Rebellion of a Kingdom by G.N. Wright

Chapter 3

ELLE

He’s so far gone right now and I can’t blame him. I feel his emotions like they are my own. Heartbreak, anger, despair, pain, they all flow through my body with a crushing force. My heart bangs against my chest rapidly, like it could just rip right out, and even with the goosebumps coating my skin, sweat still gathers on the back of my neck. The sick feeling in my stomach is constantly churning.

The look on my best friend’s face is one I will never be able to unsee. Seeing him like this just reminds me of how our bond became so strong. How he was always there for me no matter what, and just how far we have come. Except I am not looking at my strong savior right now, instead he is the one breaking. He needs me, now more than ever and I have to show him we got this. That we are still in this together no matter what the odds are against us. I need to be strong for the both of us, for Cassie and for our family.

“Ash, look at me.” I move Marcus aside to get to him, gripping his cheeks and forcing his gaze to collide with mine. His sparkling blue eyes aren’t the ones I find, instead they are as dark as stone. He looks both like a murderous villain and a lost boy all at once, the mixture of the two jarring. “We prepared for this, Ash.” I push the words past the bile in my throat, because yes, we may have prepared for the direst situation imaginable. But, experiencing it, living it, I could never have been ready for this feeling.

“Prepared for this?” he spits. “You think I could have fucking prepared for this?” I watch the lone tear track down his cheek before he wipes it away bitterly.

“Elle, I could never have fucking prepared for this.” His admission hangs in the air as we all swallow his words. I watch his body succumb to his feelings as he stops fighting against the hold the boys have him in. I nod my head at them, and they release him. He slumps back against the wall as the weight of the situation we are now in takes hold.

Jace enters the hallway and I take in his blood covered appearance. He looks drained, which is exactly how I feel, and when I look back and take in the rest of the guys, they’re just as bad. Five strong, powerful, and fearless boys, all brought to their knees in one night. One shitty, chaotic, fucking hell of a night.

I need to break. I need to forget everything and let the blackness inside of my heart take control, but if I do that who will bring me back? Who will protect my family? Who will save my daughter? No, I can’t break, I just can’t.

I take a deep breath, pushing down the sickness in my throat. “Come on, let’s get you patched up and make a plan.” My words sound confident, but that’s not how I feel. What fucking plans do you make when a sick rapist cunt has kidnapped your daughter?

All the guys look at me and I wish it was just pain in their eyes, but I see the pity too. They feel sorry for me and it pisses me off. They all know me so well, yet clearly not well enough. I don’t care. About anything or anyone that isn’t my daughter right now. Arthur will look after Zack, I know that, so the only thing I have to worry about is who I am going to kill first. My list of targets is long, and I won’t stop until every fucking name is crossed off in their blood.

I don’t wait for the guys to respond before I turn and head back into the living area, knowing they will follow. Just as I enter, I see Zack is no longer on the floor and is instead lying on the huge dining table, he’s hooked up to an IV and Arthur is working meticulously over him with Helen by his side. I fucking hate this, hate that I have done this to them. If it weren’t for me, their son wouldn’t be lying bleeding right now. Why did I let so many people get close to me when I knew it would put a target on their back? I should have done this how I wanted to from the start. Alone.

A phone ringing breaks me from my inner turmoil, and I turn to see all the guys standing just inside the entrance still with the same glib expression on their faces. Nobody is paying any mind to the phone.

The ringing is incessant and annoying. “Whose phone is that?” I snap.

They all look between each other and then Lincoln stalks towards the coffee table near where I found Zack, and retrieves a burner phone, I don’t recognize from it. I’m by his side in an instant and snatching it from his hands. I accept the call, immediately putting it on speaker.

“Do I have your attention now, Miss King?” Elliot Donovan's sickly voice purrs down the line.

“If you touch one fucking hair on my daughter’s head, I swear I’ll--.” I start, barely controlling my rage, but he interrupts me.

“Oh, you mean my granddaughter. Why on earth would I hurt her? She’s family.” His tone is brimming with satisfaction. I wish I would have slit his throat in the graveyard when I had the chance.

I should have just stalked back into this town in the dead of night and ended them all at once. Why the fuck did I allow myself to get caught back up in anything else? I knew this would happen; knew I would paint targets on everyone I love. Did I try to minimize that damage? No. Instead, I added more names to the list of people I care for and increased Donovan's chance of causing me pain. Except they didn't need that list, they went straight for the one target that I will do anything to get back. My life is literally in their hands.

"You are nothing to my daughter," I spit back. "Bring her back, or you won't like the consequences."

