Revenge of a Queen (Black Hallows Book 2)

by G N Wright

  “Where did River go, Mommy?” her excited, innocent curiosity cracks my heart.

  “He had to go, baby,” I say trying to keep the emotion out of my voice, but I can tell it doesn’t go unnoticed by the two guys left here with me.

  Her face falls, “Oh,” she replies softly before perking up, “will he come back?”

  I should lie to her right? I should keep her innocent, pure heart intact and let her think the world is all sunshine and rainbows. Is that what a good mom would do? As much as that seems like the right thing to do, I just can’t bring myself to do it, so I tell her the truth.

  “Honestly, baby, I don’t know if he will,” I reply in my softest tone and her face shuts down.

  “Oh,” that one tiny word shatters me, and just when I think I will be okay, she runs over and hands me the piece of paper clutched in her small hands, “This was for him,” she adds before running back off to where she came from.

  I watch her go before looking down to see she has drawn two stick figures holding hands with crooked smiley faces. It’s something she has learned recently, which is quite advanced for her age. She usually draws herself, Asher, and I over and over again and makes me write our names, but this one is different. There are just two lone figures by a river and it's as clear as day that it's meant to be her and Marcus. My heart cracks worse than ever. How do you explain the harsh reality of the world to an innocent child?

  Chapter 3

  LINCOLN

  Iwatch as the emotions on Elle’s face come out in full force. It’s the most emotion I’ve ever seen her show before and it’s not good. The look on her face is heart-breaking, it’s a look of pure devastation. I can’t help but wonder how bad this look would have been when she was fourteen and had her innocence stolen. Hanging around the other two Rebels means I rarely get my hands dirty and turn to violence, I left that part of me in my past. Yet, I can’t lie and say I don’t have murderous thoughts about the low lives that did that to her. That my palms don’t itch to be coated in their blood, a feeling I know well, a feeling I miss, crave even.

  I don’t know what has made her so strong, well I guess I do, it’s that beautiful little girl that just walked out of the room. Seeing her hurt little face at Marcus being gone, honestly makes me want to punch him, even if I do understand him. He’s hurting, at what he thinks he knows, and I added to that hurt by betraying him. He probably won’t forgive me, but I can’t change that, and I wouldn’t. Changing that would mean betraying Elle, hurting her, and Cassie and that is something I will never do.

  I watch as Asher burns a hole through the piece of paper in Elle's hands. I can see how like me he is. His mind never stops turning, his thoughts a constant distraction. I can understand that completely. My focus is protecting my family. His sole focus is on the only two people that matter to him. We would do anything we had to in order to protect them.

  I wonder if he’s jealous of Marcus. They say they don’t have that type of relationship, but I can’t help but be curious about him. The dark prince of the Donovan name. Does he want her? Or were they telling the truth and it really isn’t like that between them? They are as close as family, which given their situation, makes perfect sense, but everything about him is an enigma. He is a Donovan after all, so what makes him different from his family? He is just as psychotic and dark as they are. Yet, I know the eyes of a sadistic murderer, and he doesn’t have them. He is just a boy trying to survive this town and the devils that run it.

  I look back to Elle as she takes a deep breath, I know her well enough now, to see her shields going back up. She allowed herself a quiet moment of weakness, a moment of mourning, for something Cassie will never have, and now she is shutting it down. It’s impressive really, makes me wonder if this is something natural to her or something she has learned, or should I say, been taught?

  I can tell that nothing more is going to be discussed here, she is still pissed off at me for bringing Jace, but I didn’t even think about it. It’s probably the first time I’ve not thought about doing something. I just got her panicked phone call, while I was grabbing lunch with Jace, and the tone in her voice had me flooring it here before he could even register what was going on. I know Jace and trust him implicitly, but I would never purposely betray Elle’s trust, I hope she knows that.

  “Is there anything else you need?” I ask gently.

  Asher is the first to reply, “I think you’ve done enough,” he snaps, and I roll my eyes, making him narrow his eyes at me. I ignore him and focus on Elle as she finally looks up at me.

