Derrick reacted faster than I did, throwing me down onto the floor. The door flew open and the gunfire started. Derrick rolled off me, pulling his own gun out. “Everly, get covered.”
I didn’t argue. I lifted my head enough to see Ben standing at the door behind some man I’d never seen before. Dark beard. Earing. That was all I could see before I ran for the bedroom like my life depended on it.
Derrick fired and rushed the men at the same time.
“Everly? Derrick?” Kade shouted now. “What’s going on?”
“Ben,” I hollered back. “He’s here. With another man. Gun.”
I hoped that was loud enough. Kade must have heard me. “Shit. The system is down. The power outages. They triggered it off. On my way.”
“I’m not suggesting that we become a kinder Alliance, a non-violent Alliance. Part of what we do every day requires us to be willing to end those who get in our way, but there has to be assurances for our families.”
Derrick must have taken down the unknown assailant, but Ben was hardly alone. The elevator dinged open again and two more people exited.
“Guys, the elevators aren’t working. I’m overriding. It’s going to take a minute. Yes, Trace, I’m talking to them.” Kade’s voice again.
“Hurry the fuck up,” Derrick shouted, and someone grunted. More gunfire.
I couldn’t hide in here. I knew how to defend myself, and I would help Derrick. I ran to my bag, grabbing the knife we’d put in the outside of it before we left Warden’s house. At the time I’d wondered if I was being paranoid. Thank the universe for my fucking paranoia.
“So let’s talk about the thing we’re all not talking about. Let’s talk about Everly Marrs.”
I rushed one of the men as Derrick shouted for me to get back into the room. I had the element of surprise and so far, twice now, that served me well. I slashed the man’s throat before kicking out, sending him backward into Ben.
As the man gurgled to death, Ben shoved him aside. Derrick wrestled on the ground with a third person. I didn’t even look. Derrick had this. He was just amazing that way.
“You.” Ben panted, but he hadn’t done anything yet.
“Me.” I shoved him backward, and he went two steps. He rushed at me, his gun pointed.
“Everly Marrs is the sweetest person I’ve ever known. And we made the mistake of taking her from her home to try to get her father’s cooperation. I don’t see Jeb, here but if he is, we acknowledge the mistake in doing that. We took her. We kept her safe, but we didn’t let her leave.”
I didn’t know where I got the sense to duck but I did. I went straight for his knees. The gun went off, but the bullet broke the window, not going near me.
“Everly?” Derrick shouted.
“Fine.” I shoved Ben to the ground.
“A portion of you, condoned by the leadership, took this woman and let Ben abuse her. We cannot expect to rule the world, to shape the destinies of people around us, if we are the kinds of people who would do this. Taking Everly and hurting her does nothing to further any of our causes unless the cause is that we want to be sociopaths. Do you? Do any of want to be nothing more than that?”
I elbowed Ben in the dick. He oomphed and that was great. While he reared in pain, I grabbed his gun.
“Guys, we still don’t have the elevators. They’re moving, but not by us.” Kade’s voice.
Another shot. Derrick must have gotten his gun. “Kade, for the love of god, get them moving.”
I shot. Once. Ben’s balls. Twice. His stomach. Enough to see his eyes widened as he realized he was dead. Third time. Right in the head.
“Is that how we want the Alliance to be? No.”
I panted as Derrick came behind me. His clean scent wafted over me as his hands came down on my shoulder. The elevator dinged. No. No. No. No more.
I lifted my gun. Whoever was there could just go fuck themselves.
Four. I shot. Straight into my father’s head.
“We can be the new Alliance. And you can follow me to do so.” Cheers filled the room.
Chapter 19
I washed the blood off my body, staring at the tan tile of the shower without a coherent thought. The same lines from Macbeth, the famous Shakespeare play, intruded into the nothingness of my thoughts. To bed, to bed. There’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed.
Had I gone mad like the character who uttered those words? I turned off the water, watching the remaining water run red down the drain.
“Everly.” Kade pounded on the door. He’d been doing so since he’d arrived in the room. I didn’t want to talk.
I didn’t know if it was possible to come back from murdering my father. Maybe my mind deluded itself, picking Macbeth to drive me mad. Maybe I should have been obsessing over Hamlet. I toweled off.
“Everly?” Kade still pounded.
I opened the door to stare at him. “Did you need the bathroom?”
“What? Fuck. No. I don’t need the bathroom.” He drew me to him in a hug. “Are you okay?”
“No, how the fuck could I possibly be okay?” I let him hug me for a moment, but I didn’t want affection. I wanted nothing except to get out of here as quickly as I possibly could.
I pulled away from him, heading to my suitcase. I needed clothes. My yoga pants and a t-shirt did the job, and I dressed quickly.
“Did she come out? Everly?” Trace came in the room. “Honey? I don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to say.” Water from my not dried hair dripped over my sleeves onto my arms. I was wet, but it didn’t bother me.
Trace and Kade made eye contact. That was fine. They could think whatever they wanted; they could communicate without speaking all day. I didn’t care.
I walked out into the living room as Warden threw a sheet over my father. All of the bodies were covered now. A bullet had shot out the window. Where were the police? The television was off. I didn’t know if Judson still spoke to the masses. I didn’t really care.
“Can this be handled?” I pointed to the bodies on the floor.
Derrick turned around. He had a drink in his hand. It looked like whiskey. Maybe it was for pain. He didn’t seem to have been shot, but he was days from surgery having fought like that. It had to hurt. Maybe it was to calm down. Maybe… whatever.
Finally he spoke. “Of course. It’s already handled. It was handled the second it happened. Before it happened.”
