Some of Tate’s alarm was probably a byproduct of the way Langston had repeatedly warned everyone that this was a bad plan. But the Grand Master had been adamant. During post-meeting chitchat, Langston had mentioned that Oscar hadn’t exactly endeared himself to the Grand Master. Several weeks earlier, when the Trinity Masters had been trying to hunt down Luca, Oscar hadn’t played nice. Along the way, they’d also uncovered a crazy religious cult training future bombers, and apparently that was when Oscar had shown his ass.
Langston’s information made this plan—deliver two letters and make sure Oscar knew he wasn’t getting one—make a hell of a lot more sense. The Grand Master was punishing Oscar Hayden. It was a temporary, emotional torture sort of punishment. Maybe the Trinity Masters should implement some sort of court martial system. That would be more straightforward. Kant, Fichte, and maybe Hegel would argue that it’s a sign of respect for the humanity of the wrongdoer to give them just punishment.
Maybe, had he tried to use the argument of dead Germans to suggest the Grand Master change the plan, she would say that this was a “just,” and temporary, punishment for Oscar.
Roman was now deep in the house, which meant Tate had no choice but to step over the threshold. In a dangerous situation, the unit had to stay together.
Luca Campisi emerged from the bedroom. Tate had “met” the man twice, under two very different situations. The first time, Tate had been attempting to rescue Mina Edwards, to whom Luca had strapped a bomb. Believing the bomb was about to detonate, Mina had jumped into Boston Harbor, and Tate had followed her into the frigid water to save her. Mercifully, the bomb had not exploded.
Needless to say, Tate had been shocked when he’d been assigned to protect Luca, as well as Selene and Oscar, in Boston a few weeks ago. A man who’d been a known enemy was now a high value target to be protected.
He and his roommate had extensively questioned Harrison Adams about how the hell Luca was now someone they would protect. Harrison served as his, and the other Warrior Scholars’ handler. Tate liked to refer to him as Bosley, or lead henchman, depending on the mood.
The Warrior Scholars were an elite group of former military men turned academics. They served the Grand Master’s Boston-based bodyguards and security team. All eight men lived together in a big house turned grad-student housing, and they were all currently enrolled in graduate programs at one of Boston’s many Ivy League schools.
Harrison had filled Tate and Andre in on Luca’s background, explaining that the guy had been recruited as a kid by a religious cult in Europe and trained to build bombs. Luca had been working under duress, in order to protect his younger sister, Joli. When he’d met Luca the second time, he’d seen in the other man a willingness to do anything to protect the people he loved. Tate had nothing but respect for that.
Luca walked over to Tate and shook his hand, smiling widely, as if he’d just run into a long-lost friend.
“Tate. It is very good to see you again,” Luca said. “We weren’t expecting you.”
“Where are the letters?” Oscar asked, cutting straight to the chase.
Tate had been hoping for more time to get the lay of the land, to study their surroundings, and map out an escape plan if this went as badly as he feared it might.
“Letters?” Selene asked.
Tate reached into his pocket and withdrew a single, cream-colored envelope, embossed with the symbol of the Trinity Masters, a triquetra. He handed it to Luca, whose eyes widened. “Is this…” He looked over at Selene and Oscar.
Unlike Oscar, Luca’s expression wasn’t one of relief as much as resignation.
At least until Roman produced the letter he was carrying and gave it to Selene.
Luca brightened immediately. “We’ve been, ah…” He stopped, probably to think of the term. “Called to the altar?”
Tate knew from their planning meetings that Luca was now not only an ally but a new member of the Trinity Masters. So was Oscar, but Luca was obviously still feeling his way around how things worked. Members were called to the altar by the Grand Master in order to meet their trinity during a binding ceremony. The fact that Selene and Luca were receiving their letters at the same time was a solid bet they would be placed in a marriage together.
Of course, they could have just opened the letters…
In the time he’d spent guarding Oscar, Luca, and Selene, he’d seen the genuine bond—no, love—the three felt for each other.
Tate was feeling pretty damn guilty about what was about to happen next. Kant would not approve. Punishment should be clearly identified as such in order to meet the humanity of the wrongdoer. Oscar was going to figure out real damn fast this was punishment, but he wasn’t going to know for sure that his lack of envelope was direct punishment for defying orders.
Selene shook her head. “No. It’s too soon for Luca and Oscar to be called to the altar. Neither of them has been a member for six months yet. We could be summoned to Boston for something else.” Selene was clearly trying for calm and reasonable, but her expression was lit with excitement. “I mean, maybe they need a super villain—”
“I hope not. It’s a miracle we didn’t fucking die the last time,” Oscar grumped, but he was smiling.
Selene looked first at Oscar, then Luca, and started to open her letter. However, she stopped when she realized Oscar was standing next to her, empty-handed.
Tate saw the excitement drain from Selene’s face, to be replaced by an expression somewhere between grim and wary.
She gazed up at her cousin, Roman, who had at least six inches on her. Her voice was low when she said, “Roman, give Oscar his letter.”
“I’m here to deliver your letter,” Roman said.
Selene turned to him, a panicky anger twisting her features. “Tate. Give Oscar
