Page 103 of A Dead Man's B-Side
I sent her a tight-lipped smile. “Just answer the question–”
“I’m serious, Alexandr.” Her tone suggested it and something made me pause. I watched the furrow in her brow deepen as she spoke, “This isn’t child’s play anymore. We’re learning to punch above our weight class, and you need to prioritize the Society. You heard Thaddeus. Education is secondary. The Society comes first.”
The heaviness, the importance of her words set inside me like a stone pressed against my lungs, making it hard to breathe.
I knew she was right and I also knew she wasn’t saying this because she cared. Rain prioritized the Society, and she wouldn’t let anyone take that away from her. Not her mother and certainly not me.
She was trying to prove a point, that she wouldn’t fail because of me.
I respected it and I nodded in truth. “Alright.”
She leaned back. “Now, if you must know. Barthalow is Wolf’s father. He passed away this summer, and Evander was named his successor. Except, Evander is practically estranged. Left the Kingsley Manor years ago and didn’t show his face anywhere in upper society. Or so I’ve heard. No one knows what will happen to the fortune, but if Evander steps up to claim it, no one can refute him.”
I shook my head. “He’s sitting on the board, Rain. Of course he claimed it.”
“We don’t know that. These matters do not happen so quickly. It had to be Barthalow who appointed Wolf. For all we know, the Kingsley seat… could very well be vacant.”
Her pause made us both sure she was uncertain herself. The board, with all its collateral held in the trust that all members do their part, wouldn’t allocate time for a family to sort their will affairs.
I leaned forward, the information too intriguing. “Why did he leave?”
Rain opened her mouth to speak but another voice filled the empty student lounge, “Hey… Sasha. Jett.”
Wolf stood at the door, his eyes bouncing between the both of us warily as his jaw seemed to lock. For a moment, it looked as though his eyes narrowed, but I might’ve imagined it. “Kingsley.”
I nodded to him, but he didn’t return the gesture, my way of greeting not lost on him.
Despite Rain’s words, I felt distrustful on principle, or maybe habit, however something was for certain: Wolf Kingsley was hidingsomething.
His dorm was locked like the vault of a high-security bank, he always slid into empty classrooms when he thought no one was looking and worked on things that would send him straight to jail based on suspicion alone if he’d done it at any public school.
But of course, Castle Hill treasures the creative and innovative minds of soon-to-be warlords and scandal-ridden company owners.
Rain met my eyes for a single moment before she stood, brushing off non-existent lint from her skirt and walking past me,stepping out of the room with a barely-there brush past Wolf. “Excuse me.”
Her steps faded up the stairs towards her office, and then there was only me and Wolf left in the empty room. “Are you done?”
I blinked. “Done what?”
“Done with whatever mood you seem to be in?” Wolf deadpanned.
I almost stood up and punched him across the face. Almost. Except, that wouldn’t help us reach any sort of agreement, and if Rain couldn’t finish her words, Wolf would for her. Because unless Wolf is hiding a dorm full of posters of naked women on his walls, he has a board with my name on it and everything there is to know about me.
How coincidental that it’s right across from him. I wonder if that was all planned as well. “You got really quiet when your brother was mentioned.”
Wolf tensed and his eyes narrowed further. I gestured to the seat Rain had just occupied and he took it quickly, as if eager to get this over with. “Why do you care?”
I watched him, trying to pull metaphorical frames together to form a clear image. “You’re my friend… aren’t you?”
He balked, as if he couldn’t believe the words out of my mouth. Slowly, after opening and closing his mouth a number of times, he parted his lips again. “I… I am your friend, Sasha. Why would you think otherwise?”
I shrugged, the sudden tension stifling, or perhaps it was the effect of the silence. “Sometimes, I wonder if you miss your brother or hate him.”
Wolf’s jaw clenched and he stood with a start. “Don’t! You don’t know anything. So do not go there.”
“Don’t I?”
“No, you don’t. Because you never loved anyone or anything enough for it to hurt when they left.”
