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

They both shake their heads. Then Nate takes a seat on the bed. “We…. I need to tell you something.”

“Okay?”

He grips my hand, his thumb caressing my palm slightly. “Daemon is currently locked up for questioning.”

“What?” I go to shoot off the bed, but then wince when my head takes the beating.

As I lean back, Nate scolds me. “Do that shit again and I’ll fucking kill you myself.”

I roll my eyes, because only Nate can get away with threatening to kill me right after I almost got killed.

“But he didn’t do anything!”

Nate searches my eyes. “You don’t know that.”

“Fuck you, I know that.”

I see Bishop take a seat on one of the hospital chairs out the corner of my eye. Even from here, I can see how much he wants the donuts.

“Madison, you don’t know Daemon. Yes, I know you guys are twins and I know you have that bond… but he’s a very, very dangerous guy.”

“Not to me.” I look back at Nate. “I’m serious, Nate. He didn’t do shit that day. He told me…. I remember, he told me to get back into the car and that something didn’t feel right.”

Nate doesn’t flinch. Like he already knew I was going to say that. “Exactly, Madison. He knew something was going to happen.”

“What does that mean?” I scoff, my anger reaching the boiling point. “You’re not making sense.”

“Fuck.” Nate clutches his hair.

“Madi!” Tatum screams, launching off the mattress on the floor and diving onto my bed.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Tate!” Bishop jumps off his chair. “Get the fuck off her!” She climbs up my bed.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It’s just—” She bursts into tears, digging her head into my chest and curling up into a ball on top of me.

I pat her softly. “I know.”

She swipes her tears angrily and slaps my arm. “Don’t ever fucking do that again!”

“All right.” Bishop wraps his arm around her waist and picks her up with one arm, