Page 54 of Revenge of a Queen

“Zack,” Arthur tries again to calm him.

“No, dad, do you not realize how lucky we are to have saved her the first time? I met my sister in the middle of the woods covered in blood. I could have gone in there and killed him with my bare hands, fucking all of them, but instead I did the sane thing, the right thing. I ran and never looked back, not until she asked me to.”

I tense at the image he just painted in my head; it goes along with the others already there that I try not to fucking conjure up. I don’t want to think about her like that. I look at her now, as she stares silently into her untouched hot chocolate. She has barely spoken a word since she picked up that note outside the loft. Dangerously quiet. She’s barely even aware of us at this point, just stuck inside her own mind, which I am sure is a dark place to be.

“Maybe coming back here was a mistake,” Helen muses, looking worriedly at Elle.

“So, what, should she leave again?” Zack responds, and his words hit me hard. Would she leave again? Pack up and run once more without looking back. I’d like to think she would never do that, but she’s done it before, she could do it again.

“I think we are past that. Elliot clearly knows she is here,” Arthur points out. “What good would leaving do now?”

“It would keep her safe,” Helen argues in a pleading tone, looking at Elle with a tear-filled eyes.

“We kept her hidden and safe for three years, we could do it again,” Zack agrees.

“I am not fucking running,” Elle snaps, breaking her stoic state. Silence descends upon the kitchen.

“Sweetheart,” Zack starts, but she cuts him off.

“No,” she stands pushing back her stool. “None of you were there. You don’t know what it was like. You didn’t feel what I felt, the pain, the defeat. You didn’t come face to face with not one devil but two. How can I run from that? How can I let them keep doing to others, what they did to me? What if they got me again or worse, got Cassie? I’d rather die fighting than live in the shadows, while they run free.”

She doesn’t wait for anyone to respond, just turns and stalks away, and all we can do is watch her go because she’s right. How can we turn our backs on their crimes just to save ourselves? I look back to my brothers and see them looking after her too. She really has become one of us, the center we never knew we needed. Can we avenge her and keep ourselves intact at the same time?

“You boys should get some sleep,” Helen interrupts my thoughts with a tired smile. “Take any room you like on the second floor for now. I’ll have them adjusted to your tastes.”

“That won’t be necessary Mrs. Royton. I’m sure they are more than good the way they are,” Lincoln replies.

“Nonsense,” she scoffs. “This is your home now and I want you to feel that way. Whatever you need just ask, and I will sort it out for you,” she says, standing as she gestures for us to follow, before turning around and adding, “And it’s Helen.”

How this angel of a woman wasn’t blessed with a child of her own is beyond me, but at least she was here for those who need her most. My brothers and I dutifully follow her from the kitchen as she leads us upstairs and down the hall until we reach a cluster of doors.

She turns to us again, “I had Zack leave some fresh clothes for you all. They should fit okay until the shops open in a few hours. Oh, and there are fresh towels in the bathroom, which is just behind you,” she points to a door over our shoulders. “No one else sleeps down this way so it’s all yours. Anything you need just write it down for me, and I’ll get it tomorrow, or today I guess.”

Jace steps forward and throws his arms around her shoulders startling her slightly, “Thanks Mrs. R., you’re the bomb,” he says, pulling back with a smile and a wink.

“Yes, Helen, thank you,” Lincoln adds, ever the proper gentleman.

She just nods and smiles, “Alright then, I will leave you to get settled,” she says, turning to leave us as she makes her way back down the hall.

“Oh, and boys?” we all pause at the doors of our rooms to look at her, “No random girls in the house,” she speaks with a smile before adding, “That means you too, Jace Conrad.”

Jace mocks a surprised look, “Why me?”

“Elle told me you're the slutty one,” she shrugs, and Lincoln and I laugh.

“Oh, and Marcus isn’t?” he gestures to me and Helen follows his gaze to mine.

“I think those days are far behind him,” she winks at me and then leaves us with a laugh.

My brothers give me a nod before both entering their rooms, no doubt to probably try to get a few hours’ sleep if they can. I don’t even bother pretending that I am gonna be sleeping in here and make my way back down the hall to go find Elle.

I know exactly where she will be, so I don’t waste any time and head in that direction. I find Zack sitting in the lounge sipping from a tumbler. He looks up when I enter and gestures to his glass, “Want one?” he asks, but I shake my head and move to continue past him.

“Marcus?” the way he says my name stops me in my tracks. “How far are you willing to go?” he asks, I frown so he continues, “Elliot Donovan murdered your father practically in front of you, and you never went after him, why?” He questions me and I can tell he is genuinely interested in my answer.

I shrug, knowing the answer is simple, “I wasn’t ready.”

“Are you ready now?” he inquires, and I nod.

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