Glass Heart Broken: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Glass Heart Academy Book 2)

by Lindsey Iler

  “He made you promise not to interfere, no matter what. And because you’re you, and he’s him, you listened because loyalty means everything to you.” I shove my hand in his chest, forcing Breaker backwards. “But you weren’t expecting me. You weren’t expecting Delaney to be snatched off the streets. So what now? Because I can tell you, I’m not sitting here, doing nothing.”

  “There’s nothing to do,” Dixon interrupts. “Marek has this under control.”

  “No! Don’t you get it? None of this is in our control. It never has been, and if you ever want to look in my eyes again and plead your loyalty, then right now is your chance.”

  “We can’t storm the castle, Palmer. It’s not safe or logical. We’ll end up putting Delaney and Marek in more danger.”

  “I wish Reed was here,” I sigh, spinning away from them. “She’d know what to do.”

  “Well, I don’t see her standing in this room anytime soon, so let’s come up with something that won’t get any of us killed.” Breaker shakes his head.

  “What did you just say?” I nod, letting the idea circulate in my brain before I try to sell it to Dixon and Breaker. “That’s it.”

  “What’s it?” Dixon asks, a gravelly tone in his words like he already knows what I’m about to suggest.

  “Offer me up.” I shrug, realizing what I’m asking of them.

  “Absolutely not.” Breaker shakes his head. “You’re insane if you think that will ever happen. He’ll never forgive me if I let you walk through those doors.”

  “I won’t be walking.” I breathe out a lungful of air and square my shoulders. “My guess is there’s some sort of sale tonight.” At the word sale, I swallow the bile threatening to climb my throat. It burns as much as this idea does. “Henry’s a smart man. He’ll take the bait, because he knows what it means. There’s too much at risk not to. All he wants is Marek under his thumb, always has, and you know that, Breaker.”

  Breaker cups the back of his head with his fingers intertwined. I see it on his face. The contemplation. The fear. It’s everything I feel, too. We both have someone inside that house.

  My eyes burn with unshed tears. I’ve lost so much already. My sister is off the rails, missing once again, and my best friend is trapped inside a hell no one should know or experience.

  “Breaker, I can’t do nothing.” I grip his forearms and force his hands down to hold within my own. “Please.”

  “We aren’t entertaining this idea, are we?” Dixon pleads.

  Breaker never breaks his eye contact with me as he says the words, sealing my fate. “Make the call, Dixon.”

  My body jerks when we come to a stop. The rear doors open, and a small expanse of light breaks through the black cloth. One by one, we are helped out of the van. When it’s my turn, a hand wraps around my wrist, jerking me out of the safety of the darkness.

  “Come on, let’s go,” a man says, his voice deep and guttural.

  “Dillon?” I say his name, unsure if I’m hearing things, or if it’s really him.

  “Shut the fuck up, Palmer.” His hand presses into me, and I’m pushed forward, stumbling as I go. My hands fly out to break my fall, landing on the prickly dress on the girl in front of me.

  It’s not just me dressed up. Fuck. We are being led to our captors.

  “Why are you doing this, Dillon?” If my voice quivers anymore, I might as well beg on my knees.

  “Stop saying my fucking name, bitch!” A heavy foot hits the bend of my legs, and this time, I fall to the pavement.

  “Knock it off!” another man says. “We can’t risk damaging the goods.”

  “You’re a bunch of sick fucks!” I shout.

  “Palmer, what do you think you’re doing? You’re going to get yourself killed!” Reagan cries.

  “As opposed to being sold to the highest bidder. I’ll take my chance with being killed before one of these fuckers lays a single finger on me.” I stumble to my feet, adjusting my hands as best I can in these plastic zip ties.

  From what I can tell through the hood I’m wearing, we’re being led into a large house in a single-file line. Reagan is dragged away from me. The only link to my old life is gone, and these assholes don’t even know it.

  A low hush sets into the room. From what I can hear, there’s a rather large crowd in front of us. One by one, a series of thuds ring out. It isn’t until I’m knocked to my knees that I realize what’s happening. We’re on display.