  “No,” she says with a soft smile. “Thank you for coming but no, you should go. He needs you more than I do.”

  I huff a dry laugh, “I think the days of him relying on me for anything are over,” I reply with a grim smile which she returns. She understands, I took a risk for her by keeping her secrets from Marcus, now I will pay the price but it's a price worth every penny. “Just call me if you need anything,” I say, nodding to the two of them before I turn to leave.

  I knew I wouldn’t get away without a warning from Asher. I hear him behind me but don’t react. Before I make it to the door, he is grabbing me and pinning me to the wall by my throat. Fuck. It isn’t the first time someone has had me gripped by the throat but it’s the first time I have more than fucking liked it. His touch elicits something in me that I rarely feel, need, pure carnal need. What the fuck? The last thing I need, is to be lusting over a fucking psychopath who may or may not be in love with his best friend.

  His grip is firm and tight just how I like it, it makes me realize how long it’s been since I have fucked anyone. Trust me when I say there aren't a lot of guys around here that I would let into my bed, even for just the night.

  “Donovan,” I say as casually I can manage.

  “I am only going to say this once, Blackwell, so let me make myself perfectly clear. Marcus and that other lost boy in your sad little crew are your responsibility. If you or they step out of line and become a problem, I will not hesitate to neutralize you.”

  “I’m not scared of you, Donovan,” I try to keep my voice smooth and calm, but his closeness is intoxicating. Like Icarus flying too close to the sun. A touch from him is like a touch from the devil, like molten lava, dark, burning, and branding. I feel my cock hardening in my jeans and if he moves any closer, I am sure he will feel it.

  He laughs a sinister laugh as he leans in closer to me, “I’ve dealt with bigger threats than the South Side Rebels,” he uses his free hand to poke at my chest as he continues, “you are a blip on nobody’s radar,” poke, “I will revel in making you scream if I need to,” poke.

  “And who makes you scream?” I reply before I can stop myself, that dark look in his eyes taunts me. I think about the few encounters we have had with each other, I barely took notice of him, other than being Donovan's youngest son, before Elle got to town. I mean yeah, I dug up his entire life and could tell you every school grade he’s ever earned, or how he works out in the same place every weekday, but it’s all shallow stuff. Nothing of real interest to tell me about him as a person. No, that comes with our interactions between Elle. I have watched him closer than ever.

  People think that Elliot and Greg Donovan are bad men, and they are. They’re truly evil and only live for power and money. Asher Donovan is moulded by the two of them, except much worse. Because he isn’t like them. Asher doesn’t care about his money, doesn’t relish in his power. No, he lives for family, for love, and to protect these two girls. There is nothing more dangerous than that.

  “None of your fucking business,” he snaps back, before taking a deep breath. “Don’t underestimate me, Lincoln. You think my father and brother are bad because they commit their crimes in the light of day, but you’ve seen nothing. The shadows of the night hide my crimes and when I bury a body, it stays buried. I don’t care who I have to bleed out, as long as the blood doesn’t belong to those two girls in there.”

  “On that we can agree,” I reply
honestly. “You can trust me,” I add, even though I know that is the last thing he is going to do. I thought when Elle welcomed me into the fold and I found out about Cassie, he would soften up to me, but I was wrong. Asher Donovan is a fucking vault; I’ll be lucky if I ever break through.

  He laughs, “I trust nobody. Trust is earned and you have done nothing to earn mine. That being said,” he finally releases his grip on my throat, I should feel relief, but I don’t. I watch as he looks around to make sure we are still alone and then he reaches into his pocket and slams something into my chest. I rush to grab it as he pulls his hand away before it falls to the floor. I don’t let my gaze leave his but from touch alone I can tell it’s a USB. “For your viewing pleasure only,” he adds, and I cock a brow at him, he huffs another breath. “Elle has enough on her plate today, so you look into this alone for now. Don’t make me regret this.”

