Look out for the <>!

Grayson POV

I crumpled the note in my hand as I walked down the stairs from my dorm room to the ground floor of the school. With my hand in my pocket, I walked through the halls trying to look as casual as possible as I rehearsed how I was going to get to the basement.

I watched the people coming in and out of the basement all day long. Officials that I had seen before and people that I didn't know all came down to question my father only to come back up looking more frustrated than when they came done hinting they didn't get any answers they wanted. But I would be different; I would get the answers they couldn't get because he was here for me. He only wanted to talk to me and I would let him.

I walked up to the basement door and smiled at the guard who stood in front of the door. "Nice evening isn't it?" I asked casually. I still had no idea who I would make it downstairs. All I knew was that it was almost nine and if I didn't think quick, I might just miss my chance.

He nodded as he looked at the time on his watch. "It will be better after my shift ends at 9."

Now it made sense why my father wanted to meet at 9. Everything about this was planned. Churchwell and the royals may have thought they had the upper hand, but they never did. My father was controlling all the shots, and they didn't even know it.

I nodded at the guard as I looked at the clock on the wall. It was five minutes to nine. With the shift change, I could get in to the basement. "Well, you're almost there." With that, I walked out of the hall and waited in an empty study room.

Minutes ticked in slow motion until the clock in the room's corner stuck nine at night. Excitement built me up as I stood up from my seat and walked into the hall to see the door unguarded, just waiting for me to go in. Without wasting time, I ran to the unprotected door and opened it.

There was a light glitter on the door frame showing Starrings and proof of a protection spell guarding what was in the basement from coming out. I frowned, knowing that I couldn't turn off the spell. With the book I held in my hand, I threw into the basement and instantly the book caught fire, falling to the ground with a heavy thump.

Footsteps grew closer, and my heart started to race, knowing I was running out of time. Quickly, I noticed the glitter around the door was not visible anymore, and I hoped the protection spell was gone, but without being sure, I stepped through the door and closed the basement door behind me.

To my relief, I did not catch on fire; I did not melt into goo, which told me that the book set the spell off and it would take another magical spell to put it back into place.

<>

With a slight smile that I survived at least that trap. With confidence, I walked down the stone damp stairs to the bottom of the basement. In the darkness of the large hall, I took a right and took the first door I saw, hoping that he was within it. There, in the middle of the room, was a cage that glittered lightly, showing that there was some magic force field holding the prisoner back.

My father looked like he was sleeping peacefully in a chair in the cage. But deep down, I knew he wasn't. I looked at his bruised body, knowing that the people that came down here over the last 24 hours did more than just questioning. The sight caused me to frown as memories of those boys beating me up popped into my mind once again. If he knew they would beat him like this, why did he come? What did he have to prove?

I looked around the basement, making sure no one was here to disturb us before I moved closer to him. Seeing him in front of me, I felt nothing but resentment, but at the same time, I wanted to know everything about him. He was my father, he turned his back on what he was trained to do and I wanted to know why, most importantly, I wanted to know why he came back.

Breaking me from my thoughts was when my father opened his eyes to look at me. He smiled lightly, then stretched. "So you came," my father said as he stood up from his seat with a grunt, as if he had little energy to move.

There was nothing logical about coming here. I was breaking almost every single rule just by standing here, but yet I was here, looking at him, unsure of the reason for being here was. I stared at that note for hours before coming down. A part of me never thought I would be here, but just like how Stella invited me to her house, I couldn't say no to this.

He had been gone for years; I wanted to know why he came back and why he wanted me. I needed answers and he would give them to me. Maybe with those answers, I could redeem myself in the eyes of Churchwell.

"I didn't think I would."

He walked to the edge of the large cage and smiled at me. "But you are here."

I nodded as I moved closer to the cage. My eyes fell on the cuffs around his wrists. Spikes lined the inside of the cuffs, causing wounds to his wrists. I had never seen such a contraption before, but as I stared at them, I realized they were terrified of him. They put every spell possible to keep him in this cage for a reason.

"Like what you see?"

I frowned at him in silence. Of course I didn't like it, but he was a criminal.

"These cuffs are from the warring nations' time. They are old but the most useful to stop any magic from happening to the wearer."

"Do they hurt?" I asked, unable to stop myself from asking such a simple question.

He chuckled. "Just a little."