  Things like this don’t happen here. This only happens in the movies. That’s what I used to believe. Now, I know evil and corruption surround everyday life. Today, I’m in the middle of the sick evil I suspected lurked on our campus, and now, realize is laced throughout my entire life.

  Scared and trying my hardest not to freak out, I listen as each girl is auctioned off like prized cattle. One by one, the prices vary, some going for more and some for less, but the numbers don’t matter. The value placed on each of their heads doesn’t define who they are. It simply defines the person bidding on a young girl.

  Two hands placed on my shoulders jerk me back to reality. My spine stiffens, proving I’m still alive, even when everything within me decays into nothing with every passing second. I await my fate. My heart beats in my ears, muffling the voices in the room.

  The scratchy hood skims up my face, exposing my eyes to the light it hasn’t seen in hours. I squint, attempting to collect myself as I wait for the situation to come into focus. When it does, I’m shocked to see so many familiar faces.

  Those who are in authority, and some of my classmates, stare at me as if I’m nothing but a vessel made of flesh and bones. To them, there is no spirit and soul within my body. To them, I’m nothing but a number, something to be possessed. I lower my head, afraid they’ll see the fear in my eyes and dismiss the strength in my straight spine.

  Like I said before, a bunch of sick fucks.

  A shadow shifts in front of me, and when I dare to peek, the softest yet harshest eyes I’ve ever looked into hold me captive. My throat burns with unshed tears. If I was anyone else in this room, I’d see the desperation in my face, begging Marek to save me, to do something to fix this.

  Reed bends down beside me. Gone are the eyes of a girl strung out, and in her place is my big sister.

  “Sorry, little sis.” Reed’s hands clamp down harsher on my shoulders. “This isn’t how I wanted this to go.”

  I jolt, realizing I’m not on the same side as my sister. She strolls away and takes a spot next to Henry Lexington, proving my suspicions correct. My eyes dart around the room, as I try to make a plan to get out of here.

  A door slams off to the side, forcing everyone’s eyes towards the noise. Miss Hughes, wearing a flowing silver, sparkling dress hustles across the room. She leans tight into Reed’s side, whispering something in her ear. They pull away from each other, both revealing their gleeful smiles.

  “Next up for bidding is Palmer Weston, once the lover of Marek Hawthorne, so you know she’s down for anything,” Reed announces, making a show of my coming demise. Miss Hughes steps off the stage, skimming her stare over me as she joins the throng of guests, impatiently waiting to watch the number above my head rise higher with every bid.

  “How could you?” I whisper yell down at Miss Hughes. “You sick bitch!”

  Finding out one of my favorite teachers is involved in this mess my sister is masterminding should surprise me. At this point, after everything we’ve been through, nothing can rattle my nerves.

  Marek comes towards where I kneel, but Delaney grabs him, stopping him before he can cause a scene. She whispers in his ear, a fierceness in her face that proves none of us know how we are going to get out of here in one piece.

  The bidding begins, and as every paddle lifts, tears cascade down my cheeks. The number rises by the second. I close my eyes, refusing to look at these men as they determine what they believe my body is worth.

  “Open your eyes, sis,” Reed whispers in my ear. They spring open when
she grips my jaw, forcing me to watch them. “Tears will not save you. These men deserve to look you in the eyes.”

  “What happened to you?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  “The world happened to me,” she hisses. “You’ll see soon enough. No one goes to their grave without blood on their hands. Not even a sweet thing like you.”

  “Don’t do this, Reed.” A dull ache forms in my chest as something stronger than hatred grows around my heart. “Don’t let them do this. You can stop this. I’m your sister.”

  “How sweet and naïve you are, Palmer. You don’t stop evil. You learn to live amongst it. You already have, selling your soul to the devil way before I returned.” She kicks my spine, forcing a shooting pain through my body.

  “You won’t get away with this,” I mutter under my breath, knowing she’s close enough to hear my threat.

  “No one can dethrone a queen, Palmer.”

