Chapter 37 Riven
Riven
I planned to tell Sloane that I was meeting with a few other professors from the university.
However, that was before she distracted me with those sultry eyes that were practically begging me to fuck her senseless.
At first, I wondered if maybe I’d gone too far.
The look on her face afterward was all the answer I needed to let me know that she enjoyed it as much as I did.
After leaving her apartment, I headed home to grab a few things that I’d need for the meeting.
I answered a text from Callum asking me where I was and then headed straight there.
Sloane’s scent lingers on me now, enveloping me in the memories of being inside of her.
I considered canceling the meeting to stay inside of her, but I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to one of the guys on my watch again.
As I pull up to Sonus Corp, I shove all thoughts of Sloane far to the back of my mind.
I don’t want Sabel to know that there’s someone else that I have who’s worth losing.
I park my car and get out, heading toward the entrance.
I look up to see that Callum is heading toward me.
“Man, where have you been?” He grabs my shoulder as I’m walking, turning and moving in stride beside me.
“I’m thirty minutes late, it’s fine,” I say, pressing my molars together. I know how fine it could have not been, and that thought will probably keep me awake at night.
“Thirty minutes to you is like two hours to Sabel. You’re lucky she seems to be in a good mood today, but you know how she gets. Why would you …” He pauses, his tension relaxing. “Oh, you were with Sloane.”
“Yes. I lost track of time. I’m sorry, Cal. You know I’d never purposely do anything that would put any of you at risk.”
“I know, Riv. Look, there’s something you should know before we go in,” he says, pausing with his hand on the door. He drops his voice to a whisper. “Sabel knows about Sloane. Sabel knows that the data was falsified.” Shit, I forgot that Callum was running his stealth mission today.
My breathing halts. “How do you know?” I ask through gritted teeth. “And is that all?”
He sighs. “I did some digging around Sabel’s office before the meeting.
I saw printouts of the real data. I don’t know how she got it, Riv.
But she has it.” He pauses. “And no, that wasn’t it.
We were on track. The government wants mass manipulation for political gain and for population compliance, but Sabel isn’t running the show.
I couldn’t find a leader, Riv. I’m sorry. ” He runs his hand through his hair.
I sigh. “It’s okay, Cal. You did great, thank you. We’ll figure it out after this meeting. We’ll initiate a plan. No one leaves until then.”
Cal nods and opens the door. I walk in, and he follows behind me. We walk into a room with a large rectangular table and several swivel chairs surrounding it. Sabel sits at the head of the table. Raithe is to her right, and Kai is beside Raithe.
“How nice of you to join us, Riven,” Sabel chides, standing. “Sit,” she orders, waving her hand toward the chair to her left. I don’t react, walking over and taking the seat. Callum takes the seat to my left.
“Boys,” she starts, “I have the most wonderful news.” Her crimson lipstick pulls into a wide grin. It’s a stark contrast to her white-blonde bob. I want to smack the smile right off her smug face.
“What? Is no one going to ask me what the news is?” She glances around at each one of us as we remain silent.
“What a bore. Are you all well? Should I call in Brian?” It’s clearly rhetorical, so she continues yapping.
“Look alive, boys! This is going to change your lives. This will change everything,” she says, drawing out the last word. She leans over and places her palms flat against the table in front of her, observing us for a reaction.
“Out with it, then.” Cal grunts from beside me. I stiffen. Raithe is holding back a fit of laughter, and Kai is grinning like a fool.
She pushes off from the table and straightens, placing her hands on her hips.
“Reverb has the number one album and holds the number one spot on all streaming services across the world. The news broke this morning.” The world?
I’ve been so distracted. I wasn’t aware that Reverb was making such an impact.
The emotions inside of me are discordant.
Part of me wants to be excited and proud of all of us.
All of the work that it took for us to get here, all of the sacrifices that I had to make for it.
I should be celebrating, congratulating all the guys.
But the part of me that feels nothing but pure panic is overwhelmed.
I loathe Sabel for poisoning this one thing that has brought nothing but peace to my life.
It feels like she walked in and stole it right from under me.
The music.
The music was all I ever needed. It was the eye of the storm, the center of destruction. The one good thing that always brought me back to the present. The thought makes me suddenly realize that something else has taken the place of that sanctuary. No, someone.
Sloane.
Sloane is the only thing that I need. Except, I am the storm.
I am the chaos and destruction orbiting her, and I know that I am dangerously close to losing her for more reasons than one.
I won’t allow that, though. She is mine, and not even death itself can separate her from my grasp.
I hear Raithe’s voice, and it pulls me from my racing thoughts.
“No shit? That’s what’s up.” Raithe nods his head, a huge grin pulling at his lips.
Leave it to Raithe to only see the lights and cameras, blinded by the flashes and fame.
Raithe is too enthralled by what’s being dangled in front of him to see through the lens.
I wish that we had a sibling telepathy thing like twins do, so that I could tell him to fucking focus.
Raithe reaches over and high-fives Kai next to him. Kai is also smiling ear to fucking ear. These two are going to send me to an early grave. Raithe reaches across the table to high-five Cal, and Cal remains seated with his broad arms crossed tightly against his chest.
