Tormented Royal by Lily Wildhart

Chapter Twenty-Two

When I got home yesterday, I was glad to see that there weren’t any media stalkers at my gates. That’s the upside to the video having been taken not in my hometown, I guess. I might have to take Smithy up on the personal security thing if it gets bad again, though.

Lincoln didn’t appear last night either, and I hate that I’m conflicted about whether or not I’m happy about that fact.

So much for wanting a normal year.

I head to school, swinging by the drive through to grab coffee for Indi and I, all while losing myself in today’s song of the day, “I Am Defiant” by The Seige. The beat of the song has me all kinds of hyped up, which is definitely new for a Tuesday morning. The beat makes my heart race as my blood pounds through my veins. I’m a strong believer that the right song in the morning can set up your entire day properly.

I pull into the parking lot, swinging into the space next to Indi with the music blaring. As I bop along to the end of the song, Indi jumps along to the bass outside of my car.

Fuck, I love her.

I lean over and grab the coffees from the passenger seat before shouldering my bag and sliding out of the car.

“Thank you,” she practically sings as I hand her the drink.

“You whore!”

I turn around at the screech and let out a sigh as Blair storms toward me, her hands clenched at her sides as her hair blows around her face in the breeze. She looks pissed.

I glance up at Indi, who looks ready to bitch slap Blair already. She’s been too quiet lately. I sigh. I knew it couldn’t last. “I wonder what I’ve done now.”

Blair closes in on us, her blonde hair a wild mess as her rage makes her shake. What the actual fuck?

I hand Indi my drink before stepping around the front of the car to meet my cousin, placing my bag on the hood. She reaches me and pulls away before slapping me across the face so fucking hard I swear my brain rattles.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” My voice is quiet and calm despite the rage pulsing in my veins. I’m not the screeching type, but if she thinks I’m going to take this lying down, she has another thing coming.

Her eyes are wild as she comes at me again, trying to claw at my face. “You just had to come back and ruin everything, didn’t you? You couldn’t be happy with what you had. You had to take what was mine too.” Her words come out in pants as she tries to attack me. I try to hold her off, but her fingernails rake down my cheek, and I hiss as she breaks the skin. You’d think with the amount of self-defense classes I’ve taken, I’d be better at fending off bullshit attacks like this. I really am rusty. I reach up and touch my cheek. The warm, wet of the blood on my fingertips makes me see red.

Fuck this shit. I push her backward and punch her in her already delicate nose. She should’ve learned last time.

Her wail is enough to pierce my eardrum as she falls flat on her ass, clutching her nose. Her eyes narrow at me, and she actually fucking smiles. She’s a fucking psycho. “You’ll pay for this, you little bitch.”

Blair gets up and stalks away, leaving me wondering what the fuck just happened. I reach up, hissing as I touch my stinging cheek. My fingers touch the blood that trickles down my face, and my rage pulses inside of me again. I turn back to Indi, who is sucking down her coffee like she’s watching a movie, and I can’t help but laugh. “Enjoy the show?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she grins. “Watching her fall flat on her ass with a potentially broken nose, again, brings me way more joy than it should.”

“Any idea what any of that was about?” I ask as I grab my bag, and she hands me my mostly melted iced coffee.

She shakes her head and pulls a wet wipe from her bag, handing it to me. “For your face. And no, I have no fucking idea. She’s a legit psychopath, though, so it could be anything.”

I take a sip of my drink and take the wet wipe compact she offers me so I can clean up my face. I swear cuts like this sting way more than a deep wound. I’m generally fine with pain, my threshold is pretty high, but fuck, that stings. “Well, that was a fun start to the day. I wonder what other joys this day will hold.”

“At least life is never boring?” Indi offers as she tucks the compact into her bag.

I shrug and let out a sigh. “A little bit of boring might be a nice change of pace, though.”

I finally turn back to head into school and notice the large crowd of people watching us. Of course there were people here. That’s probably why she did it. And I reacted. What a dick. I should know better by now.

Do not react to the crazy people.

