Rebellion of a Kingdom by G.N. Wright

Chapter 27

ASHER

The drive back to Hallows is silent. None of us know what to say. We thought we knew everything; was so sure we had all the pieces of the puzzle. Turns out we have been playing a game we didn’t even know the fucking rules to. No wonder we were never a step ahead of them, this has been in the making longer than we thought.

My father raped Sarah King when she was sixteen. They met on vacation and because my grandparents had just come into their huge fortune, they were trying to rub shoulders with old money families to gain status. Elliot spent the week chasing her and when she refused, he decided to take her anyway. When she went home, she tried to forget about it, until she realized she was pregnant with Zack. She turned to the only friend she had left, Michael Riviera. Michael told her he could send Zack to a nice family and nobody would ever know. That family just so happened to be Arthur and Helen. They hid the teenage pregnancy scandal and then Sarah was forced into an arranged marriage with Jonathan who took her powerful name.

She knew, knew how depraved and evil he was, yet became friends with him anyway, or was she forced? Jonathan King is the mystery here, did he know about what Elliot did? Did he care? Does he know about Zack? So much information and still so many unanswered questions.

All of that and the only thing I can truly think about is that I have a brother. A good brother, a brother that isn’t a total fucking psychopath. A brother that my fucking other brother tried to kill. Zack is the one who found a way to reach out to me after Elle disappeared from town. He let me know she was okay and safe and thanked me for getting her out. We’ve gotten on well all this time and now I find out he’s my older brother, my eldest brother. Fuck. The thought hits me like a bulldozer. Zack Royton is the true Donovan heir.

“That’s why Greg tried to kill him.” I mutter smacking the steering wheel, I should have fucking known.

“Huh?” Elle asks swinging to look at me.

“Zack’s the oldest,” I say, and she looks at me in confusion, “he’s the heir.” I confirm and her eyes widen as I conclude what she hadn’t yet put together. “That’s why Greg wanted him dead.”

“Fuck!” She shouts and I know she understands now more than ever. This isn’t over, it can’t be. They won’t stop, so we can’t stop.

The rest of the drive is silent and I’m grateful, I have too many thoughts swirling around in my head, too many plans. Greg and our father have been ten steps ahead for too long. It’s time we take the upper hand. We already have, we got Cass back. She’s safe, Zack’s alive and we’re all together. I don’t even register getting into the gates of the house, pulling up and getting out until Elle speaks.

“I’ll go inside and gather Zack, Arthur and Helen.” She says squeezing my shoulder softly before heading towards the house.

“Get the twins too.” I say back to her and she pauses and gives me another nod before disappearing inside with Marcus. I know they need to know, so might as well tell them all at once. We are all in this together.

I don’t know how long I stand there, but apparently, it’s long enough for the help to find me. “Everything go okay?” Lincoln asks and I close my eyes in frustration, the last person I want to see me freaking out right now is him.

“Fine,” I grit out.

“You don’t look fine,” he starts, and I open my eyes and glare at him, “I mean you always look fine,” he adds and then he pulls a weird face, I scrutinize him closely, but can’t put my finger on it. He huffs, “what I meant to say is you look stressed.”

I take a deep breath, I don’t see the point in hiding it, he’s going to find out. Elle trusts him, fuck even I trust him at this point. “Elliot is Zack's father.”

He frowns and I watch as he tries to put the pieces together, trying to get to the conclusion of what I just told him. Good luck, I’ve got most of the answers and I still don’t know how we fucking got here.

“Hmm,” he finally says, and I snap.

“Hmm? What the fuck does hmm mean?”

He laughs a little, in that way he always does with just a little tip of his mouth, “Nothing, it’s just I can actually see it. You and Zack being brothers.”

“How is that even possible. We didn’t even grow up together, we don’t look alike.”

He shakes his head, “strong, caring, loyal, would do anything for the ones they love. Ring any bells?”

I hadn’t really thought about Zack and I being similar, never had a reason to, but now I am it makes my chest feel a little lighter. I always thought everyone in my family was a piece of shit. My mom left us, and my father and brother are literal murderers. Yet I have a brother who is smart, compassionate, and completely devoted to his family.

I offer him a slight smile as thanks and head into the house to find Elle and the others. They are all sitting in the living room and by the time I enter I can feel the thick tension in the air. Arthur and Helen are sitting with their hands clasped, Lily is in the corner with her usual frown and Logan is lying across two cushions like nothing is a big deal. Zack is in his wheelchair next to the sofa where Marcus and Elle are sitting.

He looks between them and me and then sighs, “you know about Elliot?” He asks and Elle’s head snaps towards him in surprise. “About him being my biological father, I mean?” Now it’s Lily and Logans turn to look shocked, but I note Helen and Arthur don’t look surprised.

“You knew about this?” She asks in disbelief.

“I suspected.” He confirms, looking at me warily.

“Since when?” Elle demands.

“Since the night Greg shot me.” He shrugs slightly, “he said something about family resemblance and at the time I thought he meant to you. Then a few other things made me realize he was referring to himself.”

“You are nothing fucking like him.” She cries, “don’t even think that for a second.”

“I know. When I woke up, I had Liam dig into Sarah’s past and I found a crossover with Elliot from when they were teenagers. Didn’t take much to figure out the rest.” I can see he’s had time to digest this. Well, I haven’t.

“And when were you planning on telling us?” I blurt, breaking my silence.

“Honestly? I don’t know.” He sighs and I know he means that. “This changes everything.”

“It changes nothing.” Arthur says, “you are our son, always have been, always will be,”

“That’s not what I meant, dad. You know you guys are the only parents I will ever recognize, but we all thought this whole thing started because of what happened to Elle. But we were wrong.”

“What does this all mean?” Marcus asks and I see the flash of Donovan DNA across Zack’s face then for the first time ever.

Zack sits up straight looking at Marcus, Elle and then eventually me, “It means we’re going to kill them, all of them. Before they kill us.”