Wicked Promises: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Fallen Royals Book 3)

by S. Massery

  “My head doesn’t even hurt much anymore.”

  Robert makes a face. “I wish I could say the same.”

  I lean forward. “Are you sure you’re up for visiting the school?”

  “I’m ready to see some familiar faces,” he says, glancing back at me. “And besides, I’m not sure what sort of antics they’ll try.”

  “We have a teacher and a corporate mediator,” I joke. “Hopefully things will fall on our side. But… what kind of antics?”

  “Just that you’re not fit to come back to school. They’ll probably try to push time off—but that will just hurt you in the long run,” Lenora says. “Your case worker agreed that it was up to our discretion. Unless you don’t want—”

  “I’d like to return to normal,” I interrupt. “Sitting around, moping and dealing with…” Trauma, I don’t say. I clear my throat. “Yeah, normalcy is what I need.”

  Robert nods. “Exactly.”

  We get to the school and walk across the deserted parking lot, up the steps into the school. The secretary gets a little teary when she sees us—more Robert than me, I’ll admit—and circles her desk to give him a hug.

  And then we’re shuffled into the principal’s office.

  She’s a stern lady. Luckily, I haven’t had too much interaction with her or the guidance counselor since the beginning of the year, and I had planned on keeping it that way. She analyzes me over the top of her reading glasses, which are perched on the end of her nose.

  Lenora explains what’s been going on at home. Between the craziness, I’ve managed to catch up on most of the work my classes covered. That appears to be the clincher, and the principal agrees I can come back tomorrow.

  The principal sends me out, and I go stand in the hallway.

  And… the bell rings.

  Figures.

  This part of the school isn’t too busy unless students are coming to the office, so I don’t worry too much about being seen. That is, until Savannah appears.

  She hurries toward me—or, toward the office—and stops dead when her gaze finds mine.

  “You’re back?”

  I shrug. “It would appear so.”

  “Rumor had it that you croaked.” She stops in front of me.

  I laugh. “I guess they got that one wrong.”

  “Hmm.” She looks me up and down. “You might consider bangs.”

  My eyebrow jumps, and my face flushes. “Why, to cover the barely visible scar? I’m not that petty.”

  She smiles. “It might help avoid the staring, you know?”

  I lean against the wall, crossing one ankle over the other. “I’ve been meaning to ask, how’s life at the top of the pyramid? Still holding Amelie’s spot until she gets back?”

  She grits her teeth. “I’m not a placeholder.”

  “You’re at the top because Riley and I helped put you there.” I straighten, taking a step toward her. To my utter shock, she backs up. “Just remember that, Sav. Those who give can also take.”

  “Are you threatening me?” Her voice bounces around the quiet hall.

  “Me?” I wink at her. “Am I crazy enough for that?”

  “Freak,” she says under her breath. She rushes around me, hurrying down the hall.

  I’ll admit: it was satisfying to watch her squirm. And I didn’t even have to think too much about the buttons to push. She’s always played second fiddle to Amelie, and she didn’t have the guts to go after what she wanted alone.

  The office door opening catches my attention.

  Lenora and Robert walk out, saying their goodbyes.

  Lenora grins at me. “Ready?”

  “Absolutely.” We head out. I almost expect something to have happened to the car while we were inside—someone keying it or popping the tires—but it seems the same.

  I wonder when I should tell them about going to see my dad. If I should even mention it.

  We make it all the way back home before Lenora smacks her forehead. “Should I have taken you to the Blacks’ house? Would you prefer to be there?”

  “No,” I say, hopping out. “They’re at work.”

  She nods. “Okay, great. I do have to head into the office for a little while today, otherwise I think I’ll be without a job myself. But you two can finally have your movie marathon day.”

  “We stocked up on popcorn,” Robert tells me. “And a cleaning company is coming over this afternoon to take care of your room.”

  I nod, swallowing. I just won’t think about the room or what’s written up there. I’m still trying to figure out where I’ve heard pretty bird before…

  We go inside. I realize halfway through to the kitchen that I’ve been holding my breath. I let it out in one shallow exhale, reminding myself to breathe.

  Robert is a bit slower on his feet, but we busy ourselves making popcorn and hot chocolate. A weird combination, but he insists that we can have both. And then we each take our separate corners on the couch, blankets on our laps, and settle in for a weird, happy day of movies.

  28

  Caleb

  My day starts with a phone call from my mother.

  The harsh buzzing managed to wake up only me, not the octopus wrapped around me. I hit the button to silence it, then managed to dislodge Margo’s arms and untangle her legs from mine.

  “Hang on,” I say into the phone. I put it on mute while I yank on my jeans. I trot upstairs as quietly as possible, then unmute her. “Good morning, Mother.”

  “Caleb,” she sniffs. “Something bad has happened.”

  I rub my eyes. “What happened?”

  “M-my apartment was broken into.”

  “Really.” I didn’t even know she had an apartment. I mean, I should’ve realized. It’s one of those things you don’t think about until you have to think about it. Obviously she was staying somewhere. I just never spared a thought for whether it was an apartment, a house, a hole in the wall…

  “Can you come help me? You’re all I have—”

  “What about Uncle David?” I can’t help but ask. She’s leaned on them pretty heavily over the years. I pull the phone away from my ear, checking the time. Not even five o’clock in the morning. The first floor of the house is completely silent.

  I cross to the living room window, peering out. The sun is barely starting to rise.

  There’s a car parked across the street, its headlights glowing, and it drives away fairly quickly. Weird. At least this one didn’t go screeching off into the night like the other night…

  “Are you listening to me?” Mom asks.

  “No.”

  “I said, I need you to help. I don’t have anywhere to go. David is being horribly moody, what with his house guests, and I simply cannot fathom who else to ask.”

  I tilt my head. “Wait, back up. House guests? Who?”

  “Oh, never mind that. You know Aunt Iris is always trying to save people.” She scoffs. “It’d serve her better at the gates of Heaven if she served her own family—”

  “Mother,” I snap. “Seriously?”

  “Everything is gone,” she moans. “My jewelry, the money…”

  “What, were you stockpiling cash or something?”

  She’s quiet, and I feel my eyebrows lift almost of their own accord.

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “What? You can’t expect me to live like this forever. Like—”

  Like someone who works. Who earns their paycheck instead of just sitting behind a desk and letting the money pile into their bank account.

  With sudden clarity, I realize that I don’t want to follow in my father’s footsteps. I don’t want to sit behind a desk and order people around, or push paper, or—

  “You’ve tuned out your poor mother again.”

  I shake my head. “Listen, Mom. I’m seventeen. I can’t drive because of the concussion Uncle David gave me a week and a half ago. I don’t really know what you expect me to do before I have to be at school.”

  “Forget it.
”

  Gladly.

  “If you find my body tucked behind a dumpster, or beaten to death, or dismembered, or—”

  “Why the hell are you talking like someone is going to murder you?”

  “Because,” she whispers. “Someone is after our family, Caleb. Someone will always try to take what they can. And, oh, I’m afraid we’ve made some terrible mistakes in our lives.”

  My stomach twists.

  “Mom…?”

  “Margo found out about Amberly, Caleb. She came into the diner, and I tried to get Amberly to leave, but she knew it was Margo out there. She—” She sucks in a ragged breath. “God, what am I doing?”

  “Calm down,” I order. “Do you live with Amberly?”

  “Yes, she came into town looking for a fix, and I couldn’t let that happen. It’s my fault she’s in this mess—my fault. I just wanted to get her clean.” Her voice cracks, and then her sobbing fills my ear.

  I hate it.

  Hate her.

  And yet, I pity her.

  “Mom… just breathe. What do you mean, it’s your fault?”

  “She never should’ve got involved with my husband,” she says in a low voice, suddenly crystal clear.