I keep my head held high, ignoring the whispers that follow me into the building about being an unhinged whore. Because despite no one being in my face about it, and the fact that all traces of the sex tape are gone from the internet, I know some of these assholes still have it. They still talk about it and call me a slut or a skank. But these people don’t mean anything to me, and that’s what I have to keep reminding myself of.

The world has written lies about me and my family almost my entire life. This is just another one to add to the list. The people who know me know the truth.

At least, I hold onto the hope that they do.

I take a breath and steel myself against this day. It can’t get any worse than this, right?

* * *

Yesterday morning was such a shit show that Indi and I chose to have lunch off campus at Joe’s. There was no way I was heading into the cafeteria for more bullshit. First Blair, then the whispers, and then in Music, Raleigh acted like he didn’t even send those messages while we were at the spa, trying to be my friend again.

I can’t even deal with this place this week. Lucky for me, I have the world’s greatest bestie.

So today, as we head into the school I cross my fingers and hope for a better day. We pass Lincoln, Maverick, and Finley standing on the steps like a group of dark gods surveying their subjects. My gaze is pulled to them as we climb the stairs. I can’t help but take in the way they command respect from those around them, even in silence. Each of them drips with the type of confidence you can only be born with. Everything about them screams power, attitude, and raw fucking sex appeal. I almost hate how undeniably hot they all are, my mind drifting to exactly what they could each be capable of. I try to shake the images from my brain.

Nope, I’m not going there.

As we get closer, I realize the only thing they’re actually watching is me, like I’m their possession and their enemy all at once. Even Lincoln, who’s acting like he hasn’t spent every night until last curled around me in my bed.

“Octavia,” Lincoln starts, and I swear to fuck I nearly trip up the goddamn stairs. Why am I such a mess around these guys? “You have a minute?”

I look at Indi, who shrugs and crosses her arms. I swear this entire place has me just trying to catch up. I don’t get why everything has to be so complicated. “Uhm, sure.”

Lincoln pulls me to the bottom of the stairs and back toward my car so we have a little privacy. I’m positive that the other two know exactly what he’s talking to me about, and I’m definitely going to tell Indi, so it seems a bit much, but fuck it.

He scowls at a group of kids walking toward us. They squeak and walk around the cars rather than passing us directly. “You don’t have to be so cruel, you know.” I sigh, and he turns his glare on me before rolling his eyes.

He rubs his fingers against his temples before looking back at me. “You’ve been gone too long. You have no idea how this place works.”

Now who’s being dramatic? I know this place is shady as shit, but he could leave as easily as I did if he wanted to. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

His eyes flash, and I watch conflict play out on his face. I have no idea what that’s about or why he’s giving me a peek behind the mask he wears like a second skin, but I see when he changes his mind about whatever it is he was thinking about before he starts to speak. “The video from the weekend. I know a guy, so if you want it taken down, I can handle it.”

My eyes go wide at his offer. This definitely isn’t what I was expecting him to say. “Why are you being nice to me?”

I can’t help but be suspicious, truce or not.

He glares at me again. I swear his face is going to get stuck that way if he isn’t careful.

“We called a truce, remember? Plus, if East mopes around much more, I’ll have to make him move out. He’s still being pissy with me, and it’s fucking with my chill.”

And now it all makes sense. He’s thick as thieves with Finley and Maverick, but he and East have always been weirdly close. Their bond’s the kind that nothing could ever break.

“Well, thank you, but unless shit turns dark, it’s not the end of the world. I don’t have the media banging down my door this time, so this is the kind of viral I can handle.”

He nods at my comment, like he expected as much. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t accept his help, truce or not. After everything that’s happened since I came back, I don’t see me ever going to him for anything. Whether he’s helped with my nightmares or not. I’m still not convinced he wasn’t the one responsible for causing them. “Okay, if you need help, you know where to find me.”

“Was that it?” I ask, at a loss as to why he’d pull me aside for that. His eyes rake over me, and the conflict from before is back. I'm beyond curious what’s going on inside his head. There was a time not too long ago when he couldn’t hide anything from me.