  He doesn’t wait for my response before he turns and heads back towards where he left Elle. I don’t waste my time leaving the house and climb into my SUV before I adjust my still painfully hard cock. Fuck, where the fuck has this come from? That is so not going to happen, for so many reasons.

  1. He’s Asher fucking Donovan.

  2. He’s straight.

  3. He’s a fucking psychopath that would murder me in cold blood if the right mood struck him.

  I put the car in drive and leave before I get myself into any more trouble today. I put Asher Donovan out of my mind and bring my thoughts back to the other man who's also a thorn in my side: Marcus Riviera.

  I enter the loft and find Jace coming from down the hall where Marcus’ room is, he sees me instantly and offers me a sad smile.

  “He’s not here,” he says even though from the silence it’s obvious. If Marcus were here things would be loud, there would be shouting, fighting, breaking, and drinking. Lots of drinking.

  I head straight into my office and turn on my laptop and check my tracking program. I created it over a year ago, the guys and I have been using it ever since. We have it programmed into our phones and cars, even his bike. They sync up with a program on our phones and a chip in our watches, we can use both to set off an SOS if need be. I click onto Marcus' name and they are all black. Fuck. Green means everything is okay, red means we are in trouble, and black means they aren’t on which right now means only one thing. Marcus has gone off the grid.

  Chapter 4

  ELLE

  It’s been a week. A week since Marcus walked out of the house, with my biggest secret, and nobody has seen him since. I’d like to say things have been fine without him, but that would be a lie, everything is a fucking train wreck. I’m angry, the two remaining Rebels are lost, and Asher is downright insufferable. Don’t even get me started on his pathetic band of merry followers at school, the boys think it means open season for their chance at top dog, and the girls are heartbroken that their King isn’t here to pine over.

  It’s Monday lunchtime, I’m on edge but settled into my new normal of eating lunch at the Rebels’ table. Marcus might be gone but Lincoln and Jace have barely left my side. It should be annoying, but I’d be lying if I said it was. It’s actually quite nice, relaxing even, to know that no matter where I am, someone has always got my back. I understand now what Marcus found in his brothers, that he didn’t have before on the North Side. I mean yeah, we had each other, and he tolerated Ash for me, but he never really had that friendship with guys, that brotherhood where you always have each other's backs. He found that in his Rebels, and then I came back and ruined it. How much more am I gonna take from him?

  Now that both Linc and Jace have become privy to the other half of my life they have become a fixture at the Royton household. With Marcus gone, we have taken to having dinner together for the last four nights. It’s probably stupid to invite them further into my life, especially considering Jace still doesn’t even know half of the truth, but I couldn’t stop it. Cassie asked for Marcus for three days straight before I caved and invited Lincoln back over to appease her slightly. With Linc came Jace. There was no point shutting him out anymore, considering he knows about Cass and unsurprisingly they have quite the little friendship going.

  Jace is still pissed at me for not trusting him. Not about the fact that I didn’t tell him, but the fact then when he found out I asked him to keep it quiet. Like it was a given for him. He doesn’t understand why I had to ask, and I get it. He has been telling me I’m part of their fucked up little family ever since I got back to Hallows. But what he doesn’t understand is how hard it is for me to trust people with my secret. Cassie is everything to me and the more people that know about her the more danger she is in.

  I flick my gaze around the cafeteria, and I see about fifty percent of the student population watching us but pretending they aren’t. They are all wondering where their King is, and what his absence means. I grind my teeth at the fucking bullshit high school drama that I know is going to unfold. Last week people were cautious, but now that we are into the second week of school without an appearance from Marcus things are going to get complicated. Someone is going to mess with the power balance, I just have to wait to see who it’s going to be.

  The bell rings signalling the end of lunch and everyone starts to move.

  “We doing dinner at Casa De Royton tonight?” Jace asks, and the guilt overtakes me immediately knowing Linc and I have revenge plans tonight.

