Lawless Kingdom (Reign & Ruin 1)

“Rhia,” he sighed, running his hands up my arms. “Can we just...?”

As if someone had called his name, he turned and looked straight up at the balcony. I followed his stare and saw my mystery guy watching the two of us with what I dared say was interest and something…darker.

And he wasn’t the only one staring.

Quite a few party goers had their eyes trained on us. Or rather me, which was understandable. These people would know Audrey and Dax from their school. I on the other hand was someone foreign, new, and so unlike them.

“Let’s go talk,” Dax said. He didn’t give me a chance to object. Taking hold of my hand, he led me away from the front door. “You too,” he called over his shoulder to Audrey.

It was much quieter beneath the gazebo.

Of course, that was due to it being so far from the house that all I could see were the upper windows. The music and conversation were considerably less here too, since not another soul was around.

“This is creepy, Dax. Why did you bring us all the way out here?” Audrey questioned.

“If it was that bad you could have stayed back at the party.”

“You told me to come, dumbass. And do you think I’d let you bring her out here alone?” She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, which lifted her tits even higher. I was surprised they even fit in the crop top she had on, but she still looked amazing, as per usual.

“I’d never hurt Rhia. Or you, even though you piss me off more than anyone else ever has in my life.”

“That’s very touching, but can you tell me what’s going on?” I interjected before they could start going back and forth.

He sighed and ran a hand through his tight curls. “Before I tell you this, just know I didn’t want you to find out this way.”

I shared a look with Audrey. This wasn’t starting off too well.

“Find what out?”

“That’s just it, bae. I can’t even tell you all the details, only that you two didn’t end up here randomly.”

I internally cringed at his poor choice of words He knew the use of ‘bae’ irked the hell out of me.

“What do you mean?” Audrey laughed lightly, shaking her head. “Brianna came running up to me at the gas station and told me to come tonight. That’s not random? The two of us aren’t exactly hitting up the mall together when they have a sale.”

I had no idea who this Brianna girl was, so I remained silent, waiting for one of them to explain.

“If you’d taken a second to think about it, no. This was nothing more than a ruse to lure you two out. Everyone knows Rhia’s your best friend. It was a given you’d show up with her.”

“Lure us out?” I interrupted.

That made zero sense, seeing as we were never hidden away.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You’re both fresh meat in Crudele.”

I would have laughed if he didn’t look so serious. The ‘fresh meat’ comment was somewhat offensive, but the way he said it had me more concerned than angry.

“What the fuck does any of that mean, Dax?” Audrey snapped. “Stop being so vague.”

“The Barrons, the Knights, the Rooks. They’re not who anyone thinks they are,” he stressed. “They’re not good people.”

I could tell he felt strongly about this.

He sounded as if he were on the verge of a breakdown. I couldn’t validate or debunk anything he was saying. I didn’t know any of the aristocratic families well enough to deem his words true or not. I didn’t know them at all, actually. He and Audrey were the ones who went to the same school as the younger generations.

“How would you know any of this?” she asked him, stealing my next thought right from my brain.

“I’m, here aren’t I? And unlike you two, I wasn’t invited. I’m supposed to be here, since I’m family.”

Um. What? “Since when?” I asked at the same time Audrey repeated, “Family?”

He reached for my hand, threading his fingers through mine. With another heavy sigh, he exhaled the truth in a breath of words. “The Barrons and I are cousins by marriage.”

“I—what?”

That was all I could manage to say. We’d been together for six months and I hadn’t so much as heard a whisper about this from anyone. I didn’t involve myself in gossip, wasn’t a fan of participating or spreading it around, but I was certainly a different kind of whore for it, always eager to receive the best parts.

“Dax…” I pulled away from him and rubbed my brow, still at a loss for words. If I could’ve cataloged this moment that I never in a million years saw coming, I’d have been able to look back knowing it was the first truth of many, none of them as harmless as they first seemed.