Oberon Reformatory Book Three: Final Offense Read online

  Oberon Reformatory Book Three

  Final Offense

  Wendi L Wilson

  For all the dreamers and the schemers out there…may you be successful in all your endeavors.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  20. December

  21. Easton

  22. Robbie

  23. Asher

  24. Lark

  25. Epilogue

  Afterword

  The Orphan

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Wendi L Wilson

  Chapter One

  “Robbie?”

  Confusion wars with joy inside me, neither emotion able to outweigh the other. She moves around the couch, pushing Asher out of the way as her every step brings her closer to me. I reach out a hand, intent on touching her. I need to know if this is real, or some cruel joke created by Glamour or my desperate, delusional mind.

  “Give us some.”

  A snarling face topped by a blonde head fills my range of vision, blocking my view of my sister. I try to move to the side, but the insistent faery moves with me until I focus and meet her eyes.

  “What do you want, Angelina?” I ask, my tone reeking of impatience.

  “Those truffles,” she replies, her eyes dipping to the basket in my hands.

  I look down with wide eyes. I’d forgotten all about my mission after seeing Robbie in this place. The chocolates and other treats are Glamoured to make the inmates of Oberon Reformatory trust me implicitly.

  Echo ordered me to become a leader among these Fae, so a leader I would become. By any means necessary.

  “You don’t want one of these,” I say, pulling the basket into my chest slyly.

  “Yes, we do,” Angelina barks, glancing at her cohorts who’ve flanked her on either side. “And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll hand them over. Now.”

  I grit my teeth against her imperious attitude. As if I’d be afraid of her and her little minions. But I have a part to play, and I need this plan to come off without a hitch.

  “Fine,” I concede, holding out the basket. “Go ahead.”

  Angelina smirks with satisfaction as she plucks a chocolate truffle from the basket. Maisy reaches for one, too, while Brooke opts for a cookie. They twirl away, nibbling on the treats as they cross the room. I watch them go with a pleased grin.

  “What do those do, anyway?” Lark whispers, leaning in close.

  “Whoever eats them will trust me completely,” I reply, my words and my smile fading as I catch sight of Robbie again.

  She marches up to me, and before I can say a word, sticks out a hand.

  “Hi, I’m April Goode. It’s nice to finally meet you, Rory.”

  April Goode? What is she talking about?

  I take her hand in mine, and a dam breaks inside me. Robbie’s grip tightens, and her face screws up into an expression of urgency. I need to keep it together.

  I bottle up the emotions, knowing Echo’s cameras are recording this whole encounter. This is my reentry into the general population after being sequestered in his wing of the building. Of course, he’s watching. He’ll want to make sure I’m following orders.

  I hold my palm over the basket, covertly conjuring another Glamour-free truffle. Holding the treat out to her, I finally speak.

  “Nice to meet you, April. Would you like a chocolate?”

  She takes it with a smile and pops it into her mouth with a groan of pleasure. I can’t contain my grin, but it drops as quickly as it formed as movement draws my eyes to her left shoulder, where Asher has moved to stand just behind her.

  “Hey.”

  His deep voice melts my insides as my knees threaten to buckle. I nod in response, not trusting my voice. After missing him so terribly while thinking he hated me and had moved on with someone else, I’m not sure what words might pop out of my mouth.

  I refocus on Robbie, who’s smiling at me with an arched brow. Of course, she knows the turmoil brewing inside me. My sister can read me like a book.

  “I need to go hand out the rest of these treats,” I say, giving her a meaningful look. “Let’s get together when I’m done. I can’t wait to find out everything about you, April.”

  She smirks at the emphasis I put on her fake name, and I shake my head. Of course, she picked a month as her alias. Our mother’s name is December, after all. Robbie probably thought herself clever when she came up with that. And Goode? A nod to our great-grandfather, Robin Goodman?

  Just as I thought I was crafty, using the name Rory Finley as my own fake identity. It’s much too close to my real name—Aurora Finley Oberon—to feel comfortable with in this place, where keeping my identity a secret is necessary to my survival.

  With one last glance at Asher, I spin around to leave. Lark mutters something about meeting up in my room, and I nod before walking away, offering my sweet snacks to the other inmates crowded in the common room.

  The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can find out what is going on.

  By the time I get back to my room, there’s a crowd of people inside. Acadia hops to her feet and rushes me as soon as I walk through the door. Her arms circle my waist as she plasters herself against me.

  “We missed you,” she mumbles against my chest.

  I push her back and frantically scan the room for any hidden cameras.

  “It’s clear,” Cedric says, pulling Acadia away from me and taking her place before giving me a quick hug. “April already checked.”

  Jolene moves in to embrace me as well, followed by Lark. My best friend grips me tight, her body shaking with emotion before pulling back to stare at me with those expressive black eyes.

  “Don’t ever leave me again,” she orders.

