The Broken Puppet (The Elite King's Club 2)

“I’m losing my mind.” I put the car in reverse and drive the fuck out of there.

Mondays.

I’M MAKING A SANDWICH IN the kitchen when “Tequila Sunrise” by Cypress Hill comes blaring through the sound dock. I roll my eyes and pull out my phone, scrolling through my Spotify playlist. Fucking Nate, adding his music to my song list. I shove my phone back into my pocket, giving up and going back to my sandwich. Slamming ham onto my bread, I squirt on some mayonnaise and then add tomatoes, relish, and cheese. The catchy beat catches me off guard, and I start bobbing my head to the beat. I judged a little too soon; this song is actually pretty good.

Taking a massive bite out of my sandwich, my eyes come up to the entry to the kitchen when I see Nate, Bishop, Cash, Brantley, and Hunter standing there watching me. It used to be intimidating, having them in my personal space almost all the time—although this isn’t all of the Kings. But now it hardly itches on my skin.

“What?” I ask, chewing my sandwich.

Bishop shakes his head. “Nothing. Where’s your brother?”

“Upstairs.” I swallow. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Daemon about the shadows. Truthfully, I’m a little scared. Because once I ask him, there’s no going back. What if his answer changes my view on him? I don’t want that. There’re many things I want answers to in my life, many things I would sacrifice to get those answers, but Daemon isn’t one of them. I feel a strong sense of overprotectiveness when it comes to him, which makes me think… “Am I the younger twin or is he?” Thinking out loud always helps.

Brantley and Cash walk into the kitchen, taking a seat on the bar stools. “You’re the older one,” Cash answers when he sees no one else is.

“Knew it.” I grin, taking another bite.

“Why?” Bishop asks, leaning against the wall.

“Just wondering.”

“You’re wondering why you feel so protective of him.” Bishop takes the words out of my thoughts, pushing off the wall and coming into the kitchen. He pulls open the fridge and takes out a water, twisting the cap off. “He’s dangerous, Madison.”

I roll my eyes. “If you truly believe that, then why would you let him around me?”

“Well we tried to stop that,” Nate interjects. “But good fucking job we did.”

“And I said he’s dangerous,” Bishop finishes. “I didn’t say he was dangerous to you.”

“But the first night you were here, you didn’t like him. You almost wanted to kill him.”

Bishop laughs, placing the water on the counter. “Almost? There’s no such thing as almost when it comes to me, Madison. I don’t make mistakes; I make moves. If I do something, you bet your ass I thought about every single thing that had to do with it. I’m not unhinged. I’m calculated. I know exactly what I’m doing when I’m doing it, and you wanna know why that makes me the worst kind of monster?” he asks, though he really doesn’t want me to answer, so I stay silent—for once. “Because I’ve thought about the act over and over again in my head, and every time I asked myself if it was the right thing to do?” He inches closer to me, shoving his hands into his pockets. “It’s always a yes. So no, Madison.” He leans against the counter. “I don’t ‘almost’ kill anyone. If I want them dead, they will be dead. No matter what.”

The word dead coming out so close to Daemon’s name makes my stomach churn. I place my sandwich down, suddenly losing my appetite.

“Prince Charming obviously.” I brush Bishop off.

Brantley laughs. “That’s cute. But no, more like a dark knight.”

My stomach growls, and I pick up my sandwich again, biting into it. “If you could refrain from hurting my brother, that’d be great.”

Bishop looks at me, his eyes sinking into mine. “If he doesn’t hurt you—which I don’t think he will—then deal.”

Chewing softly, the front door opens and Elena and my dad walk down the hallway, both pausing when they see the gathering in the kitchen.

“Madison, Nate,” my dad greets.

My back straightens as I use the back of my hand to swipe at my mouth. “Dad! Hey!” I make my way toward him. When I pull him in for a hug, he tenses. “Everything okay?” My dad never tenses with me. Ever. He has always been my rock and always told me what was going on, except when it came to the Kings.

He forces a smile. “Everything is fine.”

I look to Elena and she gazes back at me, totally oblivious to what just passed between my dad and me. “Hi, Madi. How was your weekend?” She looks up to Nate. “Come and greet your mother, please.” Nate pushes off the wall.