In Malice (The Stolen Queen Book 1)

by A. M. Hodges

  Lucah

  I decide that I am going to go check on Reyna. We dropped a lot of hard information today and I have no doubt that she is going to be overwhelmed. I shout to Jeb that I am leaving and head out the front door, beginning my walk to her house. I know the route to her house like the back of my hand by now.

  Since I really don't want to face the wrath of Jeb, I have been watching her regularly to make sure she doesn't encounter any trouble. Her life is pretty boring actually. She doesn't seem to have any friends except the brown-haired boy she always spars with at the gym. She doesn't party or stay out late. Most of the time I just see her in her room studying or laying on the chaise watching a show.

  She goes to school, practice, the gym, and sometimes that old auto shop but that's it. I don't know a lot about her world, but I do know most girls her age don't spend every single night at home, even in my world. As I walk up her driveway, I hear music coming out of the house. There are no cars in the driveway, and there doesn't appear to be any signs of a party going on. Curious.

  Knocking on the front door, I doubt that she can hear me, so I try the handle and find that it is unlocked. When I walk in, I am greeted with quite the scene. Reyna is dancing around the living room, bottle of liquor in hand, singing along to the music. The bottle looks to be at least a quarter of the way gone. Gods, she is plastered.

  Deciding that I should probably get her to stop drinking, or at least take a break, I cautiously walk into the living room and try to get her attention. When she spots me, she stumbles in my direction, bleary eyed with a drunken smile on her face. "Lucaaaaahhh!" she drawls, "Nice of you to stop by, come on in and join the party."

  "Are you drunk?"

  "Nuh uh" is all she manages.

  "I think you should probably take a break now Reyna," I say as I reach for the bottle in her hand. She immediately snatches it out of my reach, holding it close to her chest and poking out her bottom lip like a toddler.

  "Mine."

  "Reyna, seriously. Just give me that bottle."

  "Oh my god, I love this song!" she squeals as she runs over and jumps up onto the small table in the room.

  A song that appears to be a female pop group starts playing though the speakers. Now she is dancing on the table and pointing at me as she sings through the beginning of the song. Peering at her phone, I see that it says "Wannabe" by a group called The Spice Girls. I stand there watching her, highly amused at the sight.

  She is now using the tequila bottle as a microphone and dancing in circles on top of the table, putting on her own little concert. Leaning against the doorway, I cross my arms and continue to watch the show.

  Then she turns to face me and starts singing, well yelling really, the next part of the song at me. She is really getting into it, pointing at me the signaling to her ear before waving her arms in various motions. All the sudden, her face turns serious and she gets down from the table. Stumbling over once again, she stops in front of me and narrows her eyes.

  "I owe you for Saturday," she slurs.

  Before I can understand what she means, she launches herself at me, tackling me to the floor. She is now straddling my chest and pulling my hair while trying to pin down my arms with her knees. I am trying to push her off, so that I can get up and run away honestly, but she is savagely attacking my head now, so I lay there protecting myself with my arms guarding my face. When she goes to try a different move, I take the opening shove her backwards onto her ass and get up and run to the kitchen.

  Pulling out my phone, I dial Jeb and silently will him to answer me quickly.

  "What's wrong Lucah," he sighs through the phone sounding annoyed. He must hear the music because his tone sharpens,

  "Where the hell are you?"

  "Jeb, I need your help," I shout frantically, "you need to get to Reyna's house. QUICKLY."

  I hear a loud battle cry followed by running footsteps before I feel a giant weight crash into my back. My breath whooshes from my mouth as the impact knocks the wind out of me. She has jumped on me and is now latched onto my back trying to knock me down.

  "Lucah what the hell is going on!" he shouts through the phone.

  "Ouch!" I yelp. Did she just fucking bite me.

  "Lucah!" he continues shouting.

  "She's trying to fucking fight me!" I shout frantically into the phone, “REYNA. STOP. BITING. ME.”

  Jeb then chuckles. He fucking CHUCKLES.

  "Alright, just hold on, I'm on my way."

  I spend what feels like hours defending myself from Reyna's constant attacks before I see Jeb walk through the door. He must have taken his sweet time getting here. Seeming to enjoy this little spectacle, he stands against the doorway grinning at me and watching as she has me pinned flat on my stomach in the middle of the hallway. Bastard.

  "Hah!" she yells triumphant, "Gotcha bitch."

  Jeb lets out another laugh before finally coming over to pull her off me. Reyna stands there, huge smile plastered on her face, looking highly pleased with herself.

  "What was that all about?" Jeb asks looking in my direction.

  "Oh, don't look at me like that! It wasn't my fault. She started it!" I exclaim.

  "Oh, he knows what it was about. It was much deserved payback. Woah," she starts to sway, sticking out her arms for balance, "I don't feel so good."

  "Maybe you should sit down," Jeb suggests.

  I'm not touching her, or saying anything to her, to avoid the risk of her attacking me again. If I lay so much as a pinky on her with Jeb in the room, I would be facing much worse and more painful consequences.