Warden stepped toward me. “What do you need?”
“I’m leaving.”
He opened and closed his mouth. “Where do you propose to go?”
“I don’t propose anything. I’m going home. Presumably, it’s safe now. If it’s not, I guess that’s my problem. I’m done with this. No more. No fucking more. I don’t want this life. Not one second of it. Not anymore. If it’s a fake life to not know about the Alliance, then so be it. I’ll live in la-la land. I’m done. The straw broke the camel’s back. I am done. I am leaving.”
Kade came up behind me. “What you need, honey, is to lie down. We’ll get Judson. He should be almost done. He’ll give you something to calm down, to sleep. Then we talk…”
“No,” I yelled. I didn’t care. “I don’t need to be medicated. I don’t need to be pacified. I’m perfectly within my right mind, whatever is left of it. I am done with this.” I had to get all of this out. “I’m in love with all of you.” I didn’t expect any of them to say it back, and they didn’t. Love wasn’t really part of the equation with them. Obsession. Jealousy. They liked me. They wanted me, physically. To own me. To control me. The truth was I loved them.
I continued. “If you have any feelings for me, anything that’s real, you’re going to let me go, and you’re going to stay away from me so that somehow I can figure out how to survive.” I set down the cell phone. “I’m going. I’m going to… I don’t know. My father is dead. I don’t even know what to do, but I
’m going to figure it out. In the fake, non-Alliance world. I’ll never tell. Who would believe me, and I don’t want to go to jail. You can all get on with your lives, threatening each other, running things, taking over. I am not a factor anymore.”
I grabbed my suitcase. “I need you to do this for me.”
None of them spoke. I didn’t have their assurance, but I didn’t have their denial either. The truth was it had to sort of be a relief. I’d been nothing but a disaster since they took me to begin with. I scooted past them just as the elevator dinged.
Judson stepped through it. He took one look at the room, his mouth falling open. “What in the ever loving fuck?”
I stepped past him into the open elevator. “Goodbye, guys.”
The door shut.
I had no tears. Not when I was in the taxi. Not on the plane where the lady next to me chatted about her cat the whole time. Not in the rideshare back to my childhood home.
It wasn’t until I let the door close behind me that I cried. I didn’t even know what it was for. My father? Partially. Ben and the basement? Sort of. The girl I had once been? That was in there, for sure. The loss of five Letters who had both ruined and made my life?
Absolutely.
What now? What on earth was I going to do?
I didn’t have a clue.
* * *
Thank you so much for reading Dark Truths, while you wait for Deadly Truths, (Kiss Her Goodbye #3) I’d love for you to consider trying one of my 80+ other novels I have written in my ten years as a published author. (They also might reassure you that I always give my characters happy endings.) Please join my reader group on Facebook so we can stay in touch and you can hear about Deadly Truths there first: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rebeccasrandomness
Please turn the page for the complete list of my books and to learn more about me as an author.
Hugs,
Rebecca Royce
Afterword
Please Turn the page for a complete list of my books
About the Author
As a teenager, I would hide in my room to read my favorite romance novels when I was supposed to be doing my homework.
I am the mother of three adorable boys and I am fortunate to be married to my best friend. I live in Austin Texas where I am determined to eat all the barbecue in town.
I am in love with science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal and try to use all of these elements in my writing. I've been told I'm a little bloodthirsty so I hope that when you read my work you'll enjoy the action packed ride that always ends in romance. I love to write series because I love to see characters develop over time and it always makes me happy to see my favorite characters make guest appearances in other books.
In my world anything is possible, anything can happen, and you should suspect that it will.
I'd love to hear from you! Please visit my website at www.rebeccaroyce.com to sign up for my newsletter and learn about my books!
Here’s where you can find me online:
www.rebeccaroyce.com
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https://www.facebook.com/authorrebeccaroyce/
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Cheers!!
Rebecca
Other books by Rebecca Royce…
Wings of Artemis
Kidnapped By Her Husbands https://amzn.to/2BQdUxy
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Crashing Into Destiny https://amzn.to/2VkyXRL
Meeting Them https://amzn.to/2BLPaXm
Reclaiming Their Love https://amzn.to/2GKAw8E
Loving Them https://amzn.to/2BKDmEK
Ship Called Malice https://amzn.to/2BNputj
Saving Them https://amzn.to/2SsrBtH
Dark Demise https://amzn.to/2VidXv3
Light Unfolding https://amzn.to/2GO6Yqr
Still Waters https://amzn.to/2CFePT8
Rising Tides https://amzn.to/2MCdTlM
Lost Star (coming soon)
Pointed Arrow (coming soon)
Last Hope (completed series)
Tradition Be Damned
Past Be Damned
Destiny Be Damned
Compassion Be Damned
Future Be Damned
Dragon Wars (completed series)
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Wards and Wands
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Meow, Baby (novella, Coming Soon in Petting Them antho written with Ripley Proserpina)
Tragic Magic (Coming Soon)
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More coming soon….
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Hidden Alpha (coming soon)
The Capes (completed series)
Seductive Powers
Adrenaline Rush
Last Ascension
The Conditioned
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Unlawful (coming soon…)
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Love Beyond Sanity
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Love Beyond Lies (coming soon)
Cascade (completed series)
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Phoenix Everlasting
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Reverse Harem Story (completed series)
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Undeniable
Kiss Her Goodbye
Hard Truths
Dark Truths
Book Three (coming soon)
Shifter World
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No Quitting Allowed
Mr. Wrong
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The Vampire and The Virgin
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The Deluge (coming soon)
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Dark Truths: Kiss Her Goodbye #2 Page 22
