VIOLA
With Jude taken care of, I can do what he came here to do. And it doesn’t take me long to find Byron in his room after we’ve all been allowed back into St Michael’s. There’s a lot of chaos after Jude’s disappearance, but the best part about him escaping is that no one is looking for Jude. They’re looking for the guy he switched months ago when Jordan got him into Hades.
I’ll leave the rest for Lorcan to sort out. Because…
I don’t do red tape.
I burn it.
“Byron,” He looks up at me as I approach him in his larger-than-usual room. “Do you remember me?”
He nods. Of course, he does. It’s been less than twenty-four hours. No nurse is watching me today. I get right to it, crouching down, so I’m not a threat. “We got interrupted off yesterday. But I need you to tell me what are you not supposed to tell anyone.”
He sucks in a breath. “Everyone is always asking me.”
“Well, it’ll be our secret. I won’t tell a soul you told me.”
He tilts his head, eyes solemn, looking every bit like Aurora. He lets the air out of his lungs and nods. “I just overheard them say that his parents would him away to cover a scandal.”
“Who did you hear?”
“My uncle…Joseph, and another man.”
“Do you know who they were talking about?”
He shakes his head.
“That’s fine. I think I know who it was.”
Lorcan. They were talking about Lorcan.
Byron’s eyes widen as he looks behind me.
“He’s over there,” says a voice. I glance behind to see an orderly pointing at us, leading two heavy-set men to us both. I get to my feet, adrenaline kicking in, as I recognize them and who they work for.
They’re my father’s men.
They don’t see me straight away. They’re too engrossed in heading straight for Jude’s cousin. The hospital must have called my father the moment Byron woke up. But why?
As they approach, their eyes connect with mine, and recognition flares even with my hair dyed this bland color. I have two choices. I can run, although to where is anyone’s guess as I’m stuck in this hospital until Lorcan gets me out, or I can stand my ground and face Adrien.
I choose the latter, staring them both down as they approach.
“Your father has been looking for you, Miss Hawkes,” one of them says, the shorter one. Little Phil, his name is, if I remember correctly. I don’t know the other one, who walks over to Byron’s chair and stand behind it.
I sniff at Paul, shaking him off as he tries to put a hand on me. “I can walk by myself,” I snap, following him toward the door. The nurse has already fucked off.
“Where are you taking her?” Byron asks. I turn to look back at him. He’s watching us go, frowning at Paul, his brow creased, lips pulled in a grim, straight line.
“Jude will come and get you soon.” I shoot a look at the guy holding the handles of Byron’s wheelchair, getting ready to take Byron God knows where. “Bend a hair on his head, and I’ll skin you alive with my fingernails.”
The guy just blinks at me.
The extent of my father’s reach is apparent as we walk through the halls. No one questions Paul as we go through the blue corridors right up to the security door. Someone even opens it for us, no questions asked, allowing us into the main part of the detention center. Paul escorts me to the waiting room I used to meet Lorcan in and leaves me there, closing and even locking the door. And then I’m alone.
I sit on one of the sofas to wait, but I don’t have to for long. Twenty minutes later, the lock clicks, and the door swings open. Paul is back, this time with my father and a rather miserable-looking Gigi.
I don’t bother to get up.