Damaged (Boys of Winter #2) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,16

things to you.”

My world crushes and dread settles heavily in my gut. I’m not going to get out of here.

“Let’s put it to a vote,” Mr. Danforth says, “Then we can move forward from there.”

“Wait.” My head snaps back to Carver to see a darkness in his eyes that I’ve never quite seen before, and my nerves instantly stand on edge. “I just have one question before we take our vote,” he says, his voice low and filled with regret as he meets my eyes, waiting a beat to make sure that every fucking ear in the room has his undivided attention.

I wait, my heart thundering in my chest, knowing that this is it. Whatever he’s about to say is going to destroy me.

“Answer me this,” Carver asks, his voice wavering. “Two nights ago, when you first learned the names of the seventeen families of Dynasty. Did you, or did you not suggest taking out the head of each of the eight families that sit to your left, to rid Dynasty of its corruption and replace them with their sons or daughters? The young members of our people who can be easily swayed to vote in your favor?”

Well, fuck.

What the hell is he doing? I know he hates me right now, but this? This is just condemning me to life behind bars. I’ll never be free after this. I’ll never have their trust.

Gasps sound all around the room, cries of outrage from the left and shocked murmurs from the right. If they didn’t think I was guilty before, they sure as hell do now.

I meet Carver’s heavy stare with one of my own before letting out a breath and nodding my head. There’s no point denying it. I’ve never been one to lie, and while the comment I made was taken far out of context, I can’t deny that I ever said it. “Yes,” I tell the room. “Two nights ago, after learning the probability that the men to my left were most likely responsible for the attack in the woods, I suggested taking them out and rebuilding Dynasty without corruption, and in the image my grandfather, Gerald Ravenwood, first dreamed of. It was a comment made in anger, never meant to be taken seriously.”

There’s silence throughout the room and then finally Earnest takes pity on me and addresses the room. “Let us vote. All in favor that Elodie Ravenwood is guilty of murder and should receive further punishment, raise your hand.”

My heart races as I slowly look around the table, one by one, hands begin rise.

One. Two.

Eyes meet mine across the table, narrowed stares, and guilty expressions.

Three. Four.

All hands to the right remain down and I focus on the other remaining four to my left—Scardoni, Beckett, Montgomery, and Carver, and sure enough, hands continue to rise.

Matthew Montgomery raises his hand. That’s five. Preston Scardoni joins the party, making it six. Then just when I think I can’t take it any longer, Grayson’s father, Harlen Beckett slowly draws his hand high above his head.

Seven.

I meet Carver’s stare. It’s all on him. The final vote to be cast.

Will he save me or condemn me to a lifetime behind bars?

Seven hands raised, nine hands down.

My heart thunders in my chest, the sound loud in my ears as my hands begin to sweat. I keep my gaze trained heavily on Carver as he does the same, and for just a brief moment, I can pretend that it’s just the two of us in the room.

He sees the desperation in my eyes just as I see his need to get me the fuck out of here, but it doesn’t make sense. Why put me here if he never wanted this for me? He was always supposed to protect me. He told me that I could trust him.

Then ever so slowly, Carver raises his hand and crushes me, his heart on his sleeve as devastation washes through me.

“We have an even vote,” Earnest says before looking back at me. “I’m sorry, Elodie, but you must remain down in the cells until we can reach a verdict.”

And just like that, two men come storming into the council chamber and curl their hands around my arms, just as they’d done last night, before dragging me away and taking me straight back to hell.

CHAPTER 5

The soft tap, tap, tap of my bare feet pacing back and forth in my tiny, dark cell is the only noise I hear for hours. My hands ball into fists, only to be