Page 53 of Revenge of a Queen

We both lean over and watch her go as Jace awaits her at the bottom with his arms up waiting for her like if she fell, he would really try and catch her. The dedication we all have for this girl is astonishing.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Asher curses into my ear and I know he must be watching her on the camera feeds.

“She’s got this, don’t worry,” I say with as much conviction as I can manage, considering I am watching her every move like it might be her last.

“Just fucking get her out of there and home, Help,” he snaps, and I roll my eyes at him even though he can’t see me.

Marcus doesn’t waste any time jumping over the wall and onto the pipe as her feet barely touch the ground, like he can barely stand to be away from her for even a few seconds.

I know the guys have him covered so I turn back into the roof and watch the smoke engulf our home. The only true safe home I have ever known before, going up in flames. I don’t realize how long I stand there, until Asher’s voice hits my ear again.

“Get on the fucking pipe, Blackwell,” he grits into my ear, breaking me out of my appraisal.

I climb over the wall as I reply, “Is that an offer, dark prince?” I muse aloud and he scoffs, cursing at me under his breath again and I laugh. I get to the floor just as two SUV’s come speeding around the corner towards us and we all ready ourselves for another fucking fight.

Zack bursts out of the door of the front one before it even has a chance to fully stop followed by a few more guys. They are all dressed in black from head to toe, with weapons out, ready to fight. When Elle sees him, she sags with relief and barrels towards him and he engulfs her in a hug, relaxing himself.

He pulls back nodding to us before looking down at her, “You okay, sweetheart?” he asks, with concern taking in the cuts on her face from our earlier fight.

She nods, “I’m all good, it’s just been a long night,” she exhales, and he nods back at her.

“Ash filled me in. Let's get you out of here,” he says, looking around as the other men from the two vehicles case the area before settling his gaze on us, “You three too, come on.”

Elle turns to us and smiles, “Looks like you're gonna be North Breds for a while, too,” she says with a tease and how she even has the power to make a joke right now astounds me. We move towards the vehicles, but her gaze moves past us and her smile drops. Before we can stop her, she is rushing back towards our burning home.

“Ells, what the fuck are you doing?” Marcus shouts but it’s too late she is already next to the flames bending over and picking something up before she rushes back towards us. She’s holding a bunch of orange roses and an envelope with her name on. She rips in open and reads it quickly before grimacing.

“Fighting fire with fire only gets you ashes,” she repeats what is on the page before flipping it over in her hands to see if there is anything else.

“The fuck does that mean?” Jace asks, but she looks at me and then to Marcus.

“It’s a quote from Abigail Van Buren,” I muse, she nods.

“Of fucking course, you would know that too,” Donovan mutters into my ear.

“It means Elliot Donovan is coming for us,” she states, and we are all silenced by her words. This is no longer a simple revenge mission; we aren’t sneaking up on him and slowly taking his business apart piece by piece. No, that’s over now. He knows we’re coming, and he isn’t waiting. The war is coming to us and it’s time to fight harder than ever before.

Chapter 31

MARCUS

What the fuck happened tonight? No what the fuck happened in the last three years? I thought the worst thing that could ever happen to me was finding my father’s dead body, murdered in cold blood. I was wrong. The worst thing that could happen to me would be to lose Elle again. Something I have been close to feeling twice in the last twenty-four hours alone, and not just her, but my boys too. Tonight, I lost my home, my bike, my car, and everything I own. At least I still have my family.

I think the only person getting any sleep tonight is fucking Cassie. The rest of us sit in silence around the island in the Royton’s kitchen island. It’s already 4am but I doubt any of us feel like sleeping after everything that happened. I never thought after being complicit in eight murders, that my night could get any worse. But then as usual, I underestimated Elliot Donovan.

Helen is fussing over us all as she hands out hot chocolate. She squeezes my shoulder as she pauses and drops a kiss to Elle’s head. It’s funny isn’t it? She isn’t the biological parent to anyone in this room, yet the love I see in her eyes every time she looks at Elle and Zack is so pure. I haven’t seen love like it since I lost my father, taking them out of it, Michael Riviera is the only parent between us worth a damn and he’s dead. Zack's parents gave him up, Elle’s parents let the devil take her, Jace’s parents cared more about drugs than him or

his sister and Lincoln’s, well, he doesn’t talk much about his past, but you don’t typically end up in foster care with good parents. I know his past is dark as the rest of ours, if not more.

Zack is furious. In the few times I have met him and all the times I have spoken with him, I’ve never seen him like this. He is usually a blank mask of no emotion. Calm, cool, collected, someone hard to work out, a force to be reckoned with, especially in business. I never thought a man like him could have a soft spot but apparently it comes in the form of his half-sister and niece.

“Why are we even surprised this happened? It’s not like we didn’t know he put a hit out on her. He has wanted her gone ever since he learned she was back. I told you we should have put a security detail on her, but no one listened to me,” he rants in a rage as Arthur tries to calm him down.

“No one could have imagined this, son,” he says, clamping a hand on his shoulder, but Zack shrugs it off.

“Oh really? Why? Because Elliot Donovan is such an upstanding member of society?” he snorts a laugh. “Every person here knows he is the devil in disguise, he spends his spare time trafficking children and raping teenagers, in what world did we think he wouldn’t come after her again?” he roars.

Elle flinches slightly as he raises his voice, but her focus doesn’t move to him, even though I can tell by the frown on her face that she is listening to every word. Listening, planning, plotting.

---