Chapter Twenty-Six

Tomás

I blinked open my eyes but couldn't move. Disoriented, I picked apart the pieces that slowly surfaced into memory.

The club.

The drinks.

Kieran.

Jack.

Jack dead.

For a moment I stayed as still as I could. Maybe, if I didn't move, I wouldn't exist. Maybe, they'd forget me. But I couldn't stay still. That had always been my problem. Once the memories cleared, all I had were the rushing wave after wave of thoughts crushing me. And when I moved, pain crushed me too.

I'd been so stupid to trust Jack. Kieran had warned me. Like an idiot, always the fucking idiot, I hadn't listened. My dumb ass thought I could reason with Jack. That I could … I don't know, make him believe my bullshit.

When he pulled that trigger I thought I was dead. I wasn't sure what Fate was saying by keeping me alive. But I couldn't get what Jack said out of my head. Maddox had destroyed his life, killed his father too, and then what? Tried helping? The man was insane!

And then like the angel of death, Kieran killed him. I hadn't been able to see clearly. My vision blurred from the concussion, the shadows swarming around us, but what I didn't see, my imagination filled in.

The knife entering Jack's throat so expertly. And the blood.

And all I could think of was that Kieran had done this before. He'd killed before. All the threats he'd made to me over the months suddenly felt more real. And I had to question my existence. Why am I alive? Why haven't they killed me? What were they hiding? Where had Maddox dumped me? At least in the hood, we fought for respect, family, land area that didn't legally belong to us. We fought for something. Our enemies clearly identified—the cops, rival gangs—not hidden behind friendships and smiles.

I heard muffled voices through the door. But I had no clue where I was. I'd fallen asleep in the Jeep and couldn't remember shit. I sat up with a groan, pain all over. Thirsty as hell, I made it to the ensuite bathroom. I turned on the sink faucet and cupped water in my palm and slurped until I felt sated. My eyes cleared and so did my brain. I lifted my hand to see a clear tape over a new tattoo on my hand, between thumb and forefinger. Seven dots connected by a dotted line that looked like …

"How are you feeling?"

Kieran's voice almost forced a yelp out of me. I snapped my mouth shut and clung to the sink. "Like I've been run over by a truck," I managed to say. My throat hurt, my voice still dry.

Kieran gave me a look from head to toe. "You should shower. Just don't touch the back of your head too hard. River had to give you four stitches."

With that, he walked out of the bathroom.

I quickly touched the back of my head, only feeling dried blood. Another scar. Marvelous.

I jumped in the shower and scrubbed my body raw. My ribs were bruised and tender, but the back of my head hurt worse. I washed around it. I tried to ignore the new tattoo on my hand. Small enough not to look too intimidating but in a spot I couldn't readily hide. I knew what it was the moment I saw it. Kieran's brand. His mark.

After I washed, I dressed in a pair of joggers and t-shirt left for me on the bed. My socks and shoes had gotten wet from the snow, but I found a clean pair of socks in a drawer.

I headed to the kitchen where River handed me some painkillers and antibiotics. I swallowed them with a tall glass of water. The house smelled of food. Bacon and eggs. The greasy protein made my stomach revolt, so I just took a couple of waffles from the toaster and ate it with my hands, not bothering with a plate. It cleared my head some. Everyone but Henry was sitting at the breakfast nook eating when I walked in. The place was small, but warm. Cozy even. River kicked out a chair for me.

"Sit," he ordered.

I took a bottle of juice and sat. Kieran dialed a number on his phone and Henry's face lit up the small screen before his voice came through. "You fuckers are lucky Rice is more afraid of your fathers than you. I got him to extend your leave another twenty-four hours," Henry said.

"Before we begin," Kieran started, eyes burning into me. I couldn't look away from them. "I need you to know that this is a circle of trust. Through blood we have all made vows to the Ark Brotherhood. Something tighter than family. What is spoken within this circle, stays within this circle. Do you understand?"

My dad never let me sit in one of his meetings, but I assumed this must've been what it felt like. Leaving the outside world out. My heart burned inside my chest, my hands turned sweaty. I swallowed and felt as if they all heard the slight click in my throat.

"It means if you break the circle of trust, if you tell anyone, anyone," Fox said. "You die. Do you understand?"

I didn't miss Kieran's slight tremor.

"I haven't taken a vow," I managed to get out.