"I think we’re a little past your petty threats and retaliations, Elle." My name in his mouth makes my skin crawl. He says it like we are old friends catching up. "From what I gather you are lucky to even be alive right now. I have the upper hand here."

I hate how right he is. “Where is she?" The words barely get past my gritted teeth.

I can practically feel his smile when he responds, "Why, she is with her father of course." I feel the tears slip down my cheeks before I even know I'm crying. Usually when you imagine a child with their father, you would feel content, happy. But not me. Opposite ends of the earth wouldn't be enough space between my daughter and Greg Donovan.

"The only father to my daughter is standing right next to me." My words are laced with rage. Ash comes to stand beside me, gripping my hand in his. I feel the tremble though our connected fingers. He is barely hanging on. We are dancing in this anguish together. Once again bonded in the most horrific common ground.

"Ah yes, the little traitor. What a disappointment he turned out to be."

Ash snatches the phone and spits his words into them slowly, deliberately. "Listen here, Father, and listen well. Touch one hair on my daughter’s head and you are going to wish I'd kill you quickly because when I get my hands on you, you will regret the day you were born."

His words don't deter Elliot in the slightest. "Well, I certainly regret the day you were born. You get your weakness from your mother." He sounds utterly bored as he brings up his ex-wife. I don’t know much about her, except she left before they came here.

"I'm going to harvest every fucking one of your organs and feed them to that sick piece of shit you call a son. You know, the one you are proud of." Ash responds darkly and I can see that his control is clawing its way back into his body. That edge he usually has that keeps him on top of his game. He thinks this is his fault, I can see it written all over his face, but he's wrong. This is all our fault. Thinking we could take them on and win, how stupid were we? That stupidity has cost me everything.

"Is that my traitor brother? I thought four guys would have been enough, what a shame." Greg's voice comes across the line and I can't control my flinch. I see the guys look at Ash and take in his injuries again, now knowing that it was four against one. Fucking spineless cunts.

"How's our girl?" Elliot asks, the smugness pouring from him.

"Settled in her room, where she belongs." That arrogant, charming, devilish tone burns in my ears.

I snap, "You will pay for this. Even your pockets aren't deep enough for the fucking price I will make you pay." I am done playing games, these aren't petty battles of back and forth any longer. We are at war and it's time to take out the fucking General.

"That kind of talk makes me glad you’re still alive. I'm really looking forward to fucking that attitude out of you, my queen." Greg purrs down the line and Ash’s grip tightens to the point where I think he might break my fingers. A pain I'd welcome at this point.

I don’t let the psychotic little prick get to me. "The only way you'd get to fuck me, is by dragging my fucking corpse to your bed, you sick fuck." I am fucking done. I snatch the phone back from Ash and stalk away. The guys follow me, but I don't stop until I get to my revenge room.

"Oh, so you wouldn't trade yourself for our daughter." His words halt me in my tracks as I enter. I don't reply, I can't, because I know the answer. He knows the answer. I would trade myself for her in a fucking heartbeat. I move inside and place the phone on the desk and load up the computers. I hear the door clink shut behind me as the guys come in after me.

I turn around as they take a seat at the table, staring at me blankly as Greg continues, "You can have her back, I just have one stipulation."

I cast my eyes across all the guys and find similar looks on all their faces. They look drained, scared, on edge. None of them have escaped Zack's blood, their black tuxedos rumpled, and shirts bloodied. A far cry from the beautiful boys that greeted me at the bottom of the stairs earlier tonight.

Marcus is the only one who will lock eyes with me, the rest glare at the phone as Greg speaks. When I reply my voice is flat. "Yeah, and what's that?"

"It's really quite simple. I don't want our daughter. I have no use for her, not yet at least.” His words turn my stomach at the thought of what use he could have for her. “You however, you I have a lot of use for.” I close my eyes, cutting off Marcus because I know Greg well enough to see inside his sick mind. I know what he wants before he says it. "I want a wife."

I feel River's flinch from across the room even with my eyes closed, as Ash snaps back at his brother, "Take your pick from your fucking hoard of kidnapped girls."

"Funny,” he responds dryly, “But no. I don’t just want any wife. I want the perfect wife. One born for this world, with her own fortune, blood on her hands and already willing and able to give me heirs."

I can't speak. Not one word. I open my eyes, but Marcus' gaze is hardened and focused solely on the phone.

"Willing?" he scoffs. "Fucking willing. What about raping a fucking child, screams willing to you? If you think that she is going to marry you then you are more fucking delusional than I thought."

That’s the thing they don’t realize though, he really is delusional. Greg’s sense of reality is different. Elliot is an evil man; his crimes would make most men weep. His son, however, isn’t evil, he’s soulless. Doesn’t feel anything, guilt, regret, remorse, love. None of it. A true psychopath living in his own world and that makes him more dangerous than anyone. Greg is the type of person to think that I belong to him, and is now more than ready to claim me, no matter what the cost.