  “A real queen doesn’t need to demand others kneel at her feet. They do it without prompt or hesitation because they believe she deserves the admiration.”

  “Says the girl who is kneeling in front of me now.”

  I’m no queen.

  I’m a savagely broken girl who will be happy to spill the blood of her own sister tonight, if given the chance.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Marek

  “Three hundred thousand!” Dean Eberstark yells, a slimy grin on his face as he plasters his eyes on Palmer.

  “SOLD!” Reed grins, pointing to him.

  “Stay put. You need to sell your participation. If they know you’re about to fly off the handle, this will be for nothing,” Delaney says, digging her nails into my arm. “Marek, I don’t want to die here, so please.”

  Henry gives directions to the two men who’d searched me, and they usher the girls out of the room. Palmer stretches her head as they push her, desperate to find me.

  “I love you,” I mouth the second our eyes make contact.

  This isn’t how I wanted the first time I utter those words to be. I’ve never said the words to anyone. I’ve lived in a world of cold adults and shut down emotions. Palmer is the one person to thaw the harshest parts of me.

  “I love you, too.” Her lips forming the words is like an arrow to my heart. Her heavy cries echo through the room, breaking me, yet firming my resolve to protect her, save her, no matter the consequences to myself.

  “What are we going to do now?” Delaney’s eyes search the room. Not a single person here will help us.

  As if Henry senses our curiosity, he clinks a knife against a champagne glass, garnering everyone’s attention.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, if you’ve won a bid, please come to the front and collect your prize. You will be given a room number, and your girl will be waiting upstairs. They’ll be more than happy to appease you.” A low chuckle escapes Henry’s mouth, followed by a wave of amusement from the crowd.

  “Ecstasy.” Dillon slips in next to Delaney and me. “It makes the girls more willing.” He taps me on the chest. “I’m impressed, Hawthorne. Reed was certain seeing Palmer would break you, but maybe I was right after all, and you are one of us.”

  Delaney trembles, and I clutch my fists at my sides, stopping myself from hurling them at his body. The room buzzes with an excitement that makes my stomach roll. I grab a glass from a waiter’s tray, guzzle down the champagne, then grab two more, quickly swallowing the liquid.

  “We must also have a room. Henry mentioned you being my prize.” I grab her hand and head towards the doors, leading to the front foyer. Stuck within the crowd, I lean down and adjust my sock, grabbing the knife the goons missed, and hand it to Delaney. “Just in case.”

  “I’m a test. If you don’t . . .” Her words are swallowed by her disgust. She bends over, fluffing her dress, and when she straightens, her hands are empty. Where she tucked the knife is a mystery. Knowing she has it on her is enough.

  With hurried steps, Delaney and I push through the crowd. I force an eager smile as if the thought of being initiated into this society is the highlight of my time at Glass Heart Academy.

  “Marek.” Dean Eberstark moves into my path.

  “Dean Eberstark,” I say, not trying to hide my feelings.

  “No hard feelings. I know Palmer and you had . . . relations.” He reaches his hand out, actually believing I’ll shake it. He has another thing coming.

  Henry and Reed come between us, noticing the drastic mood shifting in a direction they don’t want. The idea that someone would infiltrate their set-up and cause a scene isn’t something they can have.

  “So, change of plans,” Henry says.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reed circling Delaney and coming up on her blind side. A glint of silver catches my full attention. As I turn, Reed presses a knife to Delaney’s neck.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “One of our most loyal members has been biding his time. After Breaker took his bid at the gala, we promised him he’d have his chance,” Reed says, catching Delaney before she collapses. “You can thank yourself for that. He could have had his round with her at Aces, but you had to be a hero. This time we aren’t taking any chances. We’d usually pop a needle in her neck and knock her ass out, but Declan wants her awake.”

  Declan Dumas, the dirtiest mother fucker in this room, shows up to take Delaney from Reed’s hands. My mouth opens to protest, and Reed places her hand on my chest, forcing me further away from Delaney.

  “He’s not going to hurt her, Marek,” she explains, flipping the blade closed and tucking the knife into the front of her dress. “Don’t fall on a sword that will eventually kill you.” Her words are a warning.

