Epilogue

MAIN MASTER

T he whispers were never-ending. The looks…curious. Maybe even greedy. Suspicious? I couldn’t be sure of that. Guilt could do many things to a person. Thing was, besides acknowledging in my mind that I was breaking rules, I didn’t care. Sebastian gave me nothing but the perfect excuse I was looking for. One, I had been considering now for weeks. On the surface, Mistress Two was all too helpful. She had been my mentor. My personal savior when I had thought I was finished with this world. But even with everything happening between me and Mistress Two, I couldn’t ignore this deep-seeded dread. This… hate I held for her . I used to not be able to define it, but my suspicions had been well-rooted. Now that I knew her secrets, her sins , there was no going back.

But what did that mean? What did that say about me? What would the Circle think? The Masters? Mistresses?

It didn’t matter. It had to happen. And not just from her guilty deeds. Maybe despite everything, I wanted to be the only one with power. The only one with this gift. Had I gotten to that point?

I made sure my mic was off, glancing down the row of Board Members before leaning towards Master One. “Where the fuck are they? Sebastian knows we need them here.”

“I don’t know. Didn’t you send Nineteen to check on them?”

“That was nearly twenty minutes ago.” I took in the over-crowded room. It wasn’t every day one of the upper elites went on trial. But this wasn’t just any upper elite. This was the heir of the LaRoe family, one of the most prestigious names in our circle. “I don’t like this.”

My eyes went to Melissa as she kept glancing towards her son. The woman was in mother-mode. She appeared concerned. Upset even, as she kept throwing her son looks. I knew better. Melissa LaRoe felt nothing. She was as hard as a rock and as cold as they came.

I gestured for the guard standing at the door, not missing as Hale headed in, sliding into a seat in the back. Vibrations buzzed against my chest, and I reached into my suit jacket, pulling my phone free. At my High Leader’s number, I answered.

“Well? Where the hell are they?”

“Main Master…they’re dead.”

“What?”

I kept my tone calm despite my pulse giving one hard hit in my chest.

“I have three bodies. From the looks of it, the slave died first. Bullet between the eyes. Master Rivers was lying over her. There’s a few shots in his back. One to the back of his skull. And then I have a guard. Single shot. He ate that fucking barrel.” Nineteen paused. “I knew Harleston. He wouldn’t have done this. No way in hell. Something’s not right here. I’ve watched the footage already. He mentions Jett. I wrote it down, hold on.”

He paused, and I took in Hale, my mind already swarming…my stomach twisting at what I knew was about to happen. Hale loved his brother. Sebastian was everything to him. Now, for him to be dead? He’d have to take Sebastian’s spot. He was the heir to his family now.

“Okay. Harleston walks in and says…“Jett has lots of tricks. Jett says goodbye. And then he starts shooting. He wasn’t in his right mind, I can guarantee it. Harleston looks like he’s under a spell as he’s headed to the door. Even when Master River’s opens it, he acts like a zombie. It’s the slave he reacts to. I haven’t been able to go further back, so I don’t know what exactly happens, but not all is as it appears.”

My stare went to Jett, only to move to Melissa.

“The boy’s guards?”

“He’s had the same ones the entire time. You know how it works in Hell Row with those on expedited trials. They haven’t left his side, nor have they interacted with anyone except themselves. Food was left for them to retrieve. Facilities and recreation are within their private quarters by the cell. They’re there in that court room with you right now. I watched the footage already. Harleston hasn’t had access to any of them. He’s taking orders from someone else.”

“Got it.” My gaze went back to Melissa. Her eyes met mine, and I didn’t break eye contact as I glared. It was her who shifted on her seat and went back to looking at Jett. With as much as I wanted to believe she was behind it, I couldn’t understand why she’d set her own son up. It didn’t matter. I’d figure out the truth, eventually. That didn’t change my plans today.

“Send me video evidence of the crime scene and a small clip of Harleston saying Jett sent him. Then get your ass down here as fast as you can.”

“Roger that, Main Master.”

I hung up, leaning towards Master One. “Rivers and the slave are dead.”

“You’re fucking joking.”

Master One’s eyes were big as he swallowed hard and sat straighter.

“I wish I was. You thought this was going to be bad before. Just wait.” My phone vibrated and I motioned to my other members that I was ready.

Turning on my mic, I took one last look around the room before pressing my fingers into the papers before me.

“Today, we start the trial for Master B-Twenty-two. He is accused of forceful entry, breaking into and tampering with Garden’s devices and files, attempted murder…and the ultimate murders of Master B-Three-sixty-one and slave eight-forty-two. How do you plead?”

Gasps filled the room as Masters and Mistresses turned to each other in shock. Hale glanced around the room, scanning the rows before his head snapped to me. My brow creased, and I gave him a slow shake, as if to somehow say I’m sorry. His face was dropping color by the second, and the shock was morphing to disbelief. To…homicidal rage as his gaze tore from me to go to Jett LaRoe.