  “You’re obviously not in the right state, yourself,” I snap. “Stay put, okay? I’ll come get you.”

  She tells me where she is, and I hang up.

  Fuck.

  No wonder she wouldn’t tell me where Amberly was when I asked. For a while, I was no better than her supplier. Giving her money was the easiest way to get her out of town. If I didn’t, she’d wash up closer to Rose Hill, each and every time. And eventually, closer to Margo.

  I only found out Amberly knew where her daughter was when we were fourteen. Margo refused to give her anything—the brave, beautiful girl managed to stand up to her own mother. That was when I decided I had to be easy on her.

  Move Margo one last time and make sure Amberly wouldn’t be able to find her. Give her enough to send her away—either out of town or on a nice, happy overdose.

  Of course Mom has her.

  Cleaned her up.

  There’s some sort of leverage there, I just can’t see it yet.

  I groan. I need a clean shirt, to brush my teeth, shoes. And to wake Eli up.

  I wake him up first, calling him from where I stand.

  “You know it’s not time for school, dickhead.”

  “We have to run an errand,” I inform him. “Be ready to leave in fifteen.”

  “Fuck.”

  I hang up on him and go back downstairs. Margo has curled into a ball in the middle of my bed. I crawl across it and hover over her, leaning down to nuzzle her neck.

  She makes the sweetest noise, reaching up and sliding her hand into my hair.

  I don’t usually tell her, but I love when her nails scratch my scalp. I press a kiss to her neck, moving up to her jaw, then just under her ear.

  She turns her face, catching my lips with hers, and smiles. “That’s one way to say good morning,” she whispers. Her hand leaves my hair, trailing down… “Caleb, why are you already wearing jeans?”

  I steal another kiss. “Because I have to go.”

  “How much longer do I have?” she whispers.

  “To sleep?” I glance at the clock. “Another few hours. Two.”

  “Good,” she murmurs, rolling over and giving me her back.

  I shake my head, grinning, and sweep the hair off her neck. I nip the shell of her ear, then whisper, “Dream of me.”

  It’s hard to leave her, but I do it. She’s breathing heavily by the time I grab my boots and jacket and climb the stairs.

  I have to work hard to ignore the ball in the pit of my stomach.

  “Where are we going?” Eli asks.

  He’s got a black beanie over his blond hair, black jacket, black jeans. He could be ready to rob a bank or pose for a freaking fashion magazine, and that irritates me.

  “Mommy dearest called.” I open the door. “Said some nonsense about her apartment being broken into and losing everything.”

  “So we’re running to her rescue?”

  “She also said she’s been living with Margo’s mom, getting her clean.”

  Eli’s eyes widen. “Ah.”

  “And, apparently it’s her fault Amberly got addicted in the first place? I’m eager to hear that story.”

  We climb into his car.

  “Where’s she staying? Maybe we can be back before my parents notice we’re gone.”

  “Beacon Hill,” I say, giving him the address.

  He groans. “Or not.”

  “I’ll buy breakfast.”

  He perks up. “Sold!”

  It takes us about thirty minutes to get there. Mom is standing out on the sidewalk when we pull up, and she tears the sunglasses off her face.

  “Sunglasses at six o’clock in the morning?” Eli asks.

  I just shake my head, hopping out. She launches herself at me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

  “Thank you, thank you,” she cries.

  I take a deep breath… of whiskey.

  I draw back sharply, holding her by her shoulders. It’s no wonder she was wearing sunglasses. Her eyes are red and puffy—from crying or a hangover, I can’t be sure which is the dominant cause—and her skin is dull.

  “Mom?”

  “What?” She wrinkles her nose. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Because… are you drunk?”

  She lets out a shrill laugh. “Goodness, no. Hungover, maybe.”

  “Mrs. Asher,” Eli greets her. “How are you?”

  Mom releases me and stumbles toward him. She pats his cheek. “You must be Josh’s son. You look quite a bit like him, I must say.”

