Rebellion of a Kingdom by G.N. Wright
Chapter 44
ELLE
Ishould feel something, anything, but I'm numb. Void. Finally, completely broken. I don’t know how long I’ve been in this bath, but the water is stone cold. I see the goosebumps covering my body and the wrinkles on the pads of my fingers and toes. I could have been in here for hours and I wouldn’t notice. All I can do is replay what happened over and over again in my mind.
The knife slicing across her neck.
The sound of Jace’s despair.
The look on Greg’s face.
The vomit I choked out.
My submission.
All of it a never-ending stream in my head. The silent cries continue to wrack my whole body, but no tears come. I have none left. I have nothing left. My only salvation? That Cassie is safe. Marcus promised he would take care of her. She has him, Ash, and the rest of my family. So many people to look out for her and protect her. I want to hope that I’ll make it back to her, but hope is for the weak. I'm done thinking I can win this war. Rebelling against them was a stupid idea. All it brought me was pain and death. No justice, no redemption, just pure fucking grief. I can't fight anymore, they won.
Jace is here with me, a constant reminder to why I can’t win. I won’t put him in any more danger. He’s sitting in the corner of the room we’re in. He hasn’t spoken, not since Taylor’s blood seeped under his body as he lay there, staring into her dead eyes. He’s still wearing the same blood-soaked clothes and the same broken expression. His wrists are raw from the chains and handcuffs he has been kept in, and his injuries are still seeping blood every now and then. But he doesn’t feel them, he doesn’t feel anything. Just like me.
Under normal circumstances, I'd be worried about him seeing me naked, but he isn't even here anymore. The Jace Conrad I knew, the one I came to love quickly and easily, has gone. He may as well have died when Greg sliced Taylor’s throat. I saw it, saw his own hope perish along with her life. We aren’t surviving this, dead or alive, we are both just gone.
The door opens and three women rush inside, dropping an array of things on the table against the wall and pulling out a towel. I have no idea where we are, I can only presume we are still at the compound. After what Greg did, I didn’t even bother to fight against the needle he slid into the side of my neck. Just kept my focus on Taylor’s lifeless form as I let the darkness take me. By the time I woke up, Jace and I were in a slightly nicer room, I was laying on a bed with actual sheets on it and he was tied to a chair in the corner. I didn’t move. I just lay and let the ache of my grief collapse inside of me.
I don’t know why Jace is still here. I vaguely remember Greg saying we had a deal and maybe that’s why. Did I save Jace's life only to offer up Taylor’s? The old Elle would fight, kick, scream, do anything that wasn’t just sitting here, but that was before. This is after.
Do not defy me. Submission is my only salvation now.
One of the women grabs me by the arms and stands me up, directing me out of the tub as the other wraps me in a towel. I am ushered over to a chair where I spend the next couple of hours being pricked, poked, and fucking polished into the perfect bride. Jace was led from the room, still in cuffs, halfway through my makeover and all I could do was watch him go. Broken and alone.
Once my hair is perfectly curled and my makeup pristinely finished, I am led into the bedroom and find myself stepping into a wedding gown. It takes two of the women a couple of minutes to get it on and fastened, and then they fit my head with a crowned veil. They give me one last check over, then gather up their supplies and take their exit. I wait until I am completely alone in the room before I turn to look in the dirty mirror in the corner.
A crisp white, silk dress molds to my curves. Hugging my breasts with a plunging neckline and straps going around my neck. The bottom isn’t big, but layers of silk still fall all around me, giving the impression of a wide dress. It’s covered in crystals and pearls that just scream ‘obscenely wealthy’. If that didn’t clue you in, then the real diamond crown would. It’s nothing like I would pick for myself. The only thing that resembles me is the necklace from Marcus that still hangs around my neck.
Marcus. Just thinking of his name causes me pain. Yesterday morning we were tangled up in each other's arms. Now I’m about to marry another man. Everything we did, everything we planned, we were so close. Yet I still stand here, dressed as somebody else's bride.
The door handle pushes down, and I slowly turn as Elliot Donovan steps inside, followed by his son and a guard dragging in a now suited up Jace. When Elliot sees me, his smile could rival his son’s. Dark, deadly, and disgustingly smug.
He blows out a slow breath, “you were always a looker Elle, just like your mother.” He lets his gaze trail over me slowly from head to toe. Lingering on my barely concealed breasts. “But now you are truly breathtaking.” He turns to Greg, “she’ll make the perfect wife, son.”
Greg leers at me as he stalks my way, his eyes roaming over every inch of my exposed skin. Once he’s done, he picks up a piece of the skirt of my dress and grins, “this is going to look good stained in blood.” He leans in grazing his lips against my cheek and I hold in my shudder, “I’m gonna enjoy making you bleed while I fuck you, raw princess. Just how I always planned.” He hears the sharp intake of my breath as his sick words wash over me and laughs. Fuck. What I would give to have my knife strapped to my thigh, right now. See how much he could fucking laugh without an intact esophagus.
Elliot moves towards the both of us with a seemingly genuine smile this time, as he smacks Greg on the shoulder looking between the two of us with proud eyes. “A Donovan and a King. Just how it was always meant to be.”
Unlike Greg’s, his words do nothing to me. I’ve accepted my fate. Cassie is safe and I trust Marcus, Ash and my family to get her away from here. To run and never look back. To save her in a way I couldn’t.
Elle King dies today, and Elle Donovan will be born.
We step out of the room, into a dark, barely lit hallway. I know immediately we are still at the compound as memories flash across my mind at the familiar surroundings. Guard’s march both in front and behind us. I don't think about escaping, I just follow them to my fate. I ignore the weight of the ridiculous diamond on my hand, the feel of the silk gown against my body and the veil pinned in my hair. This isn't how my wedding was supposed to be. No, it's all wrong. I was supposed to be older, happier, marrying my best friend, my River. But the Devil found me first and now I must atone.
I wonder if Marcus and the rest of my guys are ripping the town of Hallows apart, looking for us. If I had any feelings left inside of me, I’d smile at that. But I can’t. I don’t want them to come for me. I want them to run, run and never look back. Escape this fucking pit and forget I ever existed. Take my daughter and give her the life she deserves, one without fear and pain. One without me. My life in exchange for hers. The best thing I have ever done.
We reach a door and when it swings open, we step outside, the sun blinding me after being held inside for so long. It pierces through the clouds, making my dress shine. The perfect weather for a wedding. Your wedding day is supposed to be the best day of your life. I should be happy. I should be free. I should be marrying the man I love. I am none of those things. I am empty, caged and about to make the ultimate deal with the Devil.
We head towards an outbuilding and I see an actual priest making his way towards it too. I almost laugh. Of course, they have a real priest. No doubt another sick twisted fuck who they have bent to their will with blackmail. My footsteps falter, but I am pushed onwards without a second passing as we descend towards our destination.
Greg pushes Jace to my side, “don’t forget your best man, wifey. Be nice and I’ll let him watch me fuck you later.” He winks, before turning and heading into the building, no doubt to await my arrival like this isn’t a fucking sham of a wedding.
I look to Jace and for the first time since yesterday he’s staring back at me. I don’t know what he sees on my face, but I watch the vein in his neck thump wildly and his chiseled jaw clench. He closes his eyes briefly, breaking our connection, before opening them again and I am greeted with a flash of my Jace. My reckless rebel and his tortured soul. We are in this together to the very end.
I take a deep breath as I cross the threshold into the building and mutter to myself, “Forgive me father, for all my sins.”