Page 53 of Caged Royal

“You’re so cheesy.”

“Uhm, guys?” Indi says, stealing my attention. “Incoming.”

I turn and find Blair and her bitch squad heading toward us, along with Raleigh, Jackson, and a few of the football team.

This is going to be fun.

“What do you want, Blair?” I sigh as she reaches us, Raleigh at her back. Those two fucking deserve each other.

“I’m not here for you, skank,” she says, sneering at me before looking over at Lincoln.

“You don’t speak to her like that, Blair. I warned you once already,” he says, cutting her off. “Anything you have to say to me, isn’t something I want to hear.”

“I’m pretty sure you want to know this,” she says, smirking. “I ran into Georgia Fontaine over the weekend. We get our hair done at the same place.”

I suck in a breath at the name. I hate that girl for zero reason and there is nothing I can do to change it.

“She told me how your father and hers are arranging to announce your engagement at the party your father is hosting on Friday.”

Maverick’s grip on my hip tightens, keeping me standing as Lincoln takes my hand and squeezes it.

“I guess she must be confused, because I’m not engaged to anyone.”

She shrugs, glaring at me, like she knew that too. “I suppose it’s possible, but there aren’t many other Lincoln Saints in the Cove.”

“Was there anything else you wanted, Blair? Or are you just here to stir shit?” Lincoln sighs, like she hasn’t just crawled beneath my skin and set my blood on fire.

“Only to offer my best wishes to your brother. Apparently fucking Octavia is a deadly game these days.”

Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she turns to walk away from us. She doesn’t get very far before Indi darts forward, grabs her by the hair and yanks on it hard enough that Blair tips back on her heels and they both crumble to the ground. Screaming ensues as they attack each other and I move to intervene, but Finley stops me. “I got it.”

Maverick holds me in place as I huff, trying to make sense of everything going on inside of my head right now, while Finley lifts a kicking and flailing Indi up off of my cousin who has bloody scratches down her face. Indi has a handful of Blair's hair, which she apparently ripped out, and I bite my lips together to stop from laughing.

Apparently my girl has fire.

“You’re going to regret this, you depressive little whore,” Blair shrieks at Indi, and Mav finally releases me as I step forward.

“Threaten her again, Blair. I fucking dare you. You might not be afraid of me, but you should be.”

“The only thing scary about you is that you’re a walking STD,” she hisses, touching at the blood dripping down her face. “I’ll ruin you both and laugh while I do it.”

She storms off, her little band of sycophants trailing behind her, so I turn back to Indi. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she sighs. “She just pisses me off. Walking around here like her shit doesn’t stink. Apparently Dylan’s bad habits are rubbing off on me.”

“That was kind of fierce though.” I laugh, trying not to let what Blair said get to me. At least not on the surface.

“It kinda was, huh?” She giggles.

“Come on, killer,” Finley says, taking her arm. “Let's go get you sorted, and give those two a minute to talk, shall we?”

She looks at me and I nod, so she goes with Finn and Mav, leaving me alone with Lincoln.

“It’s not true,” he says, moving toward me, cupping my cheek with his hand. “I would have told you.”

“I know you would, but what if your dad didn’t mention it to you?” He grinds his teeth together at my words and drops his forehead to mine.

“My father is about to have a whole storm to deal with if he didn’t. We need to talk privately about the Knights. About some things we discovered while you were gone.” My stomach twists at his words, but I nod and move to wrap my arms around him, resting my head on his chest. “It’s going to be okay, Octavia. I won’t let them break you. Any of them.”

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