A Crown Of Shadows And Secrets - Sloane Murphy Page 0,29

a few cars in the drive. I guess Nate and some of the others are already here. Good. Means I don't have to deal with my dad’s bitching on my own. I love the man, but fuck me, I can't deal with his bitch ass moods for much longer. He either needs to get on board, or just shut the fuck up. He has to see just how twisted everything was, the fact that he allowed what happened to Remy without fighting back... I clench my jaw as I try to swallow the rage that still burns about it. What kind of father does that? I've never done the kid thing, but you bet your ass if I did. I'd never let someone else dictate the life of my kid.

Fuck.

I punch the steering wheel and take a deep breath to calm myself back down. I'm meant to be an Elder now, stupidest fucking decision I ever made accepting that title. There are so many other things I want to be focusing on right now, instead I'm attending Elder meetings and dealing with people’s petty little problems.

I decide right then, I'm naming Nate my right hand, he can deal with the petty squabbles while I focus on the bigger stuff.

Like Bauer.

Like Fallon.

Like Archer.

Fuck.

Nothing quite like a divided focus. I climb out of the truck and head inside, the laughter reaches me as I put my hand on the door handle. Good, laughter means there's no whining going on. I follow the sounds and find everyone in the kitchen.

“Colt!” Maddie calls out as I enter the room and she rushes to give me a hug. I've not seen her since accepting the Elder position, so I wait and let her fuss. God knows since Mom passed, it’s been nice having her around. No-one could ever replace Mom, but it’s nice to feel that kind of love sometimes.

“Hey Mads.” I hug her back, and wave to the guys in the room. Dad and Nate are sipping on whiskey, no real shock there, and a few of their other Hunter buddies are drinking a beer.

“What did I miss?” I ask, and grab a bottle for myself from the fridge, sitting at the bottom of the table, opposite my Dad. He's still smarting that he didn't get the Elder seat, I'm not stupid, I know Remy was offered it first. Clever bitch turned it down, though I'm almost positive my dad would've revolted if she'd taken it.

Just not something we need right now.

“Not much here,” Nate says. “How was everything on your end?”

I fill them in on everything that's happened the last few days, but I don't mention about going to get Bauer. These guys are skilled Hunters, but there's just a little too much politics with everything. My dad would probably have Bauer killed for his betrayal, but I'm not that guy. Bauer tried to redeem himself, and if we get to him and he helps us, I don't see why the punishment can't be minimal. I'm not naive enough to assume he'd get off Scott free—he has the whole council to answer to—and while I'm sure between Rem and I, we could swing it, I'm not sure what's going on with her right now, so god knows what she'll be like when she comes back from that hellish place.

I suppress my shudder and take another drink after I finish filling them all in on everything. “I'm going to go crash, it’s been a long day.”

I stand and drop my bottle in the trash, giving Mads a goodnight hug and head upstairs.

I crash onto my bed fully dressed and kick off my shoes, and end up staring at the ceiling as the moonlight filters in through the window, wondering how the fuck we're going to get through all of this.

I've spent the entire fucking day tracking down that twat bag Archer, but with the help of a trusted friend who has some mad genius hacking skills, we finally managed to find him and my brother. Thank god for the big-brother way and having cameras every fucking where these days.

I scrub my hand down my face, trying to wipe away the exhaustion that's starting to settle in, and make another pot of coffee. Fuck knows I'm going to need it to get through tonight. I gulp down a shot of espresso while I wait for the coffee pot and drop a message to Elijah, letting the boys know we're on for tonight. Could I wait