The Legend of the Eight: The Wicked (Book 2)

15: In the Madness

FIFTEEN: IN THE MADNESS
MARCH 24
KATE DIAMOND

"HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN since you spoke to him?" Kate asked Liam as they rounded the street corner. They left the Armory in a hurry after finding the box of Luke Heart's things and Liam hadn't said much since. Only that they needed to talk to Luke and he knew exactly where to find him.

"A couple of years," Liam answered, hands stuffed in his pockets and a harsh stare at the ground. "Not since our parents died."

Kate knew it was a sore spot for Liam—talking about his dead parents and his estranged brother. Liam was only fifteen when he became an orphan and Luke took off. He and Levi had to care for themselves. They were too young. No one should go through the things that they did.

"What are you going to say to him?" asked Chloe, who was eager to tag along despite having no real reason to follow them there.

"I don't know," Liam said stiffly. "Probably ask him why he spelled a bunch of junk for the Armory."

"That's it?" Chloe sounded disappointed. "When my brother showed up on my doorstep, I had so many things I wanted to ask him. I still do."

"Yeah, well, I think our estranged brother relationships are a little different. For starters, your brother is Dark."

"Half-Dark," Chloe clarified stubbornly. "Which, if I remember correctly, your friend was too."

"Don't talk about him," Kate was quick to say, her tone shifting cold. "You didn't know him. You didn't watch him give up everything. You don't get to talk about Cam."

"Sorry," Chloe apologized and then Liam led them down another street—Market St. It wouldn't be much longer now.

They walked until they were standing outside a large apartment building with silver numbers above the revolving door. Five-fifty. This was the place.

"Come on," Liam urged, pushing his way through the door and Kate followed with the others. She'd never seen him like that before. So tense. So not Liam. But she didn't blame him. He had every reason to be angry.

Carefully, the group snuck past the front desk to an elevator which Liam was able to spell to reach the penthouse. The elevator chimed on its way up and with every floor it climbed, Kate felt her heart beat a little faster.

"We can stay here," Drew offered around floor twenty-seven. "If you want to talk to him alone, that is."

"I don't," Liam replied and his jaw tensed. "I just want answers about the Eight and then we leave. This isn't a social visit."

"Clearly," Chloe said only to find herself on the receiving end of Kate's glare. She shrunk against the back wall. The elevator ran out one last time and a letter P blinked on the floor monitor. The doors parted, opening to a foyer suitable for a five-star suite. Liam walked out.

"Luke?" he yelled down a long hall, not wasting any time. "Luke, where are you?"

At the end of the hall, Kate heard noises like someone had dropped something and then a man stepped into the hall. His blue eyes narrowed when he saw the group of teens there and she could've sworn he let out a grunt.

"You've gotta be kidding me. I'm gonna kill that girl."

"SO WIL HAS BEEN HERE this whole time?" Kate asked Luke as they sat in his study, recounting the events of the last few days.