“Order,” I growled, turning back to Jett’s wide, terrified eyes. “ How do you plead? ”

“N-Not guilty. I didn’t fucking kill anyone. I?—”

“Enough,” I exploded. “Let everyone be witness, Master Twenty-two pleads not guilty. Should the board present sufficient evidence, the Master before you will be sentenced to death.”

Hale stood, his eyes searching the room wildly, still looking for his brother even though he knew deep down what I spoke was the truth. My hand lifted to him, but I didn’t have to speak as I eased my hand down, and I watched him follow. It was almost poetic how aligned we were. My mind spoke to him in gestures. It weaved a wonderful web of commands he knew to follow whether he wanted to or not.

“This trial won’t take long. It is to be known that the two Masters got into a bidding war for the slave this last auction night. The first evidence I’d like to submit is on the charges of breaking into and tampering with Garden’s files. The next will be the forced entry and attempted murder for the slave mentioned. The last evidence is of the murder.”

“If you all focus on the large screen, you can see firsthand the Master head back into the pickup lobby. As you can see from the date on the top, this happened the day following the auction.” Jett eased inside, heading to the desk as he glanced around. “Here, you can see him break into the desk the guard locked the tablet into.” I paused. “Would you like to share with the Board on how you got the password to unlock the tablet?”

“No. That’s not me.”

Jett’s face was hard as he glared.

“We’ll let the Board decide that. The second set of evidence I would like to present is on the forced entry and his attack on the slave.”

I hit the button to change the footage, and Jett surged to stand. Cuffed to the desk before us, he couldn’t move but a few feet.

“This is bullshit. That shit with the tablet is a hoax. It’s not me. Any of it. Everyone knows I’m going to be someone big someday, and I’ve made it abundantly clear to anyone I’ve talked to on who I want to be. I’m being set up. Probably by the Main Master, himself. I didn’t do anything wrong. So I pushed my way into the apartment. The bitch liked it rough. She wanted me to come by. I was just doing what she wanted.”

“We’re a court, Master Twenty-two, and you have no evidence of that. Trust me, we’ve looked. As a matter of fact, the Board watched and followed you around the city as you stalked the slave in question. I have every angle. Every second up until her Master took her. After that, you had no access until you pushed your way in. Until you knocked on that door, you’d never even talked to her. She had no idea who you were.”

The guard at his side forced him to sit as the footage of him pushing his way inside played out. The attack was violent. Fast, explicit, and gruesome as he stabbed his way up her unresponsive half-nude body. When the scene ended at his speedy departure, whispers exploded in the court, and the shocked looks couldn’t be hidden as everyone’s attention was on Jett. Melissa continued to shift in her chair, growing antsier by the second. Why, I wasn’t sure. Maybe she did feel something for her son. Maybe she knew what was coming. Or maybe…this was playing out as she wanted. I didn’t know as I pulled up the last bit of footage.

“This last evidence comes from my High Leader who was at the crime scene just this hour. I have not seen the footage, nor has anyone in this room, so I do not know what to expect. What I will say is, it may be graphic and not suitable for anyone who knew Master B-Three-sixty-one, Sebastian Rivers. He was a very dear friend of mine, and to many of us here. May he rest in peace. I will give everyone a few seconds in case you wish to leave.”

I glanced at my Board members, letting everyone settle into their decision. No one stood. No one left. Hale was wiping tears from his face, but he didn’t break. He also didn’t move. His stare was on Jett, and it wasn’t leaving.

“Alright. There are two videos. One’s of the crime scene. The other is the last words from the guard who was sent to kill them.”

Jett was staring at the large screen, his chest rising and falling in a fast pace as he continually pulled at the chains.

I hit play, watching Sebastian’s apartment come into view.

“This is the High Leader. I’m at Master Three-sixty-one’s apartment. That would be Sebastian Rivers. It is five-twenty-six PM.” The camera panned to the door. “As you can see, there was no forced entry, nor does what we saw on the video corroborate there being any. The door was opened for the guard who then pushed his way in, where he shot the slave between the eyes. Master Rivers then turned for the slave, where he was shot in the back three times, and then the back of the head.”

A few people gasped as footage of Sebastian, curled over the slave, came into view. Blood spray and brain matter were fanned on the floor around their heads, and where I couldn’t see the damage done to his face, his cheek was resting against her bloody face, giving view to dull eyes with a hole slightly in the middle, above them. My eyes closed for the briefest moment, knowing the pain he held for Maggie. Knowing how much she looked like Margaret. I knew. I somewhat related, and although I was a monster, I had been supportive of Sebastian finding relief from his pain through her. Hell, I even set up a future I knew Sebastian wouldn’t be completely in favor of. Not with Dr. Bailor involved. I wanted to sway him to choose her. I had purposely put the decision out there. But for what? Nothing. Love never won in the end. Love was what we found in the middle and clung to, but it never lasted. Not in my world.

“The last clip,” I forced out.

The scene was of the guard pushing his way through. He was pulling out the gun as he spoke and pointed it at the slave.

“Jett has lots of tricks. Jett says goodbye.”

The shots had multiple people in the crowd jumping. Jett surged to his feet, shaking his head as he panted through the panic.

