To Capture a Thorn (The Society 2)

“Do you need some water?” I asked, going to her other side and picking up the glass with the straw.

Joan turned to me and she smiled. “You look so much like your father,” she said. “How is Harrison?”

“He’s … waiting to see you.”

She shook her head. “They can’t see me like this.”

“Lucas did, Mom. Lucas was here.”

“He can see me because he knows his hands are tied. He always followed the rules. It was how Alexander was able to get to him first. How he was able to do what he did.” Joan sighed. “George, Harrison, and Justin, they were always different. They weren’t afraid of the consequences. Enough about us.” She turned her head back to Sian. “I want to look at my beautiful baby girl. My reason for existing. He took it all. Didn’t he?”

Sian sniffled. “Don’t, Mom. Don’t.”

“If I was you, I would have hated me.”

“Don’t,” Sian said. “Let’s not talk about this. It doesn’t help.”

Joan smiled. “But it helps me. You were such a beautiful baby. You probably don’t remember this, but for the first years of your life, he didn’t need to give me anything. I had you. I was able to be controlled. I loved you so much that I ignored him.”

“You took care of me?” Sian asked.

“Yes. I sang to you, badly. I can’t sing. I hugged you all the time. I never wanted to let you go.” Joan let out a cough and a groan.

I saw the pain in her eyes and knew we’d exhausted her for long enough.

Going to Sian’s side, I put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It’s time for her to rest now.”

Joan said, “No. I don’t want to rest. I want to know how my baby girl is. I don’t want to lose a moment.”

Sian stood, moving closer to her mother. “And we will. We’ll have the time. He’s not going to get to you. Not again.” She pressed a kiss to her mother’s cheek with a smile. “Love you, Mom.”

“Oh, honey, Drew said you’d love me but…” Joan sniffled. “I never believed it.”

“I do love you. Please rest. We’ve got so much to catch up on.”

With that, Sian and I left the room and I closed the door.

There were already two guards on the door, which I imagined Lucas had arranged.

“How are you holding up?” I asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“I don’t know to be honest. She looks so … fragile, but I know deep down, she’s strong. She got through.”

“That’s because she knew there was this amazing girl she needed to get to.”

Sian chuckled. “How do you know how to say the right things?”

“I’m lucky. With you, it all comes easily.” I kissed the top of her head. They weren’t lies. When I was around Sian, I knew what to say because I wanted to comfort her all the time. We stood outside Joan’s room for a good twenty minutes as the older woman slept. I couldn’t imagine spending nineteen years with a person who would drug me to keep me docile.

Whatever happened from this day forward, Alexander Roberts would have to pay for the lives he came very close to destroying.

****

William

I’d never enjoyed the hospital.

For the past week, we’d pretty much lived inside one, only leaving to get changed and washed. Sian wanted to be close to her mother, and my dad, well, it was hard to pry him away from the window of Joan’s door. Not that I could blame him. If I was to put us, me, Sian, Gideon, Dante, and Mateo, in that scenario, I’d have been the same.

Fucking crazy to think about.

It was into the second week that I returned home and found a single envelope on my bed.

The same kind of envelope giving all different kinds of instructions. With a towel wrapped around my waist, I sat on the edge of my bed.

This was what The Society did. They gave instructions in all forms.

Why did I have this letter?

It wasn’t here when I went for the shower, and now I felt a little sick thinking someone could be sneaking around Gideon’s house.

After turning the envelope over, I tore into it and stared inside. There was a key and a single sheet of paper. I pulled out the piece of paper and read the instructions. Today, I had to take a two-hour drive to a town I had a vague recollection of. There was a safe hidden away at a bank that would hold what I needed with further instructions.

Once I had the details clear in my mind, I had to destroy this letter.

Staring at the location, I put the envelope down and quickly got dressed. All the guys had been taking turns to go with Sian. This was one of those times I was alone in the house.