Kilian: I have to tell you all something.
None of them replied, and he gnawed on his lip as he tried to find the right words.
Kilian: They didn’t really put me up in the official’s building while they questioned Aron.
Still, they didn’t reply, and an awful, sinking sensation shot through Kilian.
They knew.
As soon as he was called to the front of the academy and ushered into a car with two silent, suited officials, he knew he was in for a rough interrogation. They had blindfolded him before the car even left the curb, driving around for the better part of the night. It was all for the sake of intimidation because as soon as they pulled him from the car, he knew he was beneath the academy. His footsteps echoed, the air temperature had dropped, and they pulled off his blindfold in the hallway outside his interrogation chamber, showcasing a brief flash of the opulence that he knew rested inside the Stone Dahlia, even though he had never stepped foot inside it before.
The floor was a shining mosaic of rare, polished stones with glittering pearl and gold accents twisted from wall to wall like luminescent veins. There wasn’t a single scuff mark or footprint in the highly reflective surface, only a glittering spatter of soft, warm light from the tiered chandeliers above. The air was lightly perfumed with the faintest hint of an exotic scent that probably intrinsically made people want to spend money, and there was soft music spilling from hidden speakers, crooning at him to relax, even as the officials pushed him into the room and locked the door with stern, unflinching faces.
He wasn’t sure how long he was kept there, but their process had been … intense.
At first, they simply questioned him.
It was clear they didn’t think he was Isobel’s mate, and he supposed it made sense, since Theodore had spent almost a week refusing to leave Isobel’s hospital bed, clutching her lifeless body against his as though he could somehow assimilate her into his skin … and Kilian hadn’t torn his best friend apart.
But the officials questioned him all the same, and they acted like they were unhappy with the answers they were getting out of him. That was when they brought the shock device in. They slapped electrodes to his skin and tapped a button whenever they decided he was being less than forthcoming.
Just a little jolt, they assured him, while he ground his teeth against the pain. Research shows it helps to prompt the memory centre of your brain. You’re an Alpha, so you’ll recover in no time.
They asked him if he had organised the attack. They asked if he was in love with Theodore and wanted Isobel dead.
They asked how long he had been stringing along Eve and Aron and Isobel, and if he had gotten what he wanted.
They asked how he had formulated the plan, and how he had communicated it to Aron.
And then, suddenly, they changed tack again, asking if he knew who Isobel’s mate was.
They swapped out their interrogators and continued until he was blacking out between electrocutions, and then it just … stopped. They transferred him to the hospital for a “wellness check,” and he didn’t see any of them again.
He stared at his phone screen as it went black due to inactivity, realisation settling into his gut with a sickening lurch. He tapped on his screen to bring it back to life.
Kilian: I thought it was the Track Team.
Kilian: I thought it was them interfering in the interrogation to recruit me.
Kilian: I thought that’s why it stopped.
Finally, one of them responded.
Elijah: No. It was Kalen.
Kilian: What the fuck, Kalen?
Kalen （admin）： Don’t start with me. You shouldn’t have kept quiet about this for so long.
Kilian: I thought we had enough to deal with. I just wanted to wait a little bit.
Kilian: What did you give them in exchange?
Kalen （admin）： I agreed to one private session.
Kilian swore roughly, before hiding his phone screen and darting a look to the bed to make sure he hadn’t woken up Isobel. The Track Team had been trying to convince Kalen to take on private clients since he started at the Stone Dahlia, even going as far as to offer him a larger cut of his room fee. It was the difference between one thousand dollars and ten thousand dollars, but Kalen continued to refuse.
It was somewhat of an unspoken expectation that he would have to do whatever the client wanted if he allowed private sessions.
Kilian: Did everyone else agree to this?
The responses came immediately.
Mikel （admin）： No.
Oscar: Fuck no.
Gabriel: None of us agreed.
Elijah: Kalen didn’t call for a group vote. He told us what he had done after he did it.
Kilian: You should have fucking left me there.
Kalen （admin）： This was my decision, and it’s final. I can handle one private session.
Kilian: How do you plan on doing that?
Kalen （admin）： I’ll figure something out. Stop worrying about me, Kilian. You’ve got enough on your plate, and it’s my job to worry about you, not the other way around.
Elijah: I’ve already figured it out.
Kalen （admin）： Do not bring that up again.
Elijah: It’s a perfect solution.
Cian: First I’m hearing of a perfect solution?
Niko: Elijah’s plans always work. What’s the problem?
Elijah: There’s no problem. Kalen just thinks he can refuse until I come up with a different plan that doesn’t threaten his delicate sensibilities.
Kalen （admin）： Watch your mouth.
Elijah: Save your bossy voice for Isobel. You’re going to need it.
Theodore: What? What does this have to do with Isobel?
Gabriel: Ah. Yes, that makes sense.
Moses: We’ll be the judges of what makes sense.
Moses: After you explain everything to us.
Gabriel: The club is trying to recruit Isobel. If she asks Kalen to be her sponsor, she can shadow him to all his engagements, even the private ones. If some rich cougar was hoping to get her claws into Kalen by spending a small fortune on a few hours in a private room with him, Isobel’s presence will prove disruptive.
Cian: So? What’s so bad about that plan?
Kalen （admin）： That wasn’t the plan.
Elijah: The plan was a little more comprehensive.
Gabriel: Okay, never mind. I’m with Kalen on this one.
Theodore: No need to get comprehensive.
Moses: Can we go back to a few minutes ago when Gabriel was actually wrong about something?
Gabriel: No.
Elijah: If Kalen changed his act, we could mitigate all risk. I think the comprehensive plan is better.
Oscar: Isobel Fucking Carter is a virgin Sigma who still can’t meet our eyes while she’s talking to us half the time. She isn’t in the same league as a Shibari bunny.
Moses: Bunny, huh?
Gabriel: Awkward.
Elijah: Freudian slip, Oscar?
Oscar: I’ll Freudian slip my fist through your teeth.
Oscar: As soon as I’m done with Gabriel.
Kilian: Where are you right now?
Oscar: In Gabriel’s room.
Niko: What the fuck, Gabe. You let him in?
Gabriel: He was being loud. And I never touched Isobel. He has nothing to break.
Kilian: Then what is he doing?
Gabriel: He’s currently standing in the corner, glaring at me, and trying to figure out how I could possibly have anything to do with Isobel touching herself in the shower when I wasn’t even there.
Mikel （admin）： For crying out loud, Oscar. Don’t make me come down there again.