Page 30 of Revenge of a Queen

“Is mine?” I panic, trying to figure out my dad's part in this.

“No,” he says again, and I seem to be getting more questions than answers.

“Then how did he become involved?”

“Michael contacted me directly when I was eighteen, he told me about Elle. At first, I wasn’t interested but then when I got used to the idea of her, I got curious,” he supplies, with a shrug before adding, “Apparently, Michael had always kept in touch with my parents and they all decided to keep me in the dark until the time was right.”

“Until the time was right for what?” I ask.

“For me to meet Elle. I wasn’t interested at first but then things changed.”

“And when did you meet her?” I ask, gritting my teeth, afraid I already knew the answer.

“I’m the one who took her from Black Hallows.”

I huff out a breathy laugh, unsure of what to even make of this whole situation. He took her from Hallows, from me. I should be mad, but I have a loop of conversations I have heard from Elle playing on repeat in the back of my mind and it keeps me wondering.

“Why?” It’s the only word I can come up with.

“Michael called me, told me--” he pauses briefly before continuing, “He told me she needed me, and I came,” he says, like it's just that simple. Like he didn’t change the course of things by doing that.

“Why did she need you?” I ask, warily as I replay the conversations, I’ve heard Elle have over in my head. I think about the day with her parents, what Lincoln has told me and how Jace has been acting. None of it makes any sense.

He remains silent so I push on, “Where does Elliot Donovan come into this? If this town was what she needed to escape, why has she come back? What happened to make her leave?” The questions barrel out of me as dark thoughts start consuming my mind, but I shut them down.

“They aren’t questions for me, Marcus,” he replies, grimly.

I nod knowing he means that it's something only Elle can tell me if she chooses to. I suddenly have the desperate urge to see her now more than ever. We have both walked away from one another, but that’s over now.

“Where is she?” I ask, standing up.

He stares up at me, silently assessing me before he sighs, stands himself, comes out from behind the desk, and heads towards the door.

“Come with me,” he says before walking out. I follow behind him in silence as he leads me through the house and towards a large set of glass doors. He puts a code into a keypad at the side and it beeps, and the doors click open. He waits until I’m next to him before nodding out the doors, it's only then I look out and across the grass at the back of the house to find another large house. Nowhere near the size of the mansion we are standing in, but still, large by most people’s standards.

“Up the stairs, to the top floor, last door on the left, code for the house is 1208,” he says, gesturing for me to exit.

I take a deep breath and look between him and the house before offering him a nod and making my way outside. The cold October air bites into my skin but it's a welcome pain, it reminds me that I’m alive, that I have something to live for.

I walk across the grass until I hit the path for the house, bypassing a large swimming pool. The house is dark and it’s only then I look at my phone and see it's almost 11pm. Fuck, probably way too late to even be thinking about doing this, but I’m here now.

I take a deep breath one more time and then punch in the code Zack gave me.

It’s only once inside and up the stairs I realize the code is my birthday. I don’t know what to think of that, so I just follow the directions that Zack gave me the rest of the way in the house.

I stand in front of the door for ten minutes. When Zack gave me directions to this room, I just presumed he’d meant Elle’s, but the sign on the door reads ‘Princess Cassie’. Fuck. What do I do? Is Elle in there? I mean, she must be otherwise why would he have told me to come here. The ache in my chest appears again and the tightness of it has me rubbing at it. Can I do this? Do I have a choice? If I want answers then I have to open this door.

I curl my fingers around the handle and press down as softly as I can. I’m not sure if Elle is going to be asleep or not but I can guarantee that Cassie will be and the last thing I want to do is wake her. I push it open as gently as I can and feel relief when it doesn’t make a noise. I step inside and push the door closed behind me.

The room is dark, and the only light is coming from a small nightlight on the stand next to the bed, but it allows me enough light to see around the room. I was right Cassie is asleep, but so is Elle. I find the two of them tangled together, Elle curled protectively around her, in a big spoon, little spoon situation and it makes me smile for the first time in weeks. I curse silently as it really hits me, for the first time. Elle is a Mom, she has a living, breathing daughter that is not only dependent on her but also completely devoted. Just like she is to her. I don’t even need to see them together to know that it’s all over this room.

The walls are covered in children’s’ artwork and pictures of them together. There is a bookshelf on one side of the bed filled with books of all sizes, a toy chest overflowing with toys, and stuffed animals. Next to the light on the nightstand, is a framed picture of the two of them pulling silly faces and the word ‘besties’ is printed on the frame.

I look back at the two of them curled together and I feel such a mixture of emotions. I imagined this would be my life one day, coming home from work to my family, to Elle. Now, here she is having it with someone else. Fuck it hurts, yet I can’t bring myself to care enough to leave. Yes, she lied to me, and I have no idea what is going on. Where the truth starts or the lies end, but if I keep walking away, I am never going to find out.

I take one last look at them and gently pull the duvet to cover them more. Elle sighs, cuddling in closer to Cassie, as a lock of hair drops across her forehead. I lean in and softly brush it away from her and she turns downwards, slightly offering me more of the back of her neck. I notice something there and lean even closer to take a look, immediately wishing I hadn’t.

Just below her hairline is a small tattoo of a star with the words ‘make a wish’ in script arched above it and an intertwined E and M beneath it. E and M, Elle and Marcus, the star, the quote, the tattoo is for me, for us.

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