"Really? Because her silence is deafening," Greg taunts and his words hit their intended target as every single guy turns my way. I see all of them take in my expression and the exact moment they realize the reality of the situation we are in. Right now in this moment, they see just how far I am willing to go to protect my daughter.

"I'll let you think it over, we can talk again soon. In the meantime, I will look after our girl." The line goes dead before I can respond, and the silence descends further into the room as we all let his words linger. We lost. The game, the upper hand, my daughter. All of it gone.

My thoughts are messy and unfocused, just like earlier when I found Zack lying on the floor, and look what that almost cost me. My daughter was gone, my brother lay dying and because I lost control, I almost ended up in my own blood next to him. I can’t let that happen again. I turn and pick up the phone next to the computer and dial a number I know by heart from the secure phone we keep there.

“Z, my man, how are you?” His cocky, friendly tone hits my ear and I breathe my first sigh of relief as memories assault me from our time together. Grounding me in a way I so desperately need.

“Max, it’s me,” I croak into the phone, my voice wavering as the emotions begin to build again.

“Elle?” I hear his confusion, but he quickly adds, “Where’s Zack?” I can tell from his change in tone that I have his immediate attention with my unexpected call.

Max is an old friend of Zack’s, they trained together when they were younger. Him and his guys are all ex special ops who now run their own private security company. Zack pays them a lot of money for a variety of things. Max helped Zack with all my training and said he would always be here for us. I only ever use a couple of his guys for cleanup. We’ve never needed Max himself or his other services. Until now.

“He was shot in the chest, Arthur’s working on him, nothing more I can tell you.” I am blunt and to the point because I don’t need him as a friend right now. He can’t do anything to help Zack, except help me with what I need.

“What do you need?” I hear the unmistakable tapping of his fingers as he starts doing whatever he does before I even give him any instructions. I ignore all of the guys, Asher and Logan both know Max from the training we shared, but he isn’t someone I would have ever told the Rebels about. His reputation precedes him, but that reputation doesn’t include his real name or what he looks like. Just that he is lethal, deadly and always gets the job done. That’s why I need him. Him and his guys are the best of the best.

For the first time since I came home, I push Cassie to the side of my thoughts as I try to think of everything, I need to keep everyone else safe. “Full security detail at the house, full house sweep for devices including vehicles. Access to a private, secure medical facility for Zack and a security extraction of Lily from college.” I see Logan perk up at the mention of his sister's name, but I press on. “Safe house with full protection detail for Arthur, Helen and Lily, for however long it takes and a full arsenal of every weapon and tech you have on hand.”

He blows out a breath. “This is a big job. It’s gonna take all of my guys,” he starts but I cut him off.

“You know money is no issue, offer them whatever it takes to get them here, and you will report to me and only me.” My voice remains void of emotion, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel the cracks in my throat, the pumping of blood in my veins. I am so close to snapping the thread of my control that I can taste it in the air.

“Roger that. We will be there in sixty minutes,” he confirms.

“Make it thirty,” I snap, only to be met by silence. His silence almost winds me, forcing me to take a deep breath.

“Elle?” He says my name carefully. “What happened?” It’s the softest tone I’ve ever heard from him and if I didn’t just hear it, I wouldn’t think he was capable.

“They took Cassie.” I barely let the three words linger before I am slamming the phone down and taking in another breath.

“Who was that?” Of course, Lincoln is the first to speak, unable to be in the dark about anything, but I don’t have it in me to feed him the information right now.

“Backup,” I reply simply.

I don’t give any of them a chance to speak before I turn and focus my attention on the screens in front of me. I pull up the camera feeds and push back until I find what I'm looking for. I press play on the video, turning the sound on and we all watch. I watch as the van pulls up and the gate opens. I watch Greg and his men stalk after the few guards we keep on the property and shoot them. Nearly all of them point blank in the back of the head, before dragging their bodies into the trees. Then I watch them walk through the back doors, no key, no code, they just open for them and I also see why. One of the guards let them in.

I see Zack storming through the house to get Cass to the panic room, I see as he leaves her there, locked away safely. Or so he thought. I watch as he is stabbed, shot and left bloodied on the floor. But none of it fucking affects me the way it does to watch Peter walk back into the room with Cassie asleep in his arms. I watch in fucking horror as my baby girl is handed over to her rapist sperm donor. The Devil in fucking disguise. The absolute scum of this town. She sleeps soundly as she is carried off into my worst nightmare. I watch them climb into the van they came in and drive away in the darkness of the night.

I snap.