Page 98 of Equilibrium
His left eye started twitching at my interruption, as Atlas laughed. Was I supposed to be wowed by this knowledge?
“As I was saying,” he started again. “A witch coven lived here, and locals believed that they’d been worshipping Lucifer himself. So of course, the Church took it upon themselves to try and eradicate them. Now, this was what, two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, so they had to do it in secret. They liked to make people believe that they were just evicted and left peacefully, but, the Church sent these modern day crusaders who burned the place down during one of their ceremonies away.”
Peachy, more bloodshed.
“What is the point of your story, Logan?” I was getting tired of this.
“The point is,” he stepped closer, “that this place was built on the blood of people that once lived here, and even the Holy Spirit couldn’t cleanse it from its spirits. Tell me,” he put a hand on his chin, “how fast did Kieran die? Was it painful? I want to know everything.”
What did I tell you? This man cared about no one but himself. His son died here, and he wanted to know this. No sorrow, no pain in his dark eyes, just curiosity and chilling cold.
“Ophelia stabbed him with a knife.”
“Did she twist it?” His eyes twinkled. “Did she torture him first? Even after all of her mistakes, I have to admit that she is one hell of an executioner.”
“What the fuck?” Indigo mumbled behind me.
“Did he bleed? How much did he bleed?” And I thought my parents were fucked up. “Come, come.” He placed a hand around my shoulders, pulling me toward the altar. “Tell me everything. Paint me the picture. Where did he die?”
What a fucked-up world we lived in.
“I can see some blood stains there.” He pointed toward the place where Ophelia indeed stabbed him. “Is that the place?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “That’s the place. Listen, Logan—”
“Magnificent. Oh, I have to take pictures of this.”
He let go of me and walked to Kieran’s final resting place. Sick fuck.
“He was your son.” I couldn’t help myself. I had no love for that guy, but still, he was his son.
“Ah.” He waved me off. “I have the other two. And if those two perish for some reason, I can always make more.”
If I hadn’t already seen what these people were capable of, I would’ve been shocked after his admission. Their families, their children, they were mere puppets used for the sick games they played. I had no doubt in my mind that this man was the reason for everything bad that has happened to those three brothers. Maybe even Ophelia.
“Whatever you say, Logan.” It wasn’t my place anyway. “Can we talk about important things, or are you going to give me another history lesson?”
“Careful, boy—”
“I am not a boy, Logan.” I came closer to him, getting in his face. “I am a man. If your sons are allowing you to call them boys, that’s their problem, not mine. But you won’t call me a boy when we both know I am everything but a boy.”
“Okay, okay.” He gulped, looking at his guards who swarmed around us.
“Tell your dogs to retreat or you’ll need another plastic surgery.” I grinned. “Now, Logan.”
A minute passed, maybe even two, before he told them to back away. “Step away, guys. Everything is fine.”
“See.” I took a step back. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
He straightened his suit and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Drops of sweat were visible on his forehead, and I guess it was true what people said—these monsters were afraid of us. They were all talk, but no bark, unless there was a whole line of guards separating them from the likes of us.
He could talk, but he couldn’t stand up on his own. They were used to hired help. They were used to having other people doing their dirty little deeds for them. I wasn’t.
I was the president of our club, but that only meant that I was the first one that would head into a battle, not hide behind the closed doors.
“Where is Ophelia? I thought that you would bring her in. Is she outside?”
“No.”