  “I won’t. I promise,” I say before my eyes scan the room.

  Robbie waggles her fingers at me from her seat in the middle of my bed. I glance at Asher, who’s standing near the foot of the mattress with an unreadable expression. I nod in his direction as I swallow thickly.

  “When we’re done here, I need to talk to you,” he says, his voice as bland as his expression.

  “Okay,” I mouth, but no sound actually comes out.

  I clear my throat and look back at my sister.

  “Start talking,” I demand. “What are you doing here, Robbie? How did this happen?”

  I rush forward and plop down beside her, pulling her into my arms and hugging her tightly. My fingers delve into her hair and run through the soft strands as I hold her close, afraid if I let go, she’ll vanish into thin air.

  “Jeez, Finley. I’ll explain if you’ll give me some air. I do need to breathe, you know.”

  I release her and scoot back a couple of inches, crossing my arms over my chest so I won’t give into the urge to crush her to me again. I need to know what’s going on, and the only way to find out is to let her explain.

  Afterwards, I’ll decide if I’m going to kill her or not for putting herself in this danger.

  “So, Great-grandpa Robin is terrible at keeping secrets from me,” she began. “I knew something was off when you didn’t call me. Mom and Dad, I could understand. You were angry with t
hem and trying to prove a point. But me? I knew you’d never ignore me like that.”

  “Of course, I wouldn’t,” I interjected.

  “Exactly,” she said. “I brought it up to Puck, and he started acting kind of dodgy, like he knew more than he was letting on. So, I pretended to need a shoulder to cry on. As soon as he touched me, my Glamour pulled every detail from his tricky old lips.”

  “So, he told you everything, then sent you here to what? Check on me? I’m going to murder him,” I say, fire lacing the words.

  “Ha,” Robbie chirps. “You know me better than that, Fin. I came up with this plan all on my own and forced him to help me. I threatened to tell Mom, Dad, and Grandma Ellie everything if he didn’t.”

  I can’t stop the smile from forming on my lips at the image of Grandma Ellie laying into her dad. Puck would do anything to prevent his daughter from being upset with him. He’d hurt her too much when she was younger, and strove to constantly make amends for his mistakes.

  “What did you do, April?” I ask, my smile dropping.

  “It’s good right?” she asks, grinning. “A nice nod to Mom while keeping my identity a secret.”

  “Robbie,” I say, my tone threatening.

  “Fine,” she replies, throwing her hands into the air. “I went into a store and used magic to steal a few things. Making sure I was in front of the security cameras, of course. I knew if Great-grandpa was right, and the headmaster is collecting powerful Fae, all it would take would be a grand show of magic, and I’d be sent here in a hot minute.”

  She snaps her fingers for emphasis, and I shake my head.

  “I told the cashier he was in love with me and wanted to give me all the items I took, plus any cash in the register. He, of course, complied,” she crooned, batting her eyelashes, “then I Glamoured him to forget me. He went on about his business and never even reported me. One anonymous phone call later, and the human police are busting into the coffee shop where I was waiting, arresting me for theft and illegally using magic against a human. The rest is history.”

  “So you were sent here. Then what happened?”

  “Echo Oberon gave me a tour. I could feel his Glamour as he asked me questions about my past—who I am, where I come from, if I have a family. I got the distinct feeling he was trying to figure out if anyone would be checking up on me while I’m locked away here.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “I told him my parents were killed in a skirmish with the Zephyrs after that horrible Queen December Thorne forced us to integrate with them,” she says, smiling.

  My eyes widen for a moment, then I nod.

  “Smart,” I say.

  “Of course,” she purrs. “This is me we’re talking about.”

  I laugh and pull her into a hug, saying, “God, I’ve missed you. But I’m still pissed you put yourself in here.”

  “Excuse me,” she says, pulling from my embrace, “but you’ve been in here for weeks, Finley. You obviously need help. And what’s better than one powerful hybrid princess?”

  “Two powerful hybrid princesses,” I deadpan.

  “Exactly. Anyway, I got here and you were nowhere to be found. I was freaking out when this one,” she says, jerking a thumb toward Lark, “introduced herself to me. Puck told me you had made friends, so I asked a few discreet questions to figure out what she knew.”

  “Ha,” Lark cuts in. “Not so discreet, Princess.” She looked at me, adding “It was obvious she was digging for information about you. It was equally obvious she was using Glamour, despite that bracelet firmly attached to her wrist. I put two and two together, and called her Robbie. You should’ve seen her face, Rory. White as a ghost.”

  “So, when I saw you all in the mess hall, and it was obvious you were trying to hide her from me?” I throw out to the room at large.

  “She wanted to rush over and reveal herself to you,” Asher says, his bright blue gaze locking with mine. “We all knew you were working some angle with Echo, and your sudden familiarity with the new inmate would be suspicious. So I blocked her from your view, keeping her presence from you so you could finish what you started that day you cut ties with us all.”

