Page 2 of Wicked Games (Fallen Royals 2)

This plan… It was set in stone a while ago. Pulling her down piece by piece. But I’m not ready for her to fall—not yet. I’m not done with her. She can’t break yet.

Seven years ago, she broke me. Now I’m just showing her what she created.

A beast in my chest demands to be free—a beast that only wants Margo’s blood.

I pound my hands on the steering wheel again, in rapid succession.

Slowly, I drop the walls around the demons I keep locked away. It’s nice to let the darkness take over. Fury washes through me, but it’s calm, liquid ice.

Margo Wolfe may have run away, but I’m going to find her and bring her back, even if it kills me.

We’re not done.

Eventually, she’ll shatter for me, and the game will finally be over.

2

Margo

I couldn’t go anywhere I knew he would find me.

Because he would find me.

I have no doubt that, as easily as he hurt the Jenkinses, he would come for me. Something broke him. Something fucked up in our past. For some reason, I can’t fathom what it is. Whether I’ve been lied to, am misremembering things, or blocked it out of my memory…

Finding the truth will set me free.

It tugs at my memory. Something just out of reach.

I ring the doorbell and take a quick step back. A minute passes, then a voice shouts for me to hold on. The door swings open.

Ian Fletcher scowls down at me.

“You said you hated Caleb more than me,” I blurt out. So much for being strategic here, Margo. “Well, now’s your chance.”

He raises his eyebrows. “My chance for what?”

“I hate him, too.”

“And?”

“And…” I look away. God, am I really about to say this? “I’m what he wants. What he’s fixated on. Use me against him.”

We watch each other for a moment.

He could easily slam the door in my face, and I’d be screwed. Nowhere to go.

Instead, he pulls the door open wider.

I slip past him, trying desperately not to think about the last time he and I were alone together. He hurt me—gleefully so. My stomach cramps at the thought.

Is this madness? Probably. But what option do I have against Caleb?

In the end, Caleb hurt me, too. Ian’s wounds have mostly healed, but I doubt Caleb’s betrayal ever will. It burns under my skin like a living thing. A monster slipping along my bones.

The house is nearly silent. We were here for a party once. Empty of people, it feels bigger.

Wasn’t I told that his parents travel? No, that was Eli.

---