Kieran stiffened. "I've branded you," he said as calm as shit. I moved my hand on the table, the tattoo staring me down. "It means I vouch for you. It means you and I are tethered. If you break the vow, we both will be punished for it. Do you understand?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and dropped the rest of the waffle on the table no longer having an appetite. "I didn't ask you to do this."

Kieran gave an irritable sigh. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I get it."

Kieran turned his attention back to the phone. "Henry, what'd you got for us?"

"Jackson Templeton, age twenty. Mother Diana Templeton. Father George Templeton. Father was gunned down when Jack was eleven. Word has it that it'd been a Brennan sanctioned hit." Henry's voice was monotone. Stating simple facts. As if he weren't talking about a person. "His school records are sporadic. He attended Beaumont Elementary in Albany NY through sixth grade. After his father was killed, his mother fell into drugs. A few calls into the foster care system for abuse and neglect. Then he was taken out of school. I have a record of schooling for year six and eight. Again, most of his schooling sporadic and online. He took the recommended standardized tests to graduate high school. He came to Arcadia as a scholarship student sponsored by Eagle Corp, a shell corporation linked to Maddox Brennan. He had free roam privileges. Kept his nose pretty much clean as far as violence goes, but we all know he sold drugs at the school, and around town. That's all I got."

"Who is your sponsor, Tomás?" Kieran asked me.

"Who's yours?" I shot back.

Fox chuckled, but it wasn't funny.

"We know it's Maddox Brennan," Kieran said. "We also know, you don't have any blood ties to any of us, so why did he put you with us?"

I shrugged. "Ask him."

Fox made a frustrated noise. "Let's just state the facts. You left willingly with Jackson. We got that much on video. Why?"

I opened and closed my mouth. They already knew. They had to already know. I didn't look at Kieran but kept my eyes on the phone. "Jack and I had a plan to leave Arcadia for good," I said. "We weren't going to come back."

"Well," Fox said sarcastically, "You weren't coming back. What was this plan?"

"He knew you guys had free reign, coming and going, and he wanted me to go with you to learn how you did it. Who you paid. How much. That sort of thing." Kieran clamped his hand in front of him so tight, his hands turned white. "I made a drop of drugs for him at the bar."

"Ruth," Fox said. "We know. It's how we found you. You took the coat tag with you, and they have tracking."

I glanced at Kieran, he wasn't looking at me. "Where were you going to go?" Kieran asked tightly.

"Back home. Far away from this place and…" you. I almost said.

"Well," River started. "If Jack was seeking vengeance," he looked at me, "for his father's death, how did he know you are a Brennan?"

"I'm not a Brennan," I shot back.

"Did Jack say anything in the car?" Wren asked.

"He killed my father!"

I didn't want to tell them I was a Moya. I didn't want to tell them I sold myself out to the man who killed my father. So I latched on to the lie I knew to be true. Kieran's lies. "I don't know. In the car he mentioned something of a takeover. Something big, lots of money exchanging. I don't know. He was high." I dared to lift my eyes to the people in the room and saw all eyes on me. The back of my neck prickled. I realized it wasn't only Kieran who was dangerous. Everyone in this room were killers.

Kieran dragged his seat back and got to his feet. "Fox, take Wren and River back to Arcadia with the Jeep. Tomás and I will stay here until I can drive Wren's car out."

Fox shook his head, already intending to argue. But he didn't.

As they walked out, Kieran picked up the phone to speak with Henry in private.

A few minutes later, he came back into the kitchen. "If you tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you," I said.

"No."

I jumped to my feet, the chair fell behind me. "Why!"

"Because I don't trust you!" The veins on his forehead bulged as his anger reached a boiling point. He charged me. "You used me! Tricked me into taking you out so you could escape me." My back hit the wall and he struck it with a fist, inches from my head. A slight wince of pain replaced his anger. His chest heaved as he took in breaths of air. "Get out of my face." His voice turned so low, so deadly. For the first time since the games, I feared what he'd do to me.

I moved around him and made it to the stairs before he called me. I didn't turn to look at him. I couldn't.

"If you try to run," he said, his voice taking on a deadly pitch, "I will hunt you down."

I didn't think he could've ever hurt me again. But that was untrue. It hurt just like the first time.

I climbed the stairs and locked myself in the room I'd woken up in.