“I was working for Abner to prove myself. Thane would never let me forget what I did. And now that he’s back, he’ll kill me the moment he finds me.”
“So, we’re your only way out of here,” Etienne speaks up, dropping to crouch before Fergus. “And you’re signing this agreement before you answer any more questions. Ares and Tarian will ensure your safe passage from Tynewood, while I stay with Rukaiya.”
“I want a plane.”
“I’m sure you fucking do, Fergus. You’re an asshole and I do not trust you for one fucking second. And if you think you’re making demands, you’re sorely mistaken.”
My gaze is locked on the interaction between the men. The tension in the church is palpable, thick enough that it could be sliced with a dagger. Ares steps forward, undoing the binding around Fergus’s hands. Once he’s freed, there’s a pen and contract before him. It doesn’t take long for him to scrawl his signature on the line, and soon enough, Etienne is in his face once more.
“Now, you’re going to tell us exactly what Thane’s end goal is. You’re also going to tell us where Rukaiya’s mother is, and once we have the names of every man who’s worked beside you while you were under Abner’s control, we will think about letting you go.”
Wide eyes flit over to me, then to Ares and Tarian, before landing back on Etienne. The man looks scared, more so than I’ve ever seen him. Something has him spooked, and I hope he’ll confess what it is.
“You can’t do that. We had a—”
“We had fuck all,” Etienne bites out. “Now, talk or you’ll be buried behind the church like the rest of them.” A cold shiver streaks through me at the threat Etienne just promised. I believe him when he says it. The Gilded Sovereign are violent in their ways, I don’t doubt for a second that there are dead bodies scattered on the land surrounding us.
“Fine. Then let me tell you a little story,” Fergus starts, and his ominous words grip me in their icy hold, and I know we’re about to hear far more volatile things than we expected.
33
Etienne
He looks like he’s enjoying this. The control he has over all four of us is what he’s lording as power, but it’s nothing like that. We’re here to learn about the past, about what fucked up things Abner, Thane, and the rest of the Sovereign have done.
“When I joined the society years ago, Thane and I were best friends. I didn’t know he was nothing more than an extravagant playboy fucking everything from here to South America. He got involved with some dangerous people, and when Abner learned about it, he forbade him from entering the Sovereign.”
The silence hangs heavily over the room, our attention wrapped up in the story being told. I wonder how much of it is embellished and how much is fact.
“He was good… for a while. Until the beautiful dancer came to town. Gretchen was nothing more than an innocent in the game that Thane enjoyed, and when she slept with him, he was enamored. I thought perhaps he would’ve changed. I hoped he would become an honest man. But then two months later, she returned from New York having lost her place in the ballet company because of her pregnancy.”
“And she came to tell Thane about it,” I mutter.
Fergus nods. “He confessed to me that he was in over his head. He looked scared, and I knew the moment Abner found out, Thane would be cast out for good.”
“But the brotherhood of the Sovereign kept you from spilling the truth,” Ares speaks. He knows, we all do. Once you’re sworn in, even if you’re merely a member of the Gilded Sovereign, nothing can touch you. The Elders are the only ones who can send you packing, and I’m not talking about a vacation. You’d end up in the graveyard behind the church.
“And you knew if you told on Thane, he would have something on you. What was it?” I ask, wondering if there was more to the story.
His pained stare pins me to the spot. His mouth falls open, and I wait for the words that don’t come. I want honesty, I want the fucking truth. Losing all control, my hand grips the front of his shirt, and I drag him up onto wobbly legs. Bringing his face to mine, I keep him inches from me.
“I asked you a fucking question.”
“Etienne,” Ares’s tone is low and controlled, far more fucking control than I possess right now. I want to tell him to fuck right off, but I don’t, because he’s the one in charge. He’s second-in-command when Philipe isn’t here. So, I lower Fergus to the chair and step back.
“Thane had my first wife killed. I don’t have proof, but I know it was him. He threatened the woman I loved again, knowing it was my weak spot.”