Page 194 of Knox Academy Omnibus
Onyx lashes out when he doesn’t understand his emotions, and I’m an enabler when it comes to my twin. I’ve always tried to please him, to somehow wash away his guilt over what happened to me as a kid. Kalen is a people pleaser and has always wanted to be us. When he went against us it was a shock which made Onyx and I realise that we feel the same way about Amelie.
Sawyer is harder to read. He used to need his job, he said he felt like it was a way to atone for the death of his friend, for his past. I’m not sure how his logic works, considering the things we do in The Order, but it could possibly have been a way to justify why he does it. Yet without a fight, he walked away from his job.
As Kalen would say: we’re all pussy whipped.
“Are you two butt munchers coming?” Kalen yells, taking off after Amelie and Sawyer.
By the time we catch up to them they are all sitting on a grassy area. Amelie is lying down with her head in Sawyer’s lap...why do girls do that? I’m sure his hard dick would be a very uncomfortable pillow. Kalen is chasing the fluff ball around.
“So, is anyone going to tell me what your grandfather's problem with me is?” Amelie asks just as Kalen plops down on the ground beside her.
“He’s a fucking asshole,” Onyx declares, and he isn’t wrong.
“That, I could have figured out on my own,” she says, sitting up so she is facing all of us.
“Let’s just say, you are very important to The Order. Our grandfather wants to rule the world, so to speak, but the board is full of very old pretentious men who love to follow the rules – rules that were written over a hundred years ago – and so he is struggling with the fact that you’re a woman. He can’t figure out a way he can bend this to fit in with his agenda,” Sawyer answers for us.
“And what do you all think about this?”
“In all honesty, we want to take control and bring The Order into the twenty-first century, but to do that The Order must have one clear leader. Unfortunately, the founders made sure that it wouldn’t happen easily.”
“And you need me for that?” She’s shrewd, I’ll give her that.
“We do, yes. You and some board members. We need four board members on our side. I think we have three and with your weird friendship with Branson, we could get four.”
“So I’m just a pawn?” She looks at Sawyer for clarification.
“No, we wouldn’t do that. We know we fucked up last term, but you need to understand, Amelie, that once you’re in The Order there is only one way out and it’s in a pretty casket covered in your favourite flowers,” Kalen adds.
“We need you to trust us, but we also know that is a huge ask after everything,” I say, turning towards her.
“Okay,” she says. We all turn to her, shocked, not expecting her to be so easily persuaded. “I know there are things you can’t tell me, but just know that beyond all this Order crap, if you hurt me or lie to me again, there will be no second chances. Swear to me, because fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.”
“Cross our hearts and hope to die,” Kalen says, making a cross sign over his chest.
“All of you do it.”
Sawyer and I do it. Onyx is reluctant, but huffs and crosses his when we all stare at him.
“If we are all in, we are all in. The five of us. That means you’re ours, Amelie. Besides, my brothers and I don’t share well,” Onyx adds, which shocks us. He’s usually a man of limited words.
“I’m all in,” Amelie says, crawling towards Onyx, her big brown eyes taking him in like he’s her prey. Onyx gulps and she smiles.
“Good, now I can beat the stupid out of Jasper for giving our woman his clothes to wear.”
“I’m in!” Kalen announces and I laugh.
“No one is beating Jasper. He is a valuable part of the team and we need to remember that,” Sawyer, ever the voice of reason, adds.
Sawyer’s phone rings. Our father has ordered us back to the house. Onyx agrees to take Amelie back to the academy while we deal with our grandfather. We plan to keep her away from him as much as possible until the final trial. I’m hoping Kalen can spend some one-on-one time with the old man and get some clues on what he has planned, because the one thing we know is that it is going to be a lot harder than anything he has ever dished out before. He has a point to prove: that women don’t belong amongst men. The sooner he is exiled into retirement, the better.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Amelie
A knock at the door has me dragging my ass out of bed. I’d not long gotten into it because I had a hard workout with the guys. They all decided to show up and practice with me. I think now we have somewhat defined our relationship, they all want to find their place with me.
“What the hell, you creeper?!” I cry when I open the door and Baxter is an inch from my face. Normal people generally knock and take a step back. But not him. Oh, no, Mr right in your face and evil.