  Jeb grabs her arms and leads her to the chaise.

  "Oh Jeb," she giggles, "there's two of you. Do you have a twin? If you do, I would like to thank your mother on behalf of all women for making two of you."

  "Yes, I do have a twin, but he isn't here. You're just drunk," he says calmly, fighting a grin.

  "Oh," she giggles again, "oops."

  I walk over and turn off the music before going to stand next to them and Reyna gets quiet again. She sits there for a few minutes and then looks up in a panic.

  "I think I am going to throw up," she says frantically before leaning over and throwing up -all over my shoes.

  "Oh, come on," I groan dragging my hands down my face. "Sorry," she slurs before laying back and closing her eyes.

  We soon realize that she is out cold, so Jeb carries her upstairs while I clean up my shoes. She is going to be a handful for sure. I don't think we know what we are getting ourselves into. And we thought Rune was bad.

  Reyna

  Those stupid little faeries with jack hammers are back and going to town in my head. I have no idea what I did last night, or how I got into bed. Groaning, I get up and walk over to my mirror to see the damage of last night’s escapades. On the mirror written in black expo marker, is a note.

  Good Morning Krasivaya,

  I put you to bed last night after you tried to fight Lucah and threw up on his shoes. He also says that you put on a concert standing on top of your table. Take an aspirin and meet us at the house when you wake.

  -Jeb

  Oh, that's just fucking perfect. Turns out I didn't have the luxury of no one seeing me make an ass of myself. I would have been okay with Miles seeing it. Hell, I would have even been okay with dealing with Jackson. But Jeb and Lucah? I am absolutely mortified.

  I can't believe they saw that. Dancing on a table? What is wrong with me. To make is worse I apparently not only tried to fight Lucah, which I am guessing was due to some left-over anger from the gym the other day, but then I made it worse and threw up on him. Now all I want to do is crawl back in bed, hide under the covers and wait to disappear.

  Unfortunately, I can't do that. So, I stomp to my bathroom and turn on the shower. I also woke up with a yearning for more information on their world. My mind is still processing everything I heard yesterday, but I can't help but wanting to know more. I need to know more about my brother and my parents.
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br />   The questions that have been hounding me my entire life can finally be answered and I'm not sure if I'm more scared or excited. Washing my hair, I focus on getting all my questions together. I'm not leaving that house until I get my answers. As I rinse the conditioner out of my hair, something dawns on me. Shit! I was so focused on my humiliation and the potential for answers that I have completely forgot that it's Thursday and I am supposed to be in school.

  It’s way too late to call in or even text someone to get notes for me, considering I slept until noon, so I guess I will just have to bite the bullet on missing today. Quickly turning off the water and getting out of the shower, I wrap myself in a towel and walk to my nightstand. I pull out my agenda to make sure that I don't miss any tests or quizzes. Thankfully, there are none today. It is as day of reviewing for the midterm, which I am a little disappointed that I am missing, but at least I have all the study guides already.

  Since I feel like I've been hit by a bus, actually make that a semi-truck carrying a bus, I throw on a pair of track pants and a tshirt. Tossing my hair up into a messy bun, I grab my phone and shoot a text to Jackson, apologizing for missing school and explaining that I overslept. Hopefully, he won't be too upset since I rarely miss school and my grades always stay up when I do. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I turn everything off and head to the mansion.

  The temperature dropped again, making me wish that I had thrown on the jacket to my track suit. Walking up the steps to the mansion, I don't even bother knocking when I reach the door. I walk in and head straight up the stairs to the study. The door is cracked, and I can hear Jeb and Lucah arguing. As soon as they hear my footsteps, they go silent. I walk in, feeling highly embarrassed now that I am facing Jeb and the enormous grin on his face.

  "Well hey there party girl. How you feeling?" he jests.

  Lucah is standing in the corner looking highly annoyed but isn't making his usual sarcastic comments.

  "Um, I'm alright, I guess. Lucah, are you okay? I am so sorry."

  "If I speak or come within a five-foot radius of you," he looks at me cautiously, "are you going to attack me?"

  Jeb lets out a low laugh and I feel my face warm.

  "No," I promise, "I won't attack you. I think it’s all out of my system now."

  "Good," he nods walking to stand next to Jeb and his smirk finally makes an appearance on his face, "that was some show you put on last night. Who knew you were such a, what were they called? Oh, a Spice Girls fan."

  They both laugh at my expense and my face heats again.

  "Can we please change the subject before I rethink my answer and ruin your face instead of your shoes this time?"

  "Dream on princess," he winks.

  "Alright, that's enough," Jeb says, "as much as I would love to see you ruin his face, as you put it, I happen to like this rug and I don't need the two of you ruining it with your antics. Besides, we have things to discuss."

  I don't like the sound of that. I don't like it one bit. Jeb motions for us to sit and, of course, I choose the chaise. It may not be as pretty as mine, but it'll do.

  "I have questions," I state before they can continue, "and I want answers. True answers, no matter how ugly."

  They exchange a glance and Jeb nods his approval to Lucah. "Alright," Lucah said, "but then you will listen."

