Dynasty (Boys of Winter 1)

I drop my hand from Cruz’s before taking Tobias’ and allowing him to lead me across the stage with the eyes of the whole organization on me. Cruz disappears and goes to stand with Grayson and King, and for just a brief moment, I want nothing more than for Carver to go and join them. Why is he being so weird? Does his father have some kind of hold over him?

Tobias brings me to a stop in the very center of the stage to where a small dais is set with two objects—a fancy as fuck diamond-encrusted dagger that looks like it belongs in a museum, and a plaque with seventeen inscriptions, every family name of Dynasty with Ravenwood the biggest, top and center.

A flare of pride shoots through me until Tobias spreads his arms wide and looks out at his members. “My Dynasty family, I stand before you with the news we have always prayed for. Let me officially introduce you to our lost heir—Miss Elodie Ravenwood, daughter of the late Andrew and London Ravenwood.”

Gasps are heard all over the room and it takes me a moment to work out that only the members who are of age would have known that I was alive. As for everyone else, they’re only just now discovering my existence. The gasps quickly turn to applause, which morphs into full blown cheers that have me seeking out the boys. I can’t say that I’ve ever been on the other end of an adoring crowd, but I’m sure they experience it every day.

King and Cruz wear proud smiles across their faces as Grayson raises his chin, silently telling me to put on a show, so I do just that and plaster my fake smile across my face and look out at my new adoring fans. I feel Carver’s heated stare from across the room, and I can’t help but turn his way, seeking out the confidence and the approval that he’s always there to give me, but all I get in return is his unnerving glare that tears at something within me.

I long for him, desperate to have things go back to how they were before I found out who his family was, before he pressed me up against that stupid tree, kissed me like he’d never kiss a woman again, and then rejected me. I missed him in my bed last night. I’ve become way too reliant on his comfort, and that’s a mistake that I’m going to have to suffer with because something tells me that I’ve seen the end of the nights where he would hold me tight and keep the monsters at bay.

Now I have a whole new set of monsters to fight, only this time, the monsters aren’t in my head. They’re as real as can be, and despite the stupid smile I wear across my face, I’ve never been so terrified. But I will defeat them. I will annihilate them until there’s not a damn thing left.

“So, let us not waste another second and initiate young Elodie into our Dynasty family and finally bring her home.”

Cheers are heard all around, and for a moment, I’m left wondering if this is how it always is or if tonight is just extra special.

Tobias waves and asks me to step up to the dais and I do just that. As the crowd begins to settle down, Tobias collects the dagger and presents it to me. “Are you ready for this?” he questions, keeping his tone low.

I nod as I accept the dagger in my hands. “Yes. I know what to do.”

Tobias gives me a warm smile, one that I’d expect a father to give a daughter, and for a moment, I feel that connection to my father again. “Okay,” he tells me. “Let’s get started.”

I smile back at him. It’s showtime.

“Elodie Ravenwood,” he says, his voice loud, somehow bouncing off every wall of the ballroom. “Dynasty welcomes you with open arms into our family and into our home. You are of our being, of our blood, and no longer a child, but an adult coming home to join our ranks, not only as our equal, but as our rightful leader, our heir, and ruler. It is my pleasure to initiate you into our family, and bring our lost daughter home.”

There is a booming applause from the crowd, and for a brief second, I think that it’s over until I remember there’s a whole question and answers portion of the night.

“Please make your eternal, sacred vows,” Tobias continues. “Will you, Elodie Ravenwood, bleed for your people?”

“Yes,” I declare, pressing the tip of the knife into my palm and slicing through my flesh until blood pools in my hand. “I will bleed for my people.”

“Will you protect them with all that you are?”

I tip my hand over, allowing my blood to cover the plaque and run over the seventeen family names. “Yes. I will protect them.”