Rebellion of a Kingdom by G.N. Wright

Chapter 7

ELLE

After my talk with Max I am feeling a sense of calm for the first time since I walked back into the house. Now that I know exactly what I need to do, I feel at peace. Max has disappeared with a couple of his guys to arrange what I asked for. The rest of his team are set up in Zack’s office making other plans for the Rebels. None of them agree with my plan, not even Max, but it’s irrelevant. They work for me now. A fact I was sure to remind them of. I told them it was my way with their support, or they could leave, and I would do it alone.

I'm sitting at the kitchen island with a large cup of coffee. It’s past four in the morning, officially making this the longest night of my life. Zack is being taken care of for now, and I am making plans for Cassie. If I think about them any harder, I am going to snap, so I try to focus on everyone else. Marcus is brooding silently next to me as Helen scrubs the same patch of kitchen counter that she’s been at for the last twenty minutes. I’m not sure where Ash, Lo, and Linc have disappeared to, but I’m most worried about Jace.

He’s slumped on the sofa staring at the large patch of blood on the carpet. I know he’s taking tonight hard, we all are, but Jace has lived this before. He’s watched someone he loves be taken by the Donovan’s before and never come back. I can’t live in that reality right now. Or ever.

The laughing and carefree Jace is gone, his armor down and his heartbreak pouring out for all to see. I hate it, hate seeing him this way. I watched his facade drop earlier tonight, but for an entirely different reason. I saw his reaction when Taylor reached up and kissed him, he was totally surprised. It didn’t matter that he’s been flirting with her for weeks, trying to shoot his shot, he just presumed she was too good for him.

Jace has one of the kindest souls I’ve ever known, but he’s the only person who doesn’t seem to realize it. Instead, he hides his problems, never letting anyone close enough to know the real Rebel inside. It’s going to take a special girl to break through the reckless mask that is Jace Conrad. I only hope when he finds the right girl, she’s not cut by all his broken and jagged pieces. If that girl is Taylor, well, she has got her work cut out for her.

Lincoln is another story entirely, always so closed off and never letting anyone get close. Yet tonight I saw him, I mean really saw him for the first time. He was by my side with his gun to Greg’s head before any of us registered him moving. A stealth and silence that can only be inherited, not taught. He was practically a ghost, and it makes me wonder again what happened to him. How did he become the dark and ruthless shadow he is today? And how do I become the same so I can take down my enemies?

I focus my thoughts. So much has happened, yet there is still so much tohappen. I mentally recite every single person that is a main player in this sick twisted game of revenge. How they fit into the puzzle of this whole mess and how they have helped Elliot Donovan stay on top. I think of what they did and how they are going to die. Chanting their names keeps me focused on what I know I have to do, and it stops me from breaking down completely and giving up.

Rolland Atkins

Joseph Kavanagh

Carter Fitzgerald

The Hallowed Crows MC

Sarah King

Jonathan King

Elliot Donovan

Greg Donovan

Then the endless list of nameless lackeys who supported them. Every single one of them has had a hand in everything that has happened, one way or another. And every single one of them will pay.

The price? Their demise.

I will make them all suffer, regardless of who they are, what they do and whose blood they share. That includes my parents. Their blood means nothing to me unless it is being spilled in retribution for everything, they did to me.

Helen, finally throwing down the cloth she’s nearly torn to shreds, breaks me from my thoughts. She stalks out of the kitchen, most likely heading to a private place to break down now that she can’t focus on taking care of anyone else. She likes to be the strength in us all, always has been, but tonight is the time for her to fall apart. We all need it.

You have to break so you can be made again, better, stronger. The same mistakes you once made, left in the shadows of your old self so you can be reborn and move on. I felt lost earlier tonight, but I refuse to let myself drown in my own despair. I know what I need to do, and Max is going to help me.

My thoughts are broken when a commotion sounds from out in the hall that is soon followed by Owen and Josh dragging in an incredibly angry Lily. She's fighting against them with a bag on her head and I find myself smirking a little at the dramatics.

