Page 52 of Wicked Games (Fallen Royals 2)

“No,” I say. “We can’t go easy. We…” I shake my head. “Total annihilation.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Riley asks.

“What throne do the king and queen sit on?” I pull out my phone as I speak. Savannah isn’t really paying attention, and I hit send on a pre-typed out text to Unknown.

Me: Why did you help me with Ian?

I place it face-down on the counter, my hand trembling.

Sav frowns. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking…”

Riley looks back and forth between the two of us.

This brings back memories. Good ones. Bad ones.

Sav and I always had a wicked streak. We always knew how to push the buttons of every single person around us. It’s what made me a bad foster kid, because even after I was taken from my home, I didn’t know how to stop that side of me.

After my third home, I learned.

The black eye and bruised cheekbone taught me well.

“We go after them where it counts,” I say. “Friends. Sports.”

Riley groans. “You’re talking… like… destroy them.”

I shrug. “Caleb wanted to destroy me. And Sav? You know Amelie doesn’t care about you.”

To my surprise, her eyes fill with tears. “I just didn’t expect her to be a backstabbing bitch,” she whispers. “We were so close up until junior year. Then she started dating Caleb after basically convincing me to stop sleeping with him, and I…”

Her eyes snap to mine like she’s realized her mistake.

And yeah, the thought of Sav sleeping with Caleb makes me want to throat punch her. But I channel Riley. Rising above.

I lift one shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not. I’m jealous of you, too.”

She stands, but I grab her wrist.

“No.” I narrow my eyes at her. “Reality check, Sav: you only hate me because he made you hate me.”

I’d finally figured it out. After I left, Savannah tried to stick up for me. And Caleb led the mob to lynch her. And me.

Amelie’s role? She did nothing. She was a friend, but now she’s on top of the pyramid.

“You wanted a truce,” I point out. “Something must’ve made you snap beyond Amelie doing the same thing to me that she did to you…”

I glance at Riley. Sav hasn’t gone for her phone. It hasn’t made a peep since we’ve been here.

Sav sighs and drops her face into her hands. “I’m an idiot,” she groans. “I got used to Amelie not being around. I liked that she didn’t make snide comments—”

Riley leans forward. “I gotta know why you approached us now. Did they say something to you?”

Savannah lifts her head. “Promise you won’t tell?”

Riley and I exchange a glance. Secrecy was tradecraft amongst foster siblings, ingrained in me since I realized how much I needed allies. There was either unbreakable trust or… not. I hold out my hand, my pinky finger extended.

Riley hooks her finger with mine, and Sav joins, too.

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