Things were so much simpler back then.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball or a time machine. Either would be useful these days, but I don’t live in a fantasy universe. I mean, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for a mind reading superpower either. That might make my life simpler too.

His jaw sets, and I know he’s made up his mind. “Yeah, that was everything. Have a good day.” He walks away from me, leaving me slack-jawed staring after him. Nothing about Lincoln Saint makes sense to me anymore.

I walk toward Indi, and we head inside. “What was that about?”

“Absolutely nothing.” I run her over the whole encounter, and she looks as baffled as I feel.

She shakes her head as we walk down the hall. “The people here make absolutely no sense to me.”

We head to my locker so I can sort out my books, and the main door slams closed. I look up and see Raleigh stalking toward us.

“Incoming,” Indi murmurs, moving so she’s standing just in front of me. I really do love her, and it’s been so much fun watching her come into her own.

“Morning,” she practically sings at him, making herself an obstacle before he can get to me. He straight up ignores her and stares daggers at me instead.

He folds his arms across his chest, practically vibrating with rage. I do not understand this guy at all. I thought I was good at reading people, but apparently I misjudged him a lot. “Why were you talking to Saint? I thought you hated him.”

Indi rolls her eyes before chirping up. “Hi, Indi, how are you doing? Yeah, I’m great, thanks, did you have a good weekend?”

He glances over at her before pinning me with his stare again. I have exactly zero desire to justify myself to him, so I don’t bother. “Whatever this is about, Raleigh, it’s a you problem.” The bell rings, saving me from this entire situation. “I need to get to class. When you have your shit together, come find me.”

He clenches his fists, but I spin to shut my locker then head down the hall with Indi toward English.

Could this day possibly get any weirder?

* * *

My afternoon breezes by pretty easily. Lincoln was almost nice in Business, and it shocked the shit out of me. Not to mention, Blair was noticeably absent after our run-in earlier today. It would’ve been nice if her bitch squad weren’t in hyper mode about what happened yesterday while we were in Gym, but East shut them down so beautifully I almost wept.

There’s nothing better than seeing bitches put in their place by the guy they simp over so much.

“V, you got a minute?” East asks as we’re heading to the lockers after Gym finishes, and I can’t help but laugh at how alike he and Lincoln are. I say a quick goodbye to Indi before turning and heading back to East.

I haven’t really seen him much outside of class since the whole him saving me and making the others call a truce thing. I should probably thank him for what he did, but the time I spent in his bed after being locked away made things feel weird and tense between us. I’m at a bit of a loss about what to even say to him now that we’re alone. “What’s up?”

He looks more than a little conflicted when he looks down at me. “How are you doing? With everything?”

I tuck my hair behind my ear where it’s escaped my ponytail, wishing this didn’t feel so freaking awkward. “I’m okay. The nightmares have almost stopped now. So I’m actually mostly good.”

He clenches his jaw and uncurls his fists. “Nightmares?”

My eyes go wide because I figured if Lincoln heard my screams, he would’ve too. “Yeah, I thought you knew. Lincoln said he could hear my screams when he…” I shake my head, trying not to trip over my words or let it slip that Lincoln snuck in my room and stayed more than a few times when I definitely shouldn’t have let him.

“When Lincoln what?”

“Nothing, it isn’t important. I’m sorry I haven’t been around much since that weekend. I still haven’t thanked you properly.” I wring out my hands, trying to think of a way to make it up to him. “You want to hang out soon? Maybe have a pizza and Xbox night or something?”

He beams at me in a way that makes my heart race. “Yeah, that sounds like fun. Let me know when.”

“I’m free tomorrow if you want to chill?” I swear I feel like a girl who’s never hung out with a guy before. East literally bathed and dressed me when I was catatonic, and now I’m a blushing mess over a night of pizza and Xbox? God, I’m so lame.

He grins and runs a hand through his light brown tresses, and butterflies erupt in my stomach. “Sounds good. I’ll text you later?”

“Okay.” I nod before turning and heading toward the locker room. I can’t help but glance at him as I walk away and catch him checking me out. He has the decency to blush, and I laugh, shaking my head as I leave the room.