“Come on, man, this is great news for us!” Raithe says, hand still hanging in the air. Cal doesn’t budge, and Raithe finally drops his stupid hand. I scoff, turning my attention back to the witch at the head of the table.
“So, what’s next, then?” I question. I need to know what Sabel’s next move is so that I can shove it right up her ass.
Sabel flexes her jaw, eyes fixed on mine like she imagines forcing me into submission. I cringe at the thought.
“Okay, then. Straight to business today, I see,” she says, her eyes flicking between Cal and me.
“You are going to put on your biggest show yet, in thirteen days.” Funny. It doesn’t sound like she’s asking. Cal pushes to stand. I reach out my left hand, forcing him to remain seated and shut the fuck up. We have to be smart about this.
“No,” I say plainly. From my periphery, I can see Raithe and Kai exchange confused glances.
“Excuse me?” Sabel asks, her words laced with venom. She arches a brow in silent question of my defiance.
“I said, no. We aren’t doing it.” I hold my ground, ready to take her on if the need surfaces.
She’s four against one, and the odds are not currently in her favor.
I know she’d have security in here within seconds, but it would give us a decent head start.
It would also make me feel a hell of a lot better to watch the life seep out of Sabel’s soul while I strangled her delicate neck in my hands.
“You haven’t even heard the proposition,” Sabel declares, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Humor me,” I bite back.
She takes her seat at the head of the table and leans back, crossing one leg over the other.
“We are going to be testing our biggest frequency yet. It will be groundbreaking, reaching an audience far greater than ever before. This will be the ultimate experiment.” That smug smile returns to her lips, and her eyes are ablaze with malevolence.
I start to speak, but Callum beats me to it.
“What kind of frequency are you testing this time?” Cal’s tone is sharp and demanding.
Sabel laughs, the sound of it both condescending and sinister.
“Oh, Cal.” I hate the way she uses his nickname like she has the fucking right.
“You know you don’t get to ask those questions, honey.
” It takes every ounce of control that I have to restrain myself from removing her head from her shoulders.
I can see Cal’s jaw flex, and his breathing deepens.
I glance across the table to see that Raithe and Kai are both becoming increasingly restless.
I guess they’ve finally shed their rose-colored glasses.
Four bombs sit in this room, waiting to ignite. I wonder which one of us will lose it first. For Sabel’s sake, I hope it isn’t Callum.
“My God, you boys need to relax. I delivered you the best news of your career, and this is how you thank me?” Sabel eyes us all, one by one, daring us to push the issue further. I decide to rein it back before things get out of hand too quickly.
“We all saw what happened at the VIP event, Sabel. That kind of mind-altering bullshit is not what we signed up for. You can’t expect us to keep doing this to innocent people and be okay with it.
Where do we draw the line?” I train my voice to remain calm and unassuming.
I want her to think that my only intention is for the greater good of the fans.
And while I do care about the fans and what Sabel is doing to them, my real reason is Sloane.
It will always be Sloane.
Sabel studies me, trying to decipher fact from fiction. Is it that far of a reach when she picked me off the streets of Hollowcrest, where I was murdering low-life criminals? I do care about humanity, at least in some sense.
“When you signed that contract that saved your sorry ass from a life in prison, you signed away your right to protest. You don’t get to ask questions, and you sure as hell don’t get to refuse me.
I own you, Riven.” She pauses, pinning me with her eyes full of daggers.
She drags her gaze over each one of the guys.
“I own all of you. Do not forget that. And just as easily as I made you, I can end you,” she snarls.
The room falls into an eerie silence. It’s the kind of quiet that makes my skin crawl with anticipation. Sabel is done playing nice, and so am I.
Within seconds, I have Sabel pinned to the wall behind her by her throat.
Her feet are dangling from the ground as she claws at my hands with her blood-red painted talon-like nails.
Within two more seconds, the room is infiltrated by shouting and the rustling of shoes on the ground.
Through the blood rushing in my ears, I faintly hear Callum yell at me to release Sabel.
Only when I feel the barrel of a cold pistol at my temple do I fully become aware and drop Sabel.
She falls to the floor, gasping for air.
I half turn, looking into the eyes of the man with a gun to my head.
He’s shorter than I am and not nearly as strong.
I’m reaching for the barrel when I hear a voice from somewhere behind me.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” It’s so familiar to me, yet so foreign. It can’t be, though. No world exists where that would be remotely possible. I drop my hand, fisting it by my side. He speaks again, and this time there’s no mistaking the man who’s now standing behind me.
“Drop the weapon, guard,” the voice orders. The security guard lowers his gun, and I immediately turn around to face him. He instantly reaches out and covers my head in a thick sack, but not before I lock eyes with those of my fucking father.
I reach up to remove the sack, but my arms are being forced behind my back. Something is sprayed beneath, and the strong scent burns my nostrils. Shortly after, I feel myself slipping. I feel sluggish and heavy, and my consciousness is fading fast. Fuck.
I try to move, to do anything, but it’s useless.
I focus on the noises in the room, searching for familiar voices, but come up short.
I feel myself falling, my vision fading into the depths of whatever I’ve been drugged with.
Images flash through my mind like the reels of time, and the last one that I see before everything goes black is a set of beautiful green eyes.