Parchment & Pearls

25. Looks Like We're Going On An Adventure

Chapter 25

Looks Like We're Going On An Adventure

Paddon Manor's dining room looked like a dining hall of a prestigious school once everyone was seated around the table set for thirty. By time everyone had a seat, after pulling up a few more, all eyes went back and forth between John and Emmy at one end and Drake and Cruz at the other. Me, though...well, I was beside Emmy, though my eyes went to Drake more than once.

On one side of the table sat the Brotherhood founding families. Momma and Daddy were beside me. John's parents, Kate and Paul, and his stepmom, Rosaline, sat beside them with Elena and Nathan. Emmy's parents, Brian and Holly, were next with her brother, Jason, and his fiancée, Aubrey. Stella's parents, Warren and Maggie, sat at beside them, followed by Stella and Ren. My sister, Anna, was surprisingly there with her husband, Tate, too. Then there was the third family, Adil and Nima Misra, with their sons, Makram and Rashad.

On the other side sat the Knights, with Juliet seated right beside John with her husband Theo beside her. Down the table sat Ryan, Jamie, Tory, and Brennan. Then there was the Knight Council - Eden Tolbert, Farrah Saab, Garren Quinlan, Lorenzo De Fiore, and Yuriy Markovic.

The kids were upstairs in Aiden and Sterling's room watching a back-to-back movie feature...and would no doubt be out by the beginning of the second one.

Even though they weren't official or anything, Beau, Gage, Savannah, and Ash were seated behind me, not quite part of the group, but still right there in the thick of things. Apparently, while Drake and I were making our trek to the manor in the rain, they'd gotten the full scoop from everyone - more about the history of the Brotherhood and about the Knights. They even got more about the Order and Vince Peters himself.

It was almost humorous to see their reactions then, seeing us all together. Yuriy, who was the professional fighting trainer for the Knights, had the most looks. With this shaved head and thick muscles, he looked like he could snap Beau like a twig. What they didn't know was that his favorite part was training all the kids. Aiden and Sterling were his prodigies and he doted on them all the time.

One other thing everyone was looking at was the black case that sat on the table in front of Drake. Everyone knew what it could possibly contain, but they had no idea what it actually did.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," John started, looking around the table. "Something has made itself known in the past few weeks that another has been researching the past few years and has also brought something back into light that has been hidden. I'm just not sure how you're going to take the bit of information."

Ryan gave him a look. "That's a great way of starting the meeting, man," he snorted, to which Jamie elbowed him in the side.

"First," he continued, ignoring him. He looked at my friends behind me. "We've got a few guests who are joining us for the first time, though you've all gotten to know them - Beau, Gage, Ash, and Savannah."

Everyone gave them smiles and nods. Momma looked a little wary, though, as she reached over and grabbed my hand.

"And now...well...Emmy and I have been keeping something in the dark from you for quite some time now. We thought we could all use a break and didn't know exactly when it would come to light, though we knew it would be someday. And that someday is now." John nodded at Drake, looking down at the case. "Go on and show them what's inside."

Drake opened the case after pressing his thumb to the scanner, turning it around for the whole table to see. Inside, the book was nestled, just waiting to be read.