I nodded, knowing that he was lying; they looked excruciating. "What happened in the warring nations' time?"

"You think Churchwell was peaceful all its life?" he shook his head in disappointment. "It was 200 years of war. I am surprised that not even Else told you about it."

"When did it stop?" I asked, thinking this was old news, so it wouldn't be important to teach.

"Only about 150 years ago. But we aren't here to talk about history. No, I am here to talk to you, my son."

But I still didn't understand why he was here, in this basement. He didn't need to show up and get caught, but this was part of his plan, and I wanted to know why. "Why are you here?"

"Because of the war. I am leading an army against the Royal Family and I want you to join me."

"As a spy." That was the only logical thing I could think of.

He smiled as if I got it right. "You know me so well."

I should have shot down the idea right away, but after meeting with the Royal Family for weeks, I realized they were not fit to lead Churchwell. For a second, I entertained his proposal because maybe he did have some reason to his statement. "Why a war? Why now?"

He smiled again. "Anyone that isn't like them is cast away. Anyone that is from a mixed bloodline gets banished. Anyone that speaks up gets murdered. Their rules are dated and restrictive. I am here to change it for everyone to be free. Think about it Gray, you will finally belong here without them hanging over you."

I did not know all the Churchwell rules that the Royal Family made, but the rules I was aware of were terrible. My father's statement had truth, but if he was so good, then why was he locked away? Why was everyone scared of him? I remembered the crimes he did when I was young and realized that to get to his goals, he would kill anyone that stopped in his way. I didn't agree with the Royal family, but a war was not what was needed.

"Grayson, make this known, there are no good guys in the story."

I nodded because I knew everyone had a story to tell, and this was his. "Else told me that there are only great people, not good guys."

He sighed as he sat in his chair again. "I see Else is doing such a good job raising you," he said with sarcasm.

"At least she didn't fake her own death and leave me alone," I retorted in anger.

"That was a low blow now, wasn't it? I did what I needed to survive. I didn't accomplish what I wanted, so I needed to go into hiding. I always knew I would come back to get you when the time was right."

"Didn't do what you wanted? You killed thousands."

"And you want to know how many people the royals killed and exiled over the years? This was only fair," he asked, raising his voice at me. "They aren't saints, Grayson. You know this."

"How come I didn't learn about this?"

He threw a pointed look my way. "Why do you think?"

I frowned, knowing that Churchwell was keeping more than just a few lies from its people. However, his information seemed a bit faulty. As much as I wanted to not trust him, he had some believable points. Before I made a choice in my next step, I needed more information.

There was silence until my father spoke up again. "So tell me about...Stella, the human girl."

My eyes met his, feeling instantly defensive about her. She was in Jackson away from all of this for a reason, so she was safe, but his face made me think otherwise. How did he even know about her anyway? "What about her?"

He smiled at me, then shrugged. "She's beautiful. I can understand why you like her. You know, I loved a human once. But that is a story for another time. But Stella, she's something special."

"Leave her out of this," I said, raising my voice at him. I did everything to keep her safe and I would do anything to keep her safe.

"Oh son, she's already in the thick of it. I would recommend you look for her before she gets into trouble. Churchwell can be a dangerous place for humans."

My blood ran cold as my heart raced, not knowing how he knew this information, but I knew he wasn't lying; I could see the truth in his eyes. I didn't understand what game he was playing at because he should know that if she got hurt in any way, I would never join him. "What did you do?"

He looked at his handcuffs casually, then smiled. "My hands are tied and I did nothing. But let me tell you, she is more nosy than any other person I have seen before. She really thinks she is going to save you.. from what? I haven't put that together yet," he chuckled.

And just like that, I knew I had to go find her. She couldn't be out there any longer. She was in danger of everything out there in the woods especially when the sun went down. Without wasting another moment, I turned on my heals ready to leave.

"Don't go out the front basement door. There is a passage at the end of the hall. You can only use it to leave but it's quick and silent."

I nodded and left him without another word. I followed his advice, not questioning how he knew about this little fact. He went to school here when he was a kid, so it only made sense that he knew all the ins and outs of the school.

In a matter of a minute, I was outside the school, staring at the woods in front of me. Beyond the protection barrier of the school, Stella was there walking, no doubt looking for me. I swore, mentally wishing that she would have just stayed in Jackson, leaving me here, forgetting about me.