  I don’t hesitate, "Where are my parents? Why did they give me up?"

  A sorrowful look passes over their faces before Jeb answers.

  "Your parents are dead Reyna," he says softly, "they didn't give you up. They loved you, and Rune, immensely.”

  They loved me. The air feels like it’s been knocked from my chest. My heart shatters, and tears spring to my eyes. I don't know what I was expecting to hear, but it wasn't that. I guess I was expecting to hear some sob story of how they were forced to give me up and how it was the hardest decision they would ever make. I came here wanting to justify the anger simmering under the surface about being abandoned.

  If I were standing, I would be on my knees right now. Even though I never knew them, the pain I feel knowing that they are gone is overwhelming. I would never know my parents. My ears will never hear my father's voice and I will never feel the safety of my mother's warmth. I will never hear them tell me that they love me or have them hold me while I cry.

  Trying to make myself as small as possible, I pull my feet onto the chaise and hug my knees to my chest.

  "Do you want me to continue?" Jeb asks softly.

  I nod through my tears.

  "I'll start with the war, and the treaty I was telling you about," he begins, "your mother was Valkyn and your father was Pixie. Long ago, the two races felt that there could not be two ruling families. So, the two great armies went to battle for power. The rest of the continent stayed out of it, not wanting to be caught in the middle of a warrior feud. It was long, it was bloody, and it was devastating to both sides. Many lives were lost, and families were torn apart. After many years of fighting, they reached a truce. One child from each royal family, the eldest son and daughter, were set to wed and form one royal line to rule over the continent. A century later, your mother gave birth to you and your brother." He pauses, allowing me to soak up the information.

  "How long was the war?" I whisper.

  "Three hundred years," Lucah answers.

  Three hundred years. Which means at four hundred, we were born. Holy shit.

  "How old are you?" I ask.

  "Lucah is only one hundred, I am nine hundred years old." Jeb answers this time, "I fought in the civil war, and we both fought in the most recent war."

  They both pause, waiting for me to ask another question.

  "Do you want him to keep going?" Lucah asks as he takes a seat next to me and begins rubbing my back again. Jeb seems to tense every time Lucah touches me. Because that’s not weird at all.

  I nod again, and Jeb continues.

  "Twenty years ago, another war broke out. This time, between the continents. The details of it don't matter for now, but your mother became pregnant during the war. You and your brother were cherished, protected by all. When you were around five or six months old, you disappeared. The people of Angof claimed that they killed you, and your parents were devastated. Your mother couldn't cope with your death, she took her life only seven months later. Your father lost himself in battle and was soon killed because of his recklessness.”

  “The royal families then decided that we could not have any more losses and brokered a truce. Because of you, there is a peace treaty. At least there was, until Rune found out that you were alive. He has become increasingly hostile over the last few years. The families took over until Rune became of age, and he has been waiting for you to return home to rule beside him."

  Having a hard time processing everything that was said, my brain sticks to one piece of information.

  "Are you saying I am a princess?" I whimper, half hoping that they will laugh at me and tell me no.

  "No darling," Lucah murmurs.

  The weight is just starting to lift from my chest when Jeb decides to finish the sentence.

  “You are a queen.”

  Chapter 8

  "Are you kidding? Please tell me you're kidding," I jump from my seat and start to pace. He must be kidding. I can handle being born in a different realm. I can handle being some weird warrior hybrid. What I absolutely cannot handle is being a queen. The look they are both giving me though, tells me that they are far from kidding. Slowly, they both drop into a bow.

  No fucking way. "Stop it. Stop it right now. Get up." I snap, jabbing my finger at them.

  With a smirk, they both rise to stand in front of me. I just stand there, staring at them, still waiting for them to tell me that it’s a joke. It seriously has to be a joke. What do they mean I am their queen? I've never been responsible for anyone or anything. I've never even had a pet! How the hell am I supposed to rule a continent in a different freaking realm. The answer is: I’m not. I won’t. they can fuck right off.r />
  "There will be no more of that here. I am just Reyna. A poor little orphan girl, not a queen."

  They both look at each other like they want to argue. Taking the look on my face into consideration, the one that says I’m on the edge and not to push me, they only nod in agreement instead.

  Returning to my seat, I take a deep breath, "Tell me about Rune."

  Jeb looks at Lucah and signals him to explain.

  "Rune is a lot like you, or at least he was until he took the throne. He used to be rambunctious and so full of joy. But when he took the throne, he started to become cold. The responsibility changed him; I think. A boy so young can only handle but so much, especially after losing his entire family. He took the throne on his thirteenth birthday and as you know, he found out about you shortly after.”

  Thirteen. I couldn’t imagine ruling a continent at thirteen.

  “He became torn between his duty to the continent and his love for you. It made him restless and crass. He used all his spare time to plan and prepare to bring you home. Just know Reyna, even though the two of you were separated as infants and you have no memories of each other, his love for you is very strong. He keeps your baby picture in a frame in his room and has since he was a child. He has always known that you existed."