“Why the hell did you bag her?” I ask.

Lily stops struggling immediately. “Elle? Is that you?” Her tone is glacial, and I just know she will find a way to get payback on these two for the way they brought her here. I gesture towards them and they lift the bag, releasing her arms at the same time. She squints as the light assaults her eyes and then quickly takes in her surroundings.

“What the fuck?” she exclaims turning to look at her captors, and I find myself doing the same.

Owen is smirking like a crazy person whereas Josh is giving her the stink eye as he speaks, “We tried to extract her quietly, but she wouldn’t cooperate.” He brings his gaze to me and shrugs. “We had to get creative.”

“Creative? Fucking creative.” She moves towards him and I jump up to grab her back as she continues, “I’ll give you creative, you fucking pussy.”

“Lils,” I say, putting my arms around her stomach from behind and pulling her towards me, stalling her movements. She huffs as I release her, and as she turns to me her face immediately drops.

“What’s wrong? Why am I here?” She casts her glance to Marcus and then back to the security guys before coming back to me.

“Come sit down, Lils.”

“No. I don’t wanna sit down, what the fuck is wrong? Where’s Logan?” Of course, her first question is for her twin. She’s had this conversation before when someone ripped her world apart and told her that their parents didn't survive the car crash.

“Logan’s fine.” I hesitate, not sure how to even say the words at this point. “It’s Zack, he was shot.”

Her eyes widen in shock and I see her take a deep swallow as she tries to process what I just told her. Then she scrunches her eyes up as she assesses me from head to toe and once again looks at Marcus.

“What else?” She asks looking back at me, and I frown at her question. How does she already know there is more? When I don’t respond she continues, “Elle, I’ve only ever seen that look in your eyes once before.”

Logan enters the room as she speaks, followed by Ash and Linc, all of them look relieved when they see Lily.

“Lils, thank fuck.” Logan crosses the room in an instant and crushes her into a bear hug and when he pulls back, she looks even more worried than before.

Owen and Josh slip away as Lincoln and Asher join us at the kitchen island and then to my surprise, so does Jace. She takes in each of our faces one by one.

“Where's Mom and Dad?” Her voice cracks slightly at her question. She likes to act tough and unaffected by everything. Has always been the most closed off of the Royton clan, but I know it’s just an act. A way to try to keep people at arm's length so if she loses someone else, she loves it won’t affect her. If only that was the way, it worked.

“They’re fine,” I assure her. “Arthur went with Zack to the hospital and Helen is here somewhere, she was waiting for you. The two of you need to go to a safe house.”

“Where is Cassie?” Her question doesn’t throw me, I expected it, but the sound of my daughter's name cuts me like a knife.

I continue, “I don’t know how long yet and I know it’s not ideal missing college, but until things calm down, we need to be safe.” I move to the fridge and pull out a bottle of water, just to do something with my shaking hands.

“Where is Cassie?” she asks again, her voice laced with more anguish this time. She knows, but she needs to hear me say it.

“Don’t worry, I will contact your tutors securely and make sure they send you work so you don’t fall behind. With break coming up, it will be fine. Everything will be fine.” I can feel every set of eyes in the room burning into my skin. How can you hold yourself together when everything has already fallen apart?

Lily crosses the kitchen and grabs my arm, her fingers bite into my skin. “Where is Cassie?”  she demands.

“The Donovan’s have her.”

The words feel like they strike every person in the room. No one is immune to the situation and every single person here will feel the effects of tonight forever.

Lily stands dumbfounded as she tries to comprehend what I just said. She blinks a couple of times and I watch the tears escape onto her cheeks. She takes a deep breath and dashes them away quickly, but I saw them. Saw the love she has for my daughter. She looks back around the room until she finds Asher. She moves quickly towards him and out of nowhere, slaps him hard across the face,

“Lily!” I shout in protest. What the fuck?

Ash barely flinches at her attack. Given the injuries he has already sustained, I don’t know how, but it’s like he doesn't even feel it.

