Pretty in the Dark (Dark and Wild #2)

Chapter 16

16

CADE

R age.

Black and glittering danced on the edge of my vision. I blinked the dark spots away as I sat across the table in the dark corner booth, at the sports bar we'd found open for lunch.

The last several hours had revealed more about my past and Juniper's family than I ever wanted to know. And it terrified me.

It terrified me because these faceless people held more power in their pinky than I'd ever dreamt of having. Not that I wanted power. That was Kage's deal. I just wanted to protect Juniper, to keep her safe. And I had no clue how I was going to fucking do it.

Because these weren't the kind of low-life thugs I was used to dealing with. These were people who were evil for no reason other than believing by the right of their blood that their power, money and status were owed to them.

Juniper had ordered a tall beer, but then spent the rest of the afternoon nursing it, barely bringing it to her lips. The more Kage talked, the paler Juniper had gotten, as if with every word her energy was drained. At one point, she'd excused herself to the bathroom and it was just Kage and I, alone in the corner booth.

"You’ve made a mess." Kage didn't have to tell me what he was referring to. I already knew.

"You would have done the same thing." I'd sat back crossing my arms, prepared to take the reprimand, knowing full well that what I'd done to the sheriff had been nothing compared to what Kage would have done. Kage liked to play with his victims. To toy with them and break them long after he'd gotten what he wanted from them. I preferred to just end them.

He snarled. "I would have been clean about it. You were sloppy, Cade."

"So clean up the mess." I snarled back. "You weren’t there. You didn't see what I saw. Edmund fucking used her to keep power over the sheriff. That's how he paid him. It wasn't money. It was Juniper." It's always Juniper. Juniper was the currency in which these sick bastards used to stay in power. I wanted to pound the sheriff's skull in all over again. "And now you're doing the same thing."

Something dark and dangerous glinted in Kage's black eyes. "Be very fucking careful with the accusations you're tossing out there, Cade."

I leaned forward, too pissed to mince my words. "I know you, Kage. You want something from Juniper. You want something from me as well and you're using her past, her family's history and your status as the long-lost brother to get it."

"And what will you do about it, Cade? Are you going to go up against these people by yourself? Are you going to let Juniper?" He sat back, a confident smirk curling at the corner of his smug mouth. "No. It doesn't matter what I want, does it? Because you need me. And you know it."

"What does he know?" Juniper was back now, a fine sheen of sweat dotting her brow. She looked like she was going to be sick.

"He knows he's a dick," I answered, before Kage could interject. Juniper slid in next to me and wrapped her hands around her warm beer glass, as if that would steady her somehow. "You okay?" I whispered, but she just shook her head ignoring my question, fixing Kage with a stubborn glare.

"Alright, let's go over this one more time."

Kage smiled as if he had the patience of a saint, but I knew better. He only had the patience of a man who was willing to do anything to get what he wanted.

"These people, the Infernals, are a secret society controlled by powerful families." Juniper paused, waiting for Kage to verify if she was correct, and when he nodded, she continued.

"Including my mother's family, Edmund's family, and possibly Cade’s based on that photo I found." Another nod and she took a deep breath in. "And these people have some psychotic idea that only those of a chosen bloodline have a right to the money and power they hold."

"It's not an idea to them, Juniper." Kage leaned forward, his eyes burning with intensity. "It is a fundamental belief. They believe it is their God-given right . That they are divinely chosen. The way that kings and queens believed they were divinely chosen to rule. Except, when that idea was phased out with the modern invention of democracy, these people took their beliefs and went underground with them. Successfully, too. Their fortunes and empires are vast, and wealth is shared by the few families that control it."

"And now, because of my..." her nose wrinkled in disgust. “…blood, they want me to come back and be their perfect gene pool baby-making machine."

Kage nodded once more. "That's as much as I've been able to gather. I don't know the extent of their ideologies, or the way in which they spread the money between the families. It seems like some families stayed in the organization and others left." His gaze flicked to mine. "And I don’t know how your Dad fits into the equation yet either. From what I gather, there’s no noble or royal bloodline that can tie you back to the group. But your dad was involved in some way if that picture Juniper found is to be believed." He shook his head, obviously bothered by the puzzle. "But unless I can get access to the group, we'll never know. That's why Juniper needs to answer their invitation. It's the only way to get the answers we need."

Juniper eyed him for a moment, her mind clearly turning everything over. "I know why I want answers, Kage. But why do you ? What's in it for you?"

"Because I think our father was trying to get into this group. And I think that's why he was killed." And then it dawned on me.

"You want revenge." I snarled the word and two sets of eyes—both completely different in color and yet, something about their shape and the intensity of their stares made them identical, swiveled toward me.

"Yes, Cade. I want revenge." Kage had the decency not to hide his motivations, at least. His dark gaze turned back to Juniper. "I want revenge for the both of us, and I think you want that too." Something passed between them then, a look and a silent conversation I couldn't understand. My fingers gripped the table so hard that I felt it crack beneath them.

"Juniper, it's not safe. These people are insane, and he's asking you to jump from the frying pan right into the fire with them." My heart pounded in my ears. She couldn't possibly be considering his proposal. It was as insane as the people he claimed ran this organization. Glacier blue eyes turned toward me again, and there was a moment of sympathy that passed through them, as if she could see my fear and panic.

"I don't have a choice, Cade. I was born already in the fire." She looked back at her brother and nodded. "Okay, I'm in. I'll answer their invitation, but we need a good fucking plan. And I want protection for my brother."

Kage nodded solemnly. "He'll be protected. I vow it."

“I mean starting now. Not tomorrow or sometime this week. I need to know Edmund won’t be able to get access to Dean.” Fierce protectiveness laced her voice and once again I was reminded of the similarity between her and the man she was sitting across from. “Bess should have Dean packed and ready to head to his new school by now,” she said. “I want someone with them at all times– even at the school.”

It took Kage but a moment to open his phone and send off a message. ‘It’s done.” And I knew with those two simple words that it would be. But that didn’t mean that I hadn’t already made plans myself to ensure Dean would be watched over while he was away. I knew better than most how easily the boy could find trouble– whether he wanted to or not.

Juniper nodded and rubbed her temples. "Okay, well, if you'll excuse me. I think I've had enough mind-fucks for one day. And I need to say goodbye to my brother."

She slid out of the booth and I followed. I couldn't look at Kage. At the moment, I wanted to throttle him. As much as I understood the reason why he wanted revenge on this group, he was dragging Juniper into his personal vendetta and it pissed me off.

"Juniper, wait." Kage stopped us and he approached Juniper with a small, cloth-bound journal held in his hands. "I found it recently in some of my father's things. It’s locked and I could have broken it open, but somehow that didn’t feel like the right thing to do. It was your mother’s. " He held it out to her. "I think he'd want you to have it."

Juniper eyed the faded, cloth-bound journal before accepting it from him with a weak smile. "Thank you, Kage."

He nodded, "I'll be in touch."

I grabbed Juniper's elbow and directed her to the front before I did something stupid, like punch my oldest friend in the face simply because I was angry over a situation I had no control over. "Come on, pretty girl. Let's get you home."