  With all the commotion of Marcus finding out about Cassie, I completely forgot that the reason Asher came to the house that day was because he said he found something. Something he then trusted Lincoln with, before me, but tonight we deal with it together. Asher will resume his usual role of Cassie's protector while Lincoln and I check out the intel.

  I look to Linc who is happily leaving me to deal with this alone, he is firmly on team ‘everyone should know the truth’. Dick.

  “Actually, Linc and I have stuff to do tonight so--” I start, and he cuts me off, gesturing his hands into the air like he doesn’t care, but I know he does.

  “Say no more, princess,” he replies as he turns to walk away.

  “Fuck,” I mutter to myself as I turn back to Linc, he just shrugs and turns to take after Jace.

  “Meet you out front later,” he calls over his shoulder like a condescending dick. Like I don’t know that's where he will be. Between him, Ash, and Zack, I’m not allowed to drive myself anywhere.

  Once the cafeteria is empty, I finally make my way to leave, but when I get into the hallway, they aren’t deserted like I expected. No, instead practically everyone in the school is crowded around something. What did I just say? I knew it.

  I move to the bank of lockers on my left and use a ridge on one of the bottom ones to hoist myself up so I can get a better view at what is going on. I find Jace and Lincoln surrounded by a few guys from our shitty football team. A team that wouldn’t dare to approach the Rebels under usual circumstances, but with Marcus gone they think they stand a chance. I get it, Lincoln is the computer geek and Jace is the jokester, Marcus is seen as the threat of the three. God, these people are dumb fucks. Even without Marcus, these two could take on the five of them and more and come out on top. They are all an equal threat in their own rights.

  I count five guys in total, but one is front and center and it’s clear he likes to think of himself as the leader of this band of clueless assholes. He’s tall and built but nowhere near the level that Marcus or the guys are. He’s got dark hair and dark eyes and a stupid fucking shave in his eyebrow that he thinks makes him look sexy. Spoiler alert it doesn’t. I move closer and start catching the gist of the conversation.

  “What are you gonna do, Lincoln, throw your iPad at me?” he taunts, and a few people laugh. I can see the divide already forming. A bunch of students surround his little crew and that tells me that there are a lot of snakes in this building that don’t support the Rebels. This is going to become a problem unless it gets shut down and fast. I ignore whatever Lincoln responds with and look arou
nd until my gaze settles on a girl close to me. She is standing back and looks like she has no interest in whatever high school politics are being played out right now. My kinda girl. I move towards her until I am next to her and give her a nudge, she startles and then her gaze meets mine.

  “Who’s the douche?” I ask flicking my head towards the guy who is continuing to talk a big game to two very amused Rebels.

  “Chad McCormick,” she replies quietly.

  I just nod as I bring up the program on my phone that allows me to run his name through it. It’s a program Zack came up with that features every person in this school, both student and faculty. It houses every piece of information on them, from birth certificate and school records to medical reports and dirty secrets. Basically, anything we could use against them or could be used against us. When I have what I need, I pocket my phone and nod my thanks to the girl who offers me a smile, like she knows exactly what I am going to do. Ha, she really has no idea.

  I move stealthily around the crowd until I am leaning on a row of lockers that has a space between the two opposing sides with a clear view. I miss whatever Jace just said to the guy, but I don’t miss him sliding on a pair of knuckle dusters and I have to smile. My little pretty boy has good taste in weapons.

  The prick starts again, “You really think the two of you can take us?” he says loudly and puffs out his chest, like he thinks that will make him seem scarier. I stifle a laugh.

  “What about me?” I say loudly, in a bored tone and every eye turns at once to look at me, no one noticed me before now. I ignore the grimace on both Lincoln and Jace's face in favor of the asshole with a god complex.

  “Do I not count because I have a pussy?” I muse even louder and see a few people on our side snigger.

  “What is Marcus’ whore of the month gonna do to me?” he replies coolly, I see the tension pouring off the Rebels, this isn’t just about a petty turf war now, it’s about disrespect.