Page 12 of Rebellion of a Kingdom

“Why would I give him a chance? The fucker hates me,” Ash grunts in disgust.

Logan sighs, “He doesn’t hate you, just everything you stand for. Your money, family name, upbringing.”

“Yeah, well that makes two of us,” he mutters under his breath in response.

“What’s the deal with him anyway?” I ask, gesturing for Asher to sit on the bed so we can get his face cleaned up. Now that he’s showered, the only thing that really needs attention that we can help with is a split eyebrow. His right eye is swollen, and the left half of his face is covered in purplish bruising already, but we can’t do anything about that. I’m hoping Logan can set his wrist before any permanent damage is caused.

He flops down onto the end of the bed with a groan and Logan and I both halt. He looks at Asher, then me and I just know he is thinking about the sounds he just made as he sat down. Fuck, who made the dark prince of the Donovan family a fucking walking temptation?

“Zack knows him from school, I think.” He groans again and it’s clear that the vodka isn’t doing much of a job of numbing his pain. I rifle in the first aid kit until I find some painkillers and toss them to him. He accepts them without argument and that's how I know he really is feeling the pain.

Logan huffs. “There's a little more to it than that.”

“Well, it’s fucking irrelevant at this point. As long as he doesn’t get in the way of me getting my daughter back, I don’t care.” The deadly tone of his voice cuts us off effectively, silencing the room as he knocks back a handful of painkillers with a swill of vodka.

Logan takes a deep breath and then drops down to the floor at the end of the bed, silently starting to fix Asher’s face. I see him start to relax slightly and I know what he took is starting to take effect.

Logan must sense it too because he breaks the quiet, “Told you, I’d be on my knees for you one day, psycho.” He purrs with a teasing glint in his eye, clearly trying to ease the tension, I can still see the pain that hides there though. I see right through his defense mechanism, just like I do with Jace. They are one in the same. They use their good looks and jokes as a weapon to keep people from digging deep enough to uncover their trauma.

Asher smiles a dazzling, sinister smile as he flashes his eyes to me and then to Logan. “Yeah, well we all know how much you enjoy being a bottom, Lo.”

I almost choke. Never in my life did I think I would hear something like that come from his mouth. I didn’t even think him capable of being human enough to make a joke, let alone make one in a situation like this. I can’t hide the smile it brings to my face, and as his eyes lock onto my mouth, I can’t help but lick my lips before responding to the taunt.

“Does that make you a top, dark prince?”

His gaze flicks to lock with mine. “I’m a top in everything I do.”

Neither Logan nor I know what to say to that. Mostly because he is right, but also because we know we would both drop to our knees if he asked. Not that he would. Lusting after Asher Donovan is like lusting after a celebrity. Unrealistic and unattainable. The only time they are ever in reach is in your fantasies. But what fulfilling fantasies they are.

He may not have the upper hand right now, but I still wouldn’t bet against him. I know he is capable of getting his daughter back and I want to be right there to help him. That’s the only thing that matters right now. Bringing Cassie home. I don’t care who I have to kill or what I have to do. I won’t fail her again. Fail him.

Chapter 7

ELLE

After my talk with Max I am feeling a sense of calm for the first time since I walked back into the house. Now that I know exactly what I need to do, I feel at peace. Max has disappeared with a couple of his guys to arrange what I asked for. The rest of his team are set up in Zack’s office making other plans for the Rebels. None of them agree with my plan, not even Max, but it’s irrelevant. They work for me now. A fact I was sure to remind them of. I told them it was my way with their support, or they could leave, and I would do it alone.

I'm sitting at the kitchen island with a large cup of coffee. It’s past four in the morning, officially making this the longest night of my life. Zack is being taken care of for now, and I am making plans for Cassie. If I think about them any harder, I am going to snap, so I try to focus on everyone else. Marcus is brooding silently next to me as Helen scrubs the same patch of kitchen counter that she’s been at for the last twenty minutes. I’m not sure where Ash, Lo, and Linc have disappeared to, but I’m most worried about Jace.

He’s slumped on the sofa staring at the large patch of blood on the carpet. I know he’s taking tonight hard, we all are, but Jace has lived this before. He’s watched someone he loves be taken by the Donovan’s before and never come back. I can’t live in that reality right now. Or ever.

The laughing and carefree Jace is gone, his armor down and his heartbreak pouring out for all to see. I hate it, hate seeing him this way. I watched his facade drop earlier tonight, but for an entirely different reason. I saw his reaction when Taylor reached up and kissed him, he was totally surprised. It didn’t matter that he’s been flirting with her for weeks, trying to shoot his shot, he just presumed she was too good for him.

Jace has one of the kindest souls I’ve ever known, but he’s the only person who doesn’t seem to realize it. Instead, he hides his problems, never letting anyone close enough to know the real Rebel inside. It’s going to take a special girl to break through the reckless mask that is Jace Conrad. I only hope when he finds the right girl, she’s not cut by all his broken and jagged pieces. If that girl is Taylor, well, she has got her work cut out for her.

Lincoln is another story entirely, always so closed off and never letting anyone get close. Yet tonight I saw him, I mean really saw him for the first time. He was by my side with his gun to Greg’s head before any of us registered him moving. A stealth and silence that can only be inherited, not taught. He was practically a ghost, and it makes me wonder again what happened to him. How did he become the dark and ruthless shadow he is today? And how do I become the same so I can take down my enemies?

I focus my thoughts. So much has happened, yet there is still so much tohappen. I mentally recite every single person that is a main player in this sick twisted game of revenge. How they fit into the puzzle of this whole mess and how they have helped Elliot Donovan stay on top. I think of what they did and how they are going to die. Chanting their names keeps me focused on what I know I have to do, and it stops me from breaking down completely and giving up.

Rolland Atkins

Joseph Kavanagh

Carter Fitzgerald

The Hallowed Crows MC

Sarah King

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