A Hurt So Sweet Volume Four: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Elite of Eden Falls Prep Book 4)

by Isabella Starling

  "Want more?" she asks right away, not even waiting for my response as she refills my cup.

  "God, please, no," I mutter. "I hate it."

  She doesn't insist, but I know she will sooner rather than later.

  "Aren't you going to have any?" I ask her with furrowed brows.

  "No," she replies cheerily without offering any kind of explanation.

  "But why-" Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots through my stomach. I grip the table for support and grit my teeth together. "Shit."

  "Language!" she says in a shocked voice. "Watch that filthy mouth, Pandora. Anyway, this is for the best. Truly, truly for the best."

  "What?" I manage, gasping for breath as the pain subsides, then hits again with renewed strength. "Oh God, I don't feel good at all."

  "It will pass," she replies with a beatific smile. "Have more of the tea."

  She pushes the golden cup toward me again just as another awful cramp makes me double over.

  "I don't want this awful tea!" I hiss, sweeping the cup off the table. It shatters. The tea spills all over the floor, and my mother seems pissed off at my disobedience.

  "Well, be that way if you must," she says with a huff of resignation. "The amount you drank should be enough, anyway."

  "Enough?" I whisper. "Enough for what?"

  "To get rid of it, of course." She smiles. Her teeth are so perfect. She's the picture of beautiful, unmarred beauty. And she's fucking evil. "It's for the best, like I said, darling. You don't want to be stuck with a baby when you're as young as you are. It absolutely will ruin your life."

  "What the hell are you talking about?" I rasp as I pick myself up from my seat, still gripping my belly. "And what the hell was in that tea?"

  "Valerian root," she smiles. "An old family recipe. You're in the last stages where it will work now. I had to hurry, didn't I?"

  "Are you trying to make me lose the baby?"

  "It's for the best," she repeats for the umpteenth time. "I should have done the same, really."

  "But I'm your only child," I groan.

  "And I'm trying to save you from the same pitfalls I faced on my journey," she chirps, picking herself up, too. She wets a cloth with water and presses it to my forehead. "Don't worry, my pretty girl. It won't take long. Just a few hours."

  "I need a doctor," I demand. "Call an ambulance, for God's sake!"

  "Why on earth would I do that?" she smiles, oblivious. "I've done this before. It will work, like it always does."

  "Are you fucking crazy?" I growl, grabbing her arm. "I don't want to lose this baby! I can't lose this baby!"

  "It's for the best," she repeats, but her voice is smaller and a little scared now.

  "What on earth is going on here?" Alli appears in the doorframe and I stumble toward her. She catches me in her arms, shooting murderous glances at Mother. "What the hell did you do to her, you crazy old hag?"

  "I'm not old," Mother pouts.

  "She gave me some tea to get r-rid of the b-b-baby," I manage.

  "Fuck," Alli mutters. "Come on."

  She helps me up. I feel overheated and delirious, barely taking in our surroundings as she leads me down the hallway into one of the obnoxious pink bathrooms in this place. She helps me lean over the toilet bowl and demands I shove my fingers down my throat.

  "Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" I whisper, my heart beating so fast I'm convinced it will just burst through my chest. "Get a doctor to help?"

  "You need to get it out of your system," Alli insists. "We'll see a doctor as soon as we can. Please, Pandora." She grips my hand with unexpected strength. "We can't lose this baby, Pandora."

  I'm touched by how much she cares, so I nod with determination and shove three fingers down my throat. The tea comes up again, and I spit it out in the toilet bowl. It takes several excruciating minutes, but once it's done, I instantly feel better. The poison is out of my system, and my mother's wicked plan to make me lose the baby didn't work after all.

  I collapse on the cool, pink bathroom tile with my head against the wall.

  "I can't believe she did that," I whisper.

  "She's sick." Alli slumps down next to me. "She's a sick, horrible, awful woman."

  "We need to get out of here." She nods in agreement. "The sooner we can leave, the better. But where on earth could we go? I can't go back to Eden Falls yet. I want the baby here when I do that."