  “Right, er, thanks. Can we… help you?”

  She straightens. “Yes! My home was broken into. This way.”

  We follow her down the street, into an alley. Eli and I exchange a glance before stepping into it. Something about this screams… fishy.

  She unlocks a metal grated door, then another one inset in the brick building. She’s surprisingly agile on the stairs, around the landing, and up another flight. Then she stops dead in her tracks.

  “In there,” she says.

  I glance between the door and her. “This is where you’ve been living? This whole time?”

  “Goodness, no. Just temporary.”

  “Is Margo’s mother in there?” Eli asks.

  “No!” Mom shouts. “She’s at Lucky’s already.”

  I push open the door. There’s broken glass across the floor, a shattered vase, flowers, and water. Picture frames that’ve been knocked off the wall, overturned furniture.

  “Where were you both when this happened?” Eli asks, picking his way through the small room.

  It seems strange that they might’ve been in here when it happened—unless whoever did it…

  I turn toward Mom and grab her wrist.

  She cries out.

  “You were here.” I stare down at the bruises on her arm. “You know who did this.”

  “I do,” she moans. “But I didn’t think he would go crazy like this. H-he took Amberly.”

  Eli’s head jerks up. “I’m sorry, you’re just telling us that your, I don’t know, roommate was abducted?”

  Mom is full-on crying now. She falls to the floor, starting to gather larger pieces of glass in her hand. To herself, she mumbles, “This isn’t safe. You might cut yourself.”

  “Dude,” Eli says, pulling me away from her. “She…”

  “Yeah. Hey, Mom? Any reason you called me instead of the police?”

  She lurches toward me, but this time Eli intercepts. He shoves her against the apartment wall, holding her there with one hand on her collarbone. She stares at him with wide eyes.

  “Cut the shit,” he tells her.

  And… she does. The stupid, sad expression slips off her face, replaced only by the mother I used to know. She tugs at her sleeves,
putting them back in place, and glances up at me.

  “Honestly, Caleb. This is a family matter.”

  “Amberly Wolfe isn’t part of the family, Mom.”

  Her attention goes to my wrist, then back to my face. “Dare I say, she will be?”

  “We’re out of here,” Eli snaps. “Jesus, you people are fucking mental.”

  He pushes on her chest and points in her face. “Stay.”

  She laughs. “Am I a dog?”

  “May as well be—”

  “Okay,” I say. “Let’s go.”

  She follows us downstairs, back into the alley. My skin crawls at the filth she’s been living in, and I pick up speed. I only take a deep breath once we’re back on the sidewalk.

  “Caleb—”

  “Stop.” I pause. My headache has come back full force, pounding behind my eyes. I blink a few times, trying to just see clearly enough to focus on her. “This is fucked up. You should call the police to help you.”

  She lifts her chin. “Right.”

  I shake my head. “Yeah, right. Okay. Bye, Mother.”

  Eli’s already in the truck by the time I get there. Warm air blasts out of the vents, which just goes to show how long we were inside—the truck hadn’t even had time to get cold.

  “That’s messed up,” Eli says. He catches me rubbing my eyes again. “Concussion headache?”

  He would know. Last year, he and another lacrosse player collided. Knocked him out cold, which was an automatic ambulance ride. He was dizzy for a week.

  “Yeah, or a tension one.” I force a laugh, dropping my hands into my lap. “School is going to be fun.”

  “We’re leaving early, right? I love skipping last period. It’s just a freaking study hall.”

  “I miss driving my own car,” I grumble. “But, yes. We’re going to see Margo’s dad.”

  Eli hums. “Bet he’ll be interested to know that someone took his wife.”

  “Ex-wife?” I glance at him. “They got divorced, I think.”

  “Oh. You don’t seem overly concerned that she’s gone.”

  “I’m not.” I sigh. “I should’ve blamed her from the beginning. You know, because it’s really her fault that everything happened. Instead, my uncle twisted my view on the subject.”