  I hold my hands up, knowing there’s no way they are going to let me get to her. I weigh my odds, knowing that in order to save Palmer, I can’t rock the boat yet. As the men form a line, Dean Eberstark joins, waiting for his room number.

  “You can’t save her, no matter how much you want to.” Reed shrugs.

  I grit my teeth and bend down to whisper in her ear. “She’s your sister.”

  “No, she used to be my sister, then she took the one thing from me that I believed solely belonged to me.” She pops up on the tips of her toes. “You.”

  “You decided your fate long before that, Reed, and you know it,” I growl. “Let me guess, this little relationship with Henry is about as real as we were?”

  Reed lifts her arm in the air, snapping her fingers to grab someone’s attention. The two goons come up behind me. Before one has his hands on me, I spin and knock my fist into the bigger one’s face. If they want a fight, then they’ll need to drag me out of this place in a ball of fury.

  “Take him out, boys,” Reed demands, ignoring my cut to her truth.

  The tallest bodyguard opens one side of his sports coat, flashing his pistol. He gives a sharp nod of his chin, and the two of them lift me off my feet, dragging me to god knows where.

  I’m thrown into a room, and as the lock clicks, I’m on my feet, banging my fist against the solid wood keeping me from Palmer. The lack of a doorknob proves I’m here for a while. Worst-case scenarios rattle through my head. I pace the floor, trying to figure out a plan.

  There’s not much to work with in here. The walk-in closet doesn’t have any hangers. The small library alcove has a few hardbacks on a shelf, but I doubt throwing one of those would do much damage. I walk into the bathroom, struggling to collect myself.

  A door creaks, and I prepare for a fight, expecting someone to bulldoze in and try to take me out. Instead, Breaker pops his head around the corner.

  “What the fuck!” I yank him into the bathroom and slide the pocket door closed. “Where did you come from?”

  “The hallway. I jammed the door so it wouldn’t close, because whatever fucked-up playhouse this is, there’s no doorknobs on some of the rooms.” He jabs his thumb over his shoulder. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”

  “Just relaxing,” I snarl. “Wha
t the fuck does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Calm down.” He holds up his hands. “What’s the plan?”

  “It’s Reed, Breaker. She’s behind this.” His eyes widen when reality sets in. “Her. Henry. Declan. My mom. Officer Franklin. Dillon. Miss Hughes. Dean Eberstark. Quinn’s even here. It’s some sick, twisted secret society.”

  “Where’s Laney?” Breaker tries to move past me, but I press my hands against his chest, stopping him.

  “With Declan,” I say, dreading his reaction. If my suspicions are correct, his feelings for Delaney run deeper than mere friendship.

  “What the fuck do you mean she’s with Declan?” His eyes go wild. He shoves me out of the way, but I grab him before he ruins everything.

  “We can’t just go barging through the door. They’ll stop us before we make it a foot.”

  “So, what’s the plan?” Breaker asks, looking to me for answers I don’t know I have. “Where’s Palmer?”

  “How’d you know Palmer’s here?” At least he has the decency to glance away. “Dammit, Break. They have the girls upstairs. There’s eleven total, including Delaney and Palmer.” I shake my head, angered by our situation. “Eberstark is with her.” A throbbing pain attacks my head. “I need to get to her.”

  “I have Dixon outside. What do we need him to do?” Breaker brings out his phone.

  “He can cut the lights,” I say. “That should buy us some time.”

  “And then what?”

  “If he takes out the lights, then we’ll be able to get up the stairs to the girls.” At least that’s what I hope. The reality is, I’m not sure exactly where this room is located in the huge house.

  “That’s only if they don’t have some sort of generator, and looking at this place, I’d say they do.” Breaker’s eyes scan the room. He walks over to the blinds, drawing them up to look outside at the front yard.

  “Well, get Dixon on the phone and see what he can do.”

  Breaker taps the screen on his phone and puts it to his ear. I lean against the wall, anxiously tapping my foot as I wait for some direction.