  "I know," she mutters, chewing her bottom lip. "Well... there's a place where I could take you. It's very secluded and no one knows about it—it doesn't get used very often."

  "Oh?" I furrow my brows.

  "I'll tell you all about it. But we need to get you to bed and you need to get some rest first. I'll call a doctor for you tomorrow."

  She moves to get up, but I grab her palm, turning my pleading eyes to hers. "You won't let her hurt me, will you, Alli? I don't want to lose the baby. I can't lose it. Please."

  "I know." She rubs my hand. "I'll watch out for you, don't worry. I'm not letting that wicked witch anywhere near you. And we'll leave as soon as we can. Now come on."

  She helps me get up. With her help, I somehow make it through the house to the upper floor and the room we've been sharing. I don't catch another glimpse of Mother, which I'm grateful for. If I did, I'd drive my fist into her face and ruin it forever. She probably knows that, too, which is why she's staying hidden.

  "I can't believe she did that," I mutter when I'm lying in bed later. "She tried to take it away from me."

  "She's awful," Alli mutters. "A monster. But don't worry, we'll leave soon. And then it'll just be the two of us."

  I nod and shut my eyes, allowing dreams to take over.

  My last memory is Alli holding my hand as I drift off to a troubled, fitful sleep.

  I'm so lucky to have someone like her on my side.

  6

  Dexter

  "What the fuck are you doing here?"

  "Hello to you too," I hiss into the video intercom. "Let us in. We have important matters to discuss."

  The voice disappears, and the five of us stand there uselessly, until the gates finally open. I exchange a triumphant smile with Easton, then get back in the car. We pull up in front of Oakes Estate, where Emilian is already waiting in front of the house, with brows knitted together and his arms crossed.

  We get out of the car, and the man smirks at me.

  "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," he drawls out. "Dexter motherfucking Booth. Let you out of jail, did they? Do they just let murderers walk the streets these days?"

  I ignore his shitty remarks and walk past him into his own home. He grunts something but follows closely behind. I know he's curious. He knows I wouldn't show up here unless I had something useful for him, so he doesn't object as we all file into his study, taking our seats. I sit on his desk, running a hand through my dark hair and waiting for everyone to settle so I can start talking. The silence in the room soon becomes deafening. Everyone is on the edge of their seat. This conversation will change so many lives. I need to be damn sure I want to condemn Lily Anna like this. But one memory is enough to seal her fate.

  Lai's dead, unmoving body on the floor.

  She killed him.

  And she's going fucking down.

  "I'm here to talk about something that is of interest to you," I tell Emilian. "But it's going to cost you."

  He laughs, shaking his head as he sits down behind his desk and motions for me to get up. But I don't, smirking at the man. He should know what I have is valuable. He should know I'm going to make him pay.

  "What's it going to cost me?" he wanders out loud with a careless smile. "I doubt you have anything of interest to me, Booth."

  "It's about Lily Anna." His smile falls and we face off, his eyes flashing with interest.

  "What about her?"

  "Lots of things you don't know." I watch his fists under the table, the veins standing out on his knuckles. He fucking hates this. Hates knowing he's not the one who holds a
ll the power right now. "So, let's start with my first question. Where the fuck is Pandora?"

  He stares me down. "Tit for tat, Booth. What about Lily Anna?"

  "She's not dead," Julian cuts in impatiently. "Now give us what we want if you want to know more."

  I watch Oakes closely for his reaction. He pales instantly. His skin turns ghostly. He had no idea about this. At times during the past few years, I've wondered whether he had any suspicion about Lily Anna, but his reaction proves he was fucking clueless.

  "P-Pandora... She's with her mother," he manages. "In Stormcliff."

  "Her mother?" I furrow my brows. "I thought Angela was dead."

  "We all have our secrets," Emilian mutters. "And she's very much alive, as one of you knows very well."

  I follow his gaze to Easton, who looks guilty as fuck.

  "You knew about this?" I hiss.

  "I gave her the address," he mutters. "I didn't think she'd go there. I thought she'd just go to Wildwood."

