Page 11 of Revenge of a Queen

“I’m sorry, what?” I stutter, the panic causes my voice to come out squeaky and high pitched.

I hear Asher mutter something in my ear, but I can barely concentrate on whatever he just said. My heart is beating too loud.

“The scars, Elle. Was it Elliot or Greg? Which one of them is Cassie's father? I’m guessing Greg,” he says with no emotion, staring out from the back seat at the warehouse in the distance. I look to Linc in a panic, but he is just staring at Jace like he doesn’t even know him, and I know he hasn’t told him anything.

When I don’t reply, mostly because I don’t know how to, he continues, “I had a sister,” he speaks softly, and I turn my focus on him. “She was two years older than me. She went missing when I was eleven,” he pauses, looking at Lincoln and then back to me. “Greg Donovan raped and murdered her.”

I am frozen in shock, I don’t know how to respond but he pushes on, “I have been watching them for years, learning what I could, paying for information about them. You think I don’t know who this warehouse belongs to? Whose blood that was on your clothes?” He looks at me closely and continues, “You came back to this town on a mission, I saw it in your eyes that day we met on the steps and every day since. You’ve been hurt, burned, and now you want your revenge. So, who was it, princess?”

I see the darkness in his eyes that I recognized the first day we met, the darkness he hides with smiles and flirty lines. He is beautiful but damaged, he needs all the family he can get, blood or not. I reach out and squeeze his hand in mine before I close my eyes and take a deep breath “Greg. It was Greg,” I whisper in response to his earlier questions.

He just nods, having clearly already come to that conclusion, “I’m sorry I kept it from you,” I add.

“We all have secrets and reasons for keeping them, Elle.”

“Well, your secret is safe with me,” I say with a tight smile.

He just shrugs before saying, “Everyone has their own demons. It’s up to us, if we let them win,” with that he presses a button on the device in his hand and the warehouse explodes with a loud bang. The flames look as high as the sky in the darkness of the woods and the orange glow lights up all our faces.He is right, everyone has their own demons, and he shares his with me.

Another damaged soul, another dead girl at the hands of Elliot Donovan, and his fucking rapist son. They may have won so many battles, but they won’t fucking win the war.

Chapter 6

ELLE

Betrayal. It’s a bitter feeling. It grips you in the pit of your stomach and twists until you are sick with it. And that’s how I feel, sick. Sick and lost. The emptiness caused by Marcus’ absence grows every day and sharing secrets with the remaining two Rebels only increases it. I am digging myself into a complicated hole that I fear I won't be able to drag myself out of and what's worse? I'm not sure I want to.

Marcus uncovering my biggest secret has pushed him even further away yet drawn his brothers closer than ever. Having them in my secret life makes me question whether I should have told Marcus the truth when he met Cassie. Should I have just ripped off the band aid and let my secrets bleed out? The reasons for keeping him in the dark don’t even seem like reason enough anymore. Sure, Cassie is my biggest secret, my biggest weakness, but do I really believe that Marcus, my River, would do anything to put her safety in jeopardy if he knew the truth? I can’t decide on that risk though unless he comes back.

Another week passes with no word from him and I can’t help but worry. It’s Monday again which means it has been just over two weeks since he found out about Cassie. Two weeks, it’s nothing in hindsight, such a short insignificant amount of time. We went three years without seeing each other, yet somehow these two weeks seem like a lifetime. That's two weeks of him holding my life in his hands and he doesn’t even realize it.

I am riding shotgun in the passenger seat of Linc’s SUV. The three of us have taken to riding to and from school together every day. Seems they find it pretty pointless to drive separately now, I mean I never understood why they did anyway, not since I found out they fucking live together, stupid boys.

I am grumpy as shit thanks to stupid period cramps and I pray to the gods that while Jace grabs us some coffee, he also picks up snacks too. While we wait for him to get our stuff, I grill Lincoln on any update about Marcus.

“What do you mean he wasn’t there?” I say in exasperation.

“Exactly what I just said, King. He wasn’t there. That was the last safe house he could have been at and it was empty.”

“Well, did it look like anyone had been staying there?” I push him.

“No, but this is Marcus we are talking about, he knows how to cover his tracks.”

I groan, scrubbing my hand over my eyes, “That isn’t helpful, Lincoln,” but he just shrugs his shoulders.

“I’m trying everything, but he’s smart, ditching the trackers and taking a bunch of cash is just the start, he knows how to keep a low profile.”

“What if he doesn’t come back?” I ask him, voicing my true fear aloud.

Linc looks over and sees the emotions that I know are showing on my face, he reaches out to squeeze my hand, “Then he’s a fucking idiot.”

I offer him a small smile and gently squeeze his hand back as Jace climbs back into the car, “Fuck, it was busy in there,” he complains as he struggles inside with a bag and tray of drinks. He shuts the door and shuffles over to the middle seat in the back and pops his head between us.

He hands Lincoln something white and red that definitely doesn’t look like a black coffee and then I know what's coming.

“For you, princess,” he says, with a smile as he hands me an iced drink.

“Pretty boy, what the fuck is this?” I say snatching it from his hand.

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