” He chuckled, sitting on the edge of the sink.
I heard his drink clank. He must have been at the party.
“The girl?” he asked, with no hesitation.
“You mean the pain in my fucking ass.”
He laughed again, singing out, “You’re playing with fire, you know she’s off limits.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t? Hmm… she’s sleeping right next door at her uncle’s house. She’s your new neighbor. I bet you could see her bedroom if you stand out on your balcony.”
“What’s your point?”
“I thought I was making it,” he sniped. “What the fuck? Maybe I should draw you a picture instead.”
“Get the fuck out,” I gritted, not wanting to hear the nonsense he was brewing.
“What are you going to do about the council?” he questioned, ignoring my demand. “You know they’re not happy. They want the girl. You know that as much as I do.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that?”
“What about the rainforest princess?”
“What about her?” I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around my waist. “She’s not anyone’s concern, but mine.” Opening the curtain next, I stared at him. “Are we clear? No one is to lay a fucking finger on her without me approving it first.”
“Oh…” He cocked his head to the side. “That means she’s up for grabs?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Do you?”
“Caspian.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Annoyed was an understatement. “I’m done with this conversation.”
“I think you need to look up the definition. You haven’t answered any of my questions. You’re just barking orders like I have to listen to you, as any of us do, and you know that’s not how the game is played.”
“Then I’m changing the rules.”
“Hmm…” He placed his finger on his lips. “Who would that be for?”
“Careful, Caspian,” I warned, hanging on by a thread.
He raised his arms in the air. “Wrong target, Devereaux.”
He backed away, and as soon as he left, I grabbed my cell phone out of my jeans, hitting send as I walked out onto my balcony.
“Yes, Sir,” Jones picked up after one ring.
“We good?”
“Everything’s taken care of. The girl—” I hung up, cutting him off.
Right when I did, Caspian’s prediction came to fruition.
There in front of my eyes was Hennessey. Her bedroom suite really was near mine at my father’s estate, and I instantly wondered if they did that on purpose, knowing in the back of my mind they did.
All the curtains in her room were open, making it practically a fishbowl with how much I could see in. She stood in front of the floor-length mirror, staring at herself, studying the damage the night had done.
She was still wearing the dress, and it was the first time I realized how badly she’d ripped it up.
Most of her body was exposed, her tan skin illuminated by the soft light spilling from the chandelier above her head.
Her fingers hovered over the tear running from her hip to thigh.
She was assessing it the same way I would a wound.
When she lifted her long, dark, wavy hair over her shoulder and reached for the zipper behind her dress, it didn’t move. She tried again but still nothing.
My pulse didn’t change. Neither did my expression as she reached up and drew the curtains shut as if she’d only noticed they were open. Her room disappeared, and I was left standing there.
She had no idea what awaited her. She didn’t belong in my world, and I was going to make sure she learned that the hard way. Tomorrow was a new day. This week we started classes, and this was only the beginning…
Of me destroying her.