  "You thought wrong," I hiss in response. I'll deal with him later. There are more important issues at hand. Including finding out what happened to the two girls who shaped my life, past, present and hopefully, future. "Lily Anna is out to hurt her."

  "How do you know that?" Oakes demands.

  "Because I'm not a clueless fucking idiot?" I snap back, rubbing my temples. "Our first step is checking CCTV. If we can find a security camera in town... maybe we can confirm whether Lily Anna has found Pandora."

  "Where was she all this time?" Emilian hisses. "Did you fucking keep her from me?"

  "Of course I did," I snap. "You would've hurt her. She was fucking afraid of you, you piece of shit. You wanted her, and she knew it."

  "She's not my biological daughter," he tries in vain to defend himself.

  "And yet you're the one who raised her," Caspian reminds him.

  "She always saw you as her father," I nod. "Too bad you didn't understand that. Either way, she was safer with me. And everyone in this room was fucking safer that way, too. I'm assuming you heard about Lai?"

  "What about him?" Oakes feigns nonchalance, but I can see how pale he is. He already knows it was her. "He's gone. Dead meat."

  "Because of her," I grind out. "Because of Lily Anna. She killed him, and escaped. And now she's after Pandora."

  "Why would she try to hurt Pandora?" Oakes asks. "She has no motive."

  "I'm the motive." I get up from the desk and pace the room until I reach the bar cart. Pouring myself a glass of expensive bourbon, I ignore Emilian's judging stare and throw the drink back. "She doesn't want to share me with anyone. And it's been that way since the beginning."

  "So you know," Emilian mutters. "You know about your parents?"

  "If you mean that Lily Anna killed them, yes," I hiss. "Anything else you hid from me?"

  The man shrugs carelessly. "She's my priority, not you. I protect my own."

  "You also fuck them up," I mutter. "You're the reason she's like this."

  "Now, now, gentlemen," Easton interrupts. "Let's not point fingers. Our number one priority is finding Pandora, and Lily Anna."

  "I'll make a call," Emilian grunts, pulling out his phone. "Try to get my friend to get us the CCTV feed from the train station, where she probably boarded the train for Stormcliff."

  I busy myself by talking to the guys until Emilian calls us over to his desk. He's got the security feed pulled up on his computer. We all watch the stranded platform in Eden Falls. Some commuters board the train to Northcliff. There's a hooded figure on the platform, lying on a bench with their cap pulled over their face.

  And then she appears.

  Pandora Oakes, with a small bag in her hand, and a determined stride. She boards the train. My heart fucking stops when I see her, but the quality of the feed is too shitty for me to make out anything other than the fact it's unmistakably her.

  I'm so focused on Pandora I barely notice the hooded, capped figure moving on the other end of the screen.

  But Julian points to it, and we watch in silence as the person pulls their hood back and watches Pandora board.

  It's Lily Anna.

  There's no mistaking her frail, petite figure. I'd recognize her anywhere.

  My eyes snap to Emilian's. I feel sorry for him then, seeing his fisted hands and his pale face. He does love her. As sick and as wrong as that love is, he wants the best for her. And he's starting to recognize his love of the girl is wrong. Maybe he'll even let her go after all this is over.

  If I don't fucking kill her first.

  "It's her," I mutter. "We need to go." Emilian picks himself up and I glare at him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

  "Coming with you."

  "Like fuck you are." I glare at him. "Pandora doesn't need you there."

  "But Lily Anna does," he hisses, shoving me aside.

  This time, I don't object. At the very least, Oakes will stop me from committing a murder for real. Because the moment I get my hands on Lily Anna, she should fear for her life.

  I'm not beyond killing her to save Pandora.

  The ride to Stormcliff is four hours. We sit in the Oakes' limo, with Kelley in the driver's seat. There is no conversation, no unnecessary words. All of us are in our heads, contemplating how this face-off will go, and likely wondering how much damage Lily Anna has done already.

  My nails dig into my palms. Pandora can't be gone. Pandora can't be dead. Pandora's fucking mine.

  When we arrive, even my jaw drops at the sight of Angela's house.

