Page 1 of Revenge (Elite of Elmwood 3)

Chapter One

What would you say to the sister you’ve never met? Never knew about until months shy of your eighteenth birthday? Make a joke? Play it cool? Run and hide? All those thoughts crossed my mind in seconds as I stared into her deep brown eyes.

Hey, sis. Where have you been all my life?

I doubted that was the first impression I wanted to make. Not to mention, minutes ago I had just been held up at gunpoint by my psychopathic stepbrother. My body still shook from the aftermath. And now that I thought about it, he also had assaulted my sister, who was standing in front of me.

What if it had been her who had walked in on Carter instead of me?

A terrifying thought. It was because of Carter’s sick and twisted vices that Kenna had left Elmwood.

Once our eyes clashed, neither of us was able to look away. We weren’t identical, but the similarities were enough to be eerie as fuck. No one moved or said anything as the two of us assessed each other, and the rowdy party hushed, all eyes turning toward us.

What the fuck?

Whoa.

Is that…?

The murmurs continued. If the other kids at the Academy had an inkling that Kenna and I looked alike, any doubts were discredited at seeing us side by side. Our resemblance was uncanny. They might not guess that we were triplets, and why would they? As far as they knew, the Edwards had a set of twins.

“Holy shit. Kenna?” Micah exclaimed, his dimples gracing either side of his cheeks as he grinned widely. He went in for a hug, picking her up off her feet and twirling her around. Dark hair swung with the movement, as her giggle chimed over the music.

The trance was broken, giving me a few seconds to collect myself.

Brock’s hand rested at the small of my back, helping me center my whirling mind. It suddenly stopped functioning. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just stood there next to him, taking comfort in his warmth.

This whole night was beginning to be too much.

I hadn’t even had time to process Carter breaking into Brock’s bedroom, infecting his computer with God knew what kind of virus, and waving a gun in my face. This wasn’t how I pictured meeting my sister for the first time. Frazzled. Shaking. A fucking hot mess.

“Are you okay, Firefly?” Brock whispered into my ear.

He didn’t want the truth, so I said nothing, twisting the rings around my fingers as I gawked at Kenna. It was nights like this I wondered if I would ever be okay.

Kenna’s feet touched the ground, and Fynn moved in next, engulfing her in his strong arms. “It’s been too long, KK.”

Mads grinned, watching her cousin and best friend with excitement.

The party slowly resumed, people having plenty of crap to talk about now. They didn’t even know half of it, but I bet there were tons of speculations. Kenna set her gaze on Brock, and then they shifted to me. “So it’s true.” Her eyes scanned me over from head to toe. “Wow. I didn’t believe them when they told me, but….”

“Freaky, huh?” Really, Josie?Those are your first words to the sister you never knew you had?God, where was the nearest table for me to crawl under?

“Yeah, you could say that,” she replied, still staring at me as if I was a ghost. I knew the feeling well.

“What are you doing here?” Grayson demanded, the scowl on his lips deep and fierce. He was the only one who appeared not thrilled about Kenna showing up out of the blue.

Kenna grinned at our brother, crossing her arms over the white tee she wore. She looked like the picture-perfect rich girl in her frayed jean and white canvas shoes. Her skin was shades bronzer than mine, like she spent hours in the sun or using tanning lotions. “Hey to you too, bro.”

Grayson shook his head, tossing a strand of hair the same shade as Kenna’s and mine, if mine weren’t pink. “This isn’t funny.” I couldn’t decide what exactly he was upset about. Was it that Kenna showed up at the party with Carter not far away? Or was it because of the spectacle her sudden return created? I wasn’t able to fully read Grayson yet.

She looped her arm through Mads’s. “Chill. Mom and Dad know where I am. It was my choice to leave.”

“And they agreed to that?” Grayson replied skeptically.

“I think I can make the decision to come home, Grayson. And believe it or not, they supported my decision. They think it’s important that we all spend time together.” She rolled her eyes as she said the last part. “Besides, I want to finish my senior year at Elmwood Academy with my friends.” She turned her head toward Mads and grinned.

“It’s not safe yet,” he pointed out, shoving his hands into his back pockets. We were still drawing attention, our peers from the Academy occasionally sneaking glances this way and eavesdropping into the conversation.

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