Most people have already left by the time I hit the locker rooms, and Indi’s sitting on the bench flicking through her phone when I reach her. “You don’t have to wait. I’m going to shower and then head home. Tonight is totally a study night for me.”

She smiles up at me and slides her phone into her pocket. “Okay, sweet cheeks. I’m going to go catch Jackson. But don’t book Friday night up. I have plans for us.” She winks at me as she stands, and I laugh a little.

“How mysterious.”

“Jackson told me about a fight night that’s happening. Sweaty hotties, all kinds of adrenaline… It’s just yummy.” Her grin is so devious, I love it.

A thought hits me and puts a damper on it. “Is Jackson going?” I don’t tag on Raleigh’s name, but it’s more than implied.

“Nope,” she says, popping her p. “He was complaining that he couldn’t go because of the game.”

My grin is firmly in place as I grab my crap from my locker. “Perfect! I’m there.”

“Fabulous. I’ll see you in the morning.” She waves before floating out of the locker room, and I realize I actually have plans like a normal teenager, like, twice this week.

Who would’ve thought?

I hurry through my shower, not washing my hair, and change into my uniform before heading out. East is leaving the gym as I reach the hall, and he grins at me. “You’re running late.”

“I wonder why.” I stick my tongue out at him, and he bumps his shoulder against mine. We walk through the halls, keeping a reasonable distance. Despite the fact that he’s only four years older than me, and we’ve been friends our entire lives, he’s still my teacher, and people are weird as shit about stuff like that. Especially the petty jealous bitches around here who simp over him and wouldn’t think twice about trying to fuck me over.

I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to date East. It’s not only that he’s beautiful and has a body that would make the gods weep. The protective side of him both drives me nuts and makes me gooey all at the same time. He’s just so fucking nice, which doesn’t sound like the compliment I mean it to be, but that doesn’t make it any less true either.

He opens the main door for me, and I walk through, smiling at him. But then he looks over my shoulder and his smile drops. He looks fucking terrified.

What the hell?

I look around and find Lincoln, Maverick, and Finley facing off with a guy who makes Maverick look like an upstanding citizen. His black hair musses in the wind, and his ebony eyes are fixated on the boys until he looks up and sees me. His angry look shifts to a maniacal grin.

East moves to stand in front of me, blocking me from the view of whoever is standing with the others. “What do you want, Ryker?”

It takes a second, but it hits me who he is. Ryker Donovan. The Kingpin of ECH. Holy shit, he looks different from how I remember him. He grew up a lot. He’s easily as tall as Lincoln, with the same fighters build as Maverick, but every inch of skin I can see below his chin is covered in tattoos.

“I came to pay a visit to your brother and to remind him of a few things. Though, I see why he’s been so distracted now.” His gravelly voice turns my blood cold.

Is he talking about me?

I refuse to cower behind East, so I step beside him and cross my arms.

Belatedly, I notice the gun in Ryker’s hand.

How the fuck is this happening?

Ryker raises the pistol, and Maverick saunters toward him like he gives absolutely zero fucks that the guy has a gun pointed at him. My heart leaps to my throat, and the world slows to almost a stop as Maverick leans forward and puts his forehead against the end of the gun, grinning like the crazy son of a bitch that he is. “Don’t raise a gun at me unless you’re willing to pull the trigger, Donovan.”

I swear I can’t fucking breathe. What the fuck is he doing?

Ryker lowers the gun and tucks it in the back of his jeans, and I feel like I can finally breathe again before Ryker looks over at Finley and Lincoln. East is a fucking statue at my side, and I have no idea what we’ve stumbled into. Whatever it is, I want no fucking part of it.

Ryker crosses his arms over his chest, and Maverick laughs. Ryker gives him the bird and looks over at East and I before looking back to Lincoln and Finley. “Tell the Knights to back off. I’m not bowing down.”

Without waiting for anyone to say anything, he climbs into the idling car behind him and peels out of the lot.

The Knights? Finley’s family?

I'm so confused.

Lincoln looks over at me before glancing at East. He looks more afraid than I’ve ever seen him.

What the fuck are they mixed up in?