“I told you this would happen,” she screams at him. “I told you that you being around her would be no good for her.”

“Lils!” Logan cuts in. “Stop.”

“Stop?” she laughs in disbelief. “They fucking have her, Logan. Don’t act like we don’t all know exactly what happened to bring her into this world.”

She turns back to Ash. “What the hell are you still doing here? Go get her.” She pushes him hard, and he allows himself to stumble away from her. Her words look like they have cut him deeper than anything else.

“Lily.” Helen’s voice cuts through the tension. “Enough.” Her tone silences the room, but then Ash clears his throat.

“It’s fine, but thank you, Helen--” he starts, but she cuts him off.

“Nothing about this situation is fine, but you will not turn on one another.”

“Why? I’m a Donovan.” He shrugs. “Their bad blood runs through my veins too.”

“You are nothing like them!” Helen snaps back at him. “They are vile and filled with hate. That’s not you, Asher. Don’t let me ever hear you say that shit again.”

He takes a deep breath, trying to absorb her words, but I know how much hate he will be feeling towards himself. “I should have done more to protect her; I know exactly what my father and brother are like. I should have done more. I could have done more for her.”

“Ash,” I move until I’m in front of him. “You did everything you could, you’ve risked it all for us for the last four years.”

“Yeah, and it was all for nothing.” His tone is flat, and I can tell he will blame himself for this forever.

“No, it was so our daughter could have a father. So, she could know love and joy, and what it means to have a daddy who loves her.”

“We need to get her back, Elle.” His words are barely above a whisper and I know he means we, as in me and him. There is a knowing look in his eyes that mirrors my own. We both know we will do whatever it takes.

I give a slight nod of my head and then step back. “We’ve all had a long night and there’s nothing more we can do right now.” I look each of them in the eyes. “Go, we will reconvene in a few hours with Max and the guys and start making moves to get our girl back.”

No one moves, but I can no longer stand the tension and the pity. I leave the room at a quick pace and don’t stop until I get to my room. Once there, I quickly grab the empty black bag from under my bed and start filling it with clothes. Anything that I think I might need to take on my retaliation. When I hear footsteps approaching, I quickly shove it back under the bed and climb into the blankets.

Marcus appears thirty seconds later with the permanent grimace that has been on his face all night. I don’t want to speak to him right now. If he talks, I will break and confess everything. I can’t do that. Not now.

“Come lie with me?” I ask before he can speak, and when he sees the no doubt empty look on my face, he nods and climbs in behind me. He curls his arms around me until we are one and then we just let the silence eat up the room.

It isn’t long until his breathing evens out and I know the exhaustion of the night has finally got the better of him. I wish I could do the same, wish I could slip into the unconscious lull of dreams and pretend that this fucking chaotic shit show wasn’t my reality. I am fairly sure the only thing keeping me awake at this point is the pure determination to bring my daughter home.

The sun is already starting to peek through the curtains, and I know I have to go before it’s too late. I silently climb from the bed and slip into my wardrobe. I change into fitted black cargo pants, a long sleeve black top and combat boots, tossing my leather jacket over my arm and pulling my hair into a slick ponytail. Once ready, I move quietly back into the room and look over Marcus’ sleeping form. He looks peaceful and I wish that could be the look etched onto his face forever. That this life stops tainting him and hardening his already brick exterior.

My phone lights up on the nightstand and I slowly reach my arm out to retrieve it. There is a text message from Max that simply says, We’re good to go.

I take one last look at Marcus as I pick up my bag and open the door. I whisper into the night and pray he hears my words in his dreams.

“I wish on all the stars I make it back to you.”

It’s time to do what I should have done the moment I came back here. I am going after every single person who has wronged me and my family. Every single person who has had a hand in hurting me is going to die. I need to get my girl back, but before that I need to make sure it’s safe for her to come back. This town is about to be shaken up until it isn’t built on crime and dirty money.

I'll burn it all. Burn it until there isn't a shred of anything left and I will do it all by myself. A lone wolf is still a wolf.