  “I’m sorry,” I mumble, tears stinging my eyes as I looked at each one of them. “I didn’t mean any of it. I just…got scared after Echo hurt Lark to incite my power. I couldn’t let him hurt anyone I cared about again, and I thought pushing you away was the best way to protect you all.”

  “We know that, Rory,” Jolene says in a soothing tone.

  “We were all upset at first,” Acadia adds, “but it only took us about two minutes to figure out what was going on.”

  “We know you, Rory,” Lark says.

  “I regretted it instantly,” I offer, swallowing hard against the lump in my throat. “That day, in the mess, I was going to come clean to you all. But then…I saw Asher with someone new, and I lost it.”

  Our gazes collide, his burning with blue fire that scorches me to the bone. Everyone else fades away, even my sister. Nothing exists but Asher York.

  “I think we should go,” Lark says, breaking the spell.

  “What? Why? Where are you going?”

  The questions fly from my mouth in a rush. Because while I know she’s trying to give me and Asher some alone time to talk things through, I’m scared to death. Despite them knowing I was faking my disdain toward them, I said some really hurtful things to Asher. Things I knew would strike a blade right through his already-wounded heart.

  “We’ll wait for you in Lark’s room,” Robbie says, wrapping her arms around my neck.

  In a blink, they’re all gone, and I’m alone with Asher York.

  Chapter Two

  The silence threatens to smother me as I wait for Asher to say something. Anything. But no, he just watches me as if he’s waiting for me to speak first. When I can’t take it anymore, I blurt out another apology.

  “I’m so sorry, Asher. I didn’t mean it. I swear. I just…panicked and said the most hurtful thing I could think of.”

  “It did hurt. A lot,” he says. “But it wasn’t your false words that hurt me. It was the fact that you didn’t trust me enough to tell me the truth and let me help you.”

  “I know,” I reply, my gaze dropping to my feet. “I realized I’d made the wrong decision almost immediately. But when I decided to tell you the truth, I saw you with her. You were so…affectionate. Whispering in her ear, hugging her. The thought that you’d moved on so quickly—with a Sylph, no less— devastated me.”

  “I didn’t mean for that to happen,” he says, and my eyes travel up his body as he takes a few steps closer. “It certainly wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “I know that now,” I say. “My sister would never…”

  “Neither would I, Rory,” he says when my words trail off. “Never.”

  The tears I’ve been holding back slip out and trickle down my face. Asher’s fingers brush them away, the feel of his skin against mine sending shivers down my spine.

  “I have to tell you something,” I say, sniffing. “I was too scared to say it before, but I’ve realized we always need to be open and honest with each other because we never know if we’ll get another chance.”

  His lips press against mine, and everything I wanted to say flies right out of my head. His arms curl around my waist, jerking my body against his as my fingers take on a will of their own and delve into his soft black hair.

  Far too soon, he pulls back just far enough to look into my eyes.

  “I love you, too.”

  My heart flies up into my throat, and I swallow hard to force it back down into my chest. I mumble out a few incoherent syllables, and Asher laughs. The room spins around me as he twirls me around, then tumbles me onto the bed. He gently pins me down with his weight, stroking a finger along my cheek.

  “I’ve loved you forever, Aurora Finley Oberon,” he whispers, “but I could tell you were struggling with figuring out your own feelings, so I kept i
t to myself. I knew you’d get there, eventually. At least, I hoped you would. And if you didn’t, well, I’d come clean and hope for the best. That day, in the mess with your sister, she accused me of trying to control you both by keeping her from you. I told her the truth—that I loved you too much to interfere with your plans. That I loved you enough to wait until you were ready to come back to me, and that she needed to wait, too, or she’d ruin everything you’d been working so hard for. That’s why she hugged me, Rory. She was happy for you. For both of us.”

  Tears stream down my face, but I ignore them as I fist my hands in Asher’s hair and bring his mouth back to mine. His tongue brushes against my lips, and I open them without pause, reveling in the feel of its silkiness against mine.

  Before things get too heated—or a lustnado forms without our consent—Asher breaks off our kiss and rolls off of me, panting for breath as I turn onto my side to face him.

  “When we get out of here, and when you’re ready, we’re going to do this right,” he whispers, a soft smile tugging up his lips. “I’m going to take you out on real dates, shower you with romance, and prove to you how much I need you.”

  “I don’t need any of that stuff,” I whisper back. “All I need is you. I love you, Asher York.”

  His smile blinds me just before he presses his lips to mine in a soft, chaste kiss. It feels like a promise. Like some kind of solemn vow.

  It feels like forever.

  “Hey, did you guys work everything out?” Robbie asks with a twinkle in her eye as soon as I step through Lark’s door, hand-in-hand with Asher.