Page 62 of The October Trials

I’ve wanted her for over a year now.

Longer than she knows. Longer than her mother or any Legion members suspect. They all think last night was some big coincidence.

That first time I saw her on campus, waitressing at the local food joint, I needed to get close to her. But I couldn’t approach her just yet. That wouldn’t have been smart with what I had planned for my father, not with how closely he watched every move I made.

So I sent my initiate, Parker. He got close, earned her trust, fed me every detail I needed while I stayed in the shadows and watched. When the time came for the trials, I made sure she was the one he invited.

That asshat really thought he would get away clean and join us if he did what I asked.

I love naive little fucks like him.

Now she’s handcuffed to the bed in front of me, eyes wide and wet, still trying to process the ruins of every lie she ever believed.

She stares in absolute shock as two familiar faces walk in.

“You…you—” She stumbles, shifting her gaze back and forth between everyone in the room. “No fucking way!” Her whole body lurches forward against the cuffs, hard enough that I feel her pulse spike beneath my grip on her hair.

“You’re not supposed to stress yourself out with the medicine you’re on, sweetheart.” I glance at her father. “Tell her, Levi.”

Her father walks up to the bed, expression softening when he sees the state she’s in. It’s going to be a few months before she heals and we can host her induction ceremony. “Blair,” he sighs. “This was always how it was going to go. This is your destined future—it’s been planned for a little while.”

“Dad…” Her voice cracks apart completely. “Am I dreaming? You’re—You’re alive.”

“I’m alive.”

Her gaze snaps to her brother, Sonny, who entered with her dad. “You told me he died! You told me you found him hanging!”

Sonny rubs the back of his neck, refusing to meet her eyes. He’ll need to be broken out of that habit. Legions stand tall, confident, secure. Avoiding eye contact is a sign of weakness. “I know. Commander said—”

“Wait.” She tilts her head ever so slightly. “You’ve been a member of the Legion this whole time! That’s why you’ve always warned me about going near them.”

I throw Sonny a sharp glare. He shrinks under it, shoulders hunching, scrambling to change the subject before I have to remind him what happens to members that overstep.

“Little sis, you’ll do a great job ruling over the Legion. They practically own the country. You’ll have everything—money, a nice home, all the thrift store antiques you could ever want.” He chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. “Most importantly, you’ll have mom for support, dad, me. Please don’t resist this. You’ll only get yourself hurt.”

“Oh, my God.” Her voice drops to a broken whisper. “You’re all on his side. Like some fucking sheep minions! I can’t believe this! You’re—You’re practically selling me.”

“They don’t have much of a choice. And neither do you.”

She snaps her head to me, a storm of fury in her gaze. “I didn’t survive all of this to be scared of you. You should be scared of the woman I’m becoming.”

“Good. I want you to step into the woman you’re becoming, little bird. So you can rule with me and command respect from the members as you deserve.”

Her eyes flash with pure anger. It’s cute as hell. “Why do you call me that… little bird?”

Caught off guard by the question, I sit with it for a few moments. “For someone so desperate to fly away, you always find yourself back in my cage, singing—” I yank her head back harder, forcing a sharp, beautiful scream from her throat, “—those pretty little songs for me.”

“You’re a psychopath!” she shouts, twisting and fighting.

I smile. She has no idea how right she is. Or how little that’s ever going to change now that she’s mine.

She’s trapped.

Forever.

They’re all trapped.

Under my thumb and mine to wield as I please.