Page 149 of Wicked Lord

“Why does it feel like I just signed my soul away to the devil?” I asked as I slid the pen and paper back to Bass.

His ominous grin didn’t quell my fears. “Oh, please. I’m not the devil, Axel.”

Could have fooled me.

“I’m just a concerned Lord looking out for the organization.” He rolled the scroll up and dropped it back into his pocket. “So what if this might benefit me somehow?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared. “What are you up to, Bass?”

“That’s for me to know and you to…” He winked and stood. “Well, you know the rest.”

Shit.

Did I just do something incredibly foolish?

CHAPTER 60

DON’T ASK QUESTIONS

Axel

A guard banged on the door of my cell, startling me awake. “Vanderhart, get up and put this on.”

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t ask questions.” He thrust a black garment bag between the bars. “Do as you’re told. We’re leaving.”

Panic tightened my chest as I shuffled forward and took the bag from the brawny guy. “Am I being transferred?”

They wouldn’t ship me off to Maine State Prison in the middle of the night with no warning.

Unless they wanted to do it under the cover of night to avoid a press circus. I was a Vanderhart. Coming from such a prominent family and being convicted of murder was definitely headline news in Copper Cove.

But when I unzipped the bag and found a black suit, my head swiveled back to the guard. “I don’t understand.”

The guard—the silver nametag on his left breast pocket read Officer Morgan—dragged his hand down his face.

“We don’t have time for this. Get dressed.” He held out his arm and pointed to the serpent and dagger tattoo inking his skin. “We have official business to attend to. I’ll return you to your cell in time for breakfast.”

All the moisture vanished from my mouth as his words sank in. Bass must have already made his move on Vaughn. I just signed that document last night, but why else would the brotherhood need to sneak me out of prison?

After donning the ebony suit, Officer Morgan led me out of the jail through a back door, and we made it to the catacombs beneath the Sigma Delta house in record time. Members in black cloaks and stark white masks packed the ancient stone atrium.

I slipped the macabre outfit on and slid the mask in place as the officer passed me off to another brother who drew me toward the empty dais in front. Ascended gathered on the left, and even though he was masked, I recognized Coach Carson by his shoes.

With this many members in attendance, the matter at hand had to be serious.

My brow furrowed as I searched for my father. His tall stature and broad shoulders were easily identifiable in the cloak, but I didn’t see him.

A sharp whistle caught my attention, and three masked guys gathered on the right. I inhaled a deep breath, full of salty air and candle wax, as Killian, Gage, and Slate moved toward me. Someone stepped in their path blocking them.

Killian’s body stiffened, and Gage had to shove one of my roommate’s clenched fists down before he struck the other Lord.

My heart sank as I was cut off from my friends. I hadn’t seen or talked to them since being arrested, and it felt like a piece of me was missing. It was almost as bad as the ache coursing through my veins for Lorelei.

Fuck.I’d give anything to have her in my arms right now. Maybe I could convince Officer Morgan to take a little detour to the Zeta house before returning to the jail.

The crowd of members parted like a black sea, making way for the Grand Domnus as he drifted to the front. His crimson robe whispered over the floor, and the ram-skull mask hid every trace of humanity, leaving only hollow black sockets fixed on us.