Page 53 of Wicked Vengeance

Tears stream down my face in anger and understanding. He’s right. I wanted to do the same thing to protect them and my daughter. But that doesn’t mean he gets to run off and do the very same thing he forbids me to do. It doesn’t work like that, Sir. Slowly, the understanding fades away, leaving only the desire to punch him in his beautiful fucking face when I find him.

Alek comes over to the bed and kneels in front of me, taking the note from my grasp and reading it over. “Fuck!”

His outburst should startle me, but at the moment, I’m so pissed off with Royal that I can’t find it in me to be scared of Alek’s wrath. “Get everyone ready. We’re going after him.”

“I’ll tell the others,” Snow says, slipping from the room after giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.

“I want to panic,” I admit to Alek and Maddox, the former still kneeling in front of me, “but the rage I’m feeling at Royal is keeping me from spiraling. So I’m going to hold onto that until I can punch him in the face.”

Maddox laughs from the dresser, his ass bare for a moment, distracting me as he pulls his black pants on. “I can’t wait to see that, Cherry.”

“What the fuck was he thinking? Going off on his own when we’ve got an army of people here to help us take King out.”

“He thinks the weight of the world is on his shoulders and he struggles to share the burden with us. Always has,” Alek explains, getting up to slip his own clothes on. I stand from the side of the bed, letting the blankets fall away before stalking over to the dresser and pulling out my hunter’s outfit.

“Well he has another thing coming if he thinks I’m the ‘sit at home and wait’ type. I got left behind at Twisted when I should have been with y’all from the start. And look how that turned out.”

“We’ll never be able to tell you how sorry we are for what you went through, Baby Girl.” The pain in Alek’s voice feels like a knife stabbing me in the heart.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I don’t blame any of you for what happened. Only King. I’m just not going to sit around and wait anymore. I’m not a damsel in distress that needs someone to fight her battles. I’m the fucking Hunter. I’m not helpless.”

“You’re our Queen– and a warrior. You don’t deserve to be sidelined just because we feel like cavemen around you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your apology I’m owed, Daddy. Royal is going to get the brunt of this rage, right after I kiss his ridiculously gorgeous face once I know he’s safe.”

“We will all give him hell, Baby Girl. I promise you that.”

“Yes. Right after you let me watch you punch him. I need to see that,” Maddox laughs, kissing my forehead before picking up his phone. “Do you have any blades or sharp objects on you yet?”

I’m thrown off by his question at first. “Not yet. Why?”

“Because I need to tell you something, and I don’t know if you’re going to like it.” He has the good sense to look nervous as I imagine all the worst-case scenarios he could have to tell me.

“Well… Spit it out already.”

“So…uh… Remember when I said I had a way for you to not have to worry about where we are?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I– uh we– kinda sorta put trackers in…in all of us. While you were sleeping.” Maddox rubs the back of his neck anxiously, waiting for me to lose it.

“You put trackers in us? All of us?” I ask calmly.

“Uh– yes?”

“Okay. Good. Where the fuck is Royal?”

“Wait… You’re not mad?” Alek asks, confused and slightly concerned.

“Am I mad that you put a tracker inside me without my consent? Um– no? Considering my very traumatic history of being kidnapped, it’s probably the smartest thing. I’m mad I didn’t think of it myself.”

“You’ve got a point,” Alek chuckles, slipping his shoes on as Maddox fiddles with his phone.

“Here. He’s uh…on the move?”

“Maybe he’s on his way back here?” I ask, relief starting to settle over me, only to be doused out like a bucket of cold water thrown over me a second later when both of their phones ping at the same time.

“Uh… I don’t think so. There’s a security breach at the house.” Alek says. “Let me pull up the cameras.”

---