  "You financing this?" I mutter at Emilian as we park in front of the gates.

  "None of your goddamn business," he hisses back, getting out of the car and answering my question for me.

  The four of us watch his heated debate on the video intercom, and then the gates roll open. We're fucking in.

  Kelley pulls into the driveway, where we all file out of the limo. There's a woman waiting on the steps leading up to the house with a giant, pearly-white smile. She's wearing an all-pink outfit complete with a feather boa, and holding a martini glass with a matching baby pink drink that looks vile.

  "Darling!" she speaks up. "We meet again."

  She exchanges cool kisses on the cheek with Emilian. It's obvious there's something unspoken between them, but none of us mention it. Angela's hand lingers on Emilian's shoulder, but he pulls back quickly, and she tries hard to hide her disappointment.

  "We're here for Pandora," Emilian says.

  "Oh?" Angela laughs melodically. "My, quite the turnout for such a plain little girl."

  "Where is she?" I demand, taking a step forward. "Where is Pandora?"

  "Oh, she's not here," Angela chirps, laughing. "They left this morning."

  "They?" I hiss, approaching her. She glances at Emilian as if to see whether he'll protect her from me, but he doesn't make a move to stop me. Swallowing thickly, Angela returns her attention to me.

  "She had a girl with her," Angela mutters, waving her hand dismissively. "Someone called Alli something or other."

  "Didn't you recognize her?" Emilian hisses. "Didn't you realize who that was?"

  "No," she says, looking confused. "Some stray she picked up along the way, from what I heard. A no one."

  "It was your daughter," Emilian mutters, the disgust so plain in his voice it leaves no room for questions about why they broke up. He doesn't love this woman. She's so vapid, so self-involved, she doesn't give a shit about anyone. "It was Lily Anna."

  To her credit, the bitch actually blanches. "Lily Anna's dead."

  "She's not," I hiss. "But she is fucking dangerous, and she's out to hurt Pandora."

  "Oh, my darling girl would never hurt Pandora," she smiles. "She was such a good girl. Such a good baby."

  "You didn't even recognize her, so don't feed us that bullshit," I mutter. "Where are they? Where did they go?"

  "I don't know," she shrugs helplessly, fluttering her lashes at Emilian. "How could I possibly know?"

  "How
could you let them go without knowing where they went?" I demand. "How could you let her leave with a goddamn killer?"

  "Pandora is a killer?" she asks, fucking clueless.

  "No, Lily Anna!" I've had enough, and I smash my fist into the limo, leaving behind a dent. Everyone's fucking silent as I face Angela. "You need to tell us when they left and where they went. Right the fuck now, woman. Your daughter—your biological daughter—is in danger. And so is Lily Anna, if I get my hands on her."

  "I don't k-know w-w-where they went," she stutters pathetically. "They were gone this morning."

  "Why would they just leave like that?" Emilian asks. "Without telling you? What the fuck did you do?"

  "Nothing!" she cries out before bursting into tears and covering her face with her hands. "I didn't do anything wrong, nothing, nothing..."

  "Cut the fucking theatrics, Angela," Emilian demands. His voice leaves no room for argument, and Pandora's mother sniffles a few more times before pulling her hands back. There are no tears on her face. She looks as calm as ever. "Just tell us where they are. And what you did. Are they okay? You didn't hurt them, did you?"

  "I did what was for the best," she hisses. "I did what I had to do."

  Emilian pales. With a single step, he approaches her, wrapping his arms around her. But this is no lover's embrace—no, his grip on his ex-wife carries a warning. She knows he's going to hurt her now, and her Botoxed face pales even more.

  "What did you do?" he demands. "What did you fucking do?"

  "I gave her some medicine," she smiles sweetly. "What else was I supposed to do? Let her end up like me?" She laughs bitterly, shaking her head. "No. She couldn't handle this. Loving a man who doesn't give a shit about her. Pining after someone who has a new family. Because that's what would happen to her. Just like it did to me."

  She shuts Emilian up with those words, pushing past him to glare at me.

  "Are you Dexter Booth?" I nod, and she smiles weakly. "You look just like your father."