Chapter Fifteen

Kieran

Watching Tomás drown had stirred something inside of me. We had played the game to a tee. We'd frozen a spoon and placed it on his back. The mindfuck made him feel his skin burn, but it left his flesh unmarred. He had pissed himself and I had felt like a monster. We'd shaved him as punishment for Charity's vanity. The noose around his neck for him to contemplate death. The water to be cleansed into life. He wasn't supposed to drown.

We'd waited seconds, minutes, for him to break the surface of the water. To swim. Dasher sobbing behind us, the gag making his words mumbled. Did he not know how to swim? Did he have a death wish?

"Two minutes," River had said behind me.

I cursed, grabbed River's flashlight, and dived into the cold water. The look of Tomás against the light of the murky water forever etched in my brain. Eyes closed, unmoving, his lips sealed tight. I saw when his lips parted, and he sucked in water. I saw his eyes burst open, bloodshot. I saw when the fear crossed his expression knowing he was going to die. And for some reason, I knew out of all of us in this place, Tomás deserved that fate less.

I yanked him up, called for the guys, and they hauled him up onto the dock. It took a few more seconds of CPR for him to finally cough and vomit the water from his lungs and pass out.

Everyone had dispersed as if they'd left a dead body behind. Dasher had crawled to him, held him, while Fox and I had made the decision that would probably haunt us for the rest of our lives. We had left both of them there.

Dasher had managed to contact the paramedics and they came for them. I don't know what story Dasher gave them, but it hadn't been the truth. We hadn't been hauled to Casera's office and expelled or punished for attempted murder.

While Tomás had been in the hospital, we pulled his emergency contact record which pointed us to Maddox Brennan. A fact I'd been stewing with for the past couple of weeks.

"He's a Brennan," River said. "Maybe he'd want to join in our crusade."

River always saw the best in people. The reason he kept getting disappointed. "This isn't a crusade, it's vengeance, and he has no blood ties to me, hence he's not a Brennan."

"You should've just let him leave." Wren said, tossing a ball. Wren always had to be doing something with his hands. "It would've been the easy out, but no…"

Fox gave me a look agreeing with Wren but keeping his mouth shut. I wanted to hurt Tomás in the worst way possible just for breathing, but being protected by Maddox Brennan, not Eagle Corp, complicated things. It meant Maddox was directly involved with Tomás in some way. Not knowing how put us at risk.

"We can use him," Henry finally said. "He's not like us. Maddox's decision in bringing Tomás here as if he's one of us doesn't make sense."

I had to do a double take to land where Henry's mind was churning. "You think Tomás is a mole?"

"We searched through his things. There's nothing there. He contacted Maddox once and that had been about his mother. Unless that was code for some shit. Which it seemed likely by how short the text had been." River shook his head. "But it doesn't feel right. I don't think he's a mole."

"I agree with River. He doesn't fit," Henry added.

"And the box? What's in it?" River asked.

"It's empty," Wren said.

That made me concerned.

"Maybe he's confused."

"Not to bust your bubble, but you aren't psychic. Or the best judge of character," Fox put in.

"Well, he has been spending a lot of time with Dasher," River said, poking the bear and knowing it. "And now that you've been permanently placed in the hate zone, maybe they're both conspiring against us."

Fox practically launched himself out of the chair, but I caught him before he tackled River. "Stop it! Dissent among us won't solve anything."

"I think River is right," Henry put in. "If Tomás was planted here, he would've come across as a friend, not foe. And as I heard it, he wants to kill you." Henry pointed at me.

"So what do you think?"

"I think Maddox Brennan is hiding Tomás here." Henry looked at all of us in turn with that creepy look he gets when he has a morbid idea and people will die. "I think lies among family can spark distrust, dissent." Henry paused as if waiting for one of us to get a clue. When we didn't, he rolled his eyes. "We should look into a link between Tomás and Maddox. We already know Tomás has no blood ties to you," Henry motioned to me. And thank fuck Tomás wasn't linked to me by blood. "But is Tomás Maddox's lover? Is Maddox even a Brennan? Whatever the case may be, we should find out. This is something we can use as leverage when and if the time comes."

The thought of Tomás being Maddox's lover left a foul taste in my mouth. Cillian Brennan was distrustful as fuck. If he found out Maddox was hiding something this big, he'd question his loyalty. I didn't know what Cillian would do to Tomás. Nothing good. Fox didn't have to tell me that Tomás was my Achilles heel. My actions regarding Tomás made no sense. Not even to me. I couldn't trust my thoughts where he was concerned. I couldn't tell any of them this. They relied on me to keep them alive after we showed our cards. We'd revel in the billions and plan our next attack on the next family. "Do it. But I want to know whatever you find when you find it."

Henry nodded.

Now all we had to do was wait.

"You haven't been yourself lately and I know what you need," Wren said giving me a look he reserved whenever he was ready to bust out with something unexpected, usually true, but no one would ever believe until verified.

Did he know?

"We need a night out of this shithole."

Fox pushed himself off the wall he'd been standing against for the past thirty minutes and lowered himself into the recliner, leaning back, legs outstretched like always. "He's right," he said. "We need to get out of here. Party. Drink. Have a meaningless fuckfest. Something." Fox had already started to drink and fuck his way through the school. I could tell by Wren's expression he wanted to call Fox out on it, but Fox had been edgy since the hazing.

Wren nodded enthusiastically.

River looked between us. "Fine. I'll call Rickard and make sure he knows to expect us tonight."

Slipping out of Arcadia was as easy as a few thousand dollars. And Renew gave the guys a release I could never share.

I hung out in the loft and waited and thought about Tomás. What we did to him, how I had hurt him.

Almost losing him. And for the first time since my grandfather took me away, I felt the sting of guilt.