“I didn’t send that guard! That wasn’t me! Mom .”

He was pushed back down as Hale flew from his chair. Guards rushed towards him, but with how large Hale was, they didn’t stand a chance. He was suddenly sobbing, roaring and yelling as he fought off three guards. Then five.

“Order!” I stood, slamming the gavel down. “Order! Hale. Hale Rivers! ”

At my own roar, the new Master grew still, his eyes locked on me… waiting .

“Sit down while we vote on sentencing. Should justice present itself, it is your call. You are now the River’s heir. You are the responsible party here. You will act like it. Sit.”

He was still breathing heavily, glaring, even if it was at me. But he was walking back, moving back to his chair as I continued standing.

“There. The evidence has been presented. Members, stand. We will go down the line. Remember, a guilty verdict means you find him guilty on all accounts and are in favor of death. I will start at the end, and we’ll work our way down. I will be last.” I looked at the far end of our board setting. “What do you say, Member Five?”

“Guilty.”

Melissa tried to hold in her sob, pushing the handkerchief harder into her mouth. The room was silent as the witnesses waited.

“Member Four?”

“Guilty.”

“Member Three?”

“Guilty.”

A loud whimper left Melissa as tears poured down her face. I looked to Master One. His expression was hard. He knew what this meant. A war in our circle. One that would send a ripple down the Collective High Council. Our beautiful oiled machine was about to sputter to a stop as it regeared in a new direction, and although I should have feared the consequences of that, the darkest part of me was ready.

“Member Two?”

“Guilty.”

“No. No. Jett .”

“Main Master?”

The members spoke in unison. I looked at Jett. I took in Melissa and her pleading eyes. And I moved to Hale. To the man who I’d brought in to be my own protector. My closest, new confidant. A friend. A spy. I hated losing Sebastian, but I had Hale so mindlocked to me, it couldn’t have turned out any better. He’d follow my every order. He’d obey my every command. He’d bring this circle together like no one else. I had plans for him…but that was another story.

“Guilty,” I said, firmly.

“No! No!”

I ignored Melissa’s breakdown to continue. “Master Twenty-two, you have been found guilty on all counts and have been condemned to death. You will be brought out to the execution stage where you will be beheaded in front of everyone for your crimes.” I turned to Hale. “As of this very moment, Jett LaRoe is no longer a Master of the Garden of the Gods. He now belongs to you. How would you prefer he die? By executioner or by you?”

“He’s mine?”

I paused as he stood.

“His life is, yes. How do you wish to proceed?”

Screams went up as Hale raced forward again. The guards jerked to attention but didn’t move as most looked to me. I shook my head, watching as one caught Melissa as she flew forward to make her way to Jett. He jerked against the chains, trying to run, but other than moving a few feet, he was trapped.

“It wasn’t me! I swear it wasn’t?—”

Jett barely got out the scream before Hale’s fist connected with his mouth. Jett flew back at the table from the blow, but Hale was on him, bringing the solid wood crashing down beneath them as he drew back, punching the young man’s face with everything he had.

The blows were solid and bone-crushing as he tried driving his hit through his face. Muffled screams were cut off by Hale’s fist, and blood was already beginning to pool on the small area of the floor underneath Jett LaRoe’s head as it continually snapped back from the power, knocking against the concrete. With every impact of Hale’s deadly blows, the floor itself seemed to shake. Melissa’s screams were echoing through the room as the guards worked on removing her fighting frame, but they were having a hard time as she twisted and clawed at every part of them she could reach.

“You killed my brother.” Hale grabbed some of the loose chain from one of Jett’s arms, wrapping it around his neck to pull on like a necklace. “Now I’m going to kill you. My brother .”

A deep purple took over Jett’s semi-conscious face as Hale tightened the chain until the surrounding skin was sickeningly bulging around the sides. Blood vessels were rupturing in the young man’s eyes, turning the white completely red as he continued crushing his windpipe and trying to decapitate him with the chain.

“My brother! M-My?—”

Hale’s yells merged with Mistress Two’s as they finally managed to get her through the threshold of the main doors. Jett’s eyes were still opened, but the life behind them was gone as Hale kept putting all of his strength into tightening the chain. I stepped back, grasping to Master One’s shoulder as I passed by to retrieve Hale.

Losing one of our own was never easy. Seeing Hale suffer as he was was even harder. I had hated Hale most of my life. I hated not being able to sway or control him. Sebastian may have not been under my power either, but we’d always been friends. Brothers. And now he was gone, and I had Hale to take his place. It wouldn’t be the same without Sebastian, but I’d think about his death in the shadows of my sleepless nights. And I’d make the legacy of his name shine amongst the top with the lead of his brother.

Together, with my handful of trusted friends at my side, I’d rule these Gardens. And when it came time to take over the outside world, we’d be ready for that too. The pieces of this game were falling into place, but the players weren’t all on the board. It was going to be up to me to make that happen, and no matter what was thrown my way, death, betrayal…I wouldn’t fail in my overall mission.

I had a vision.

I had more questions.

And I was willing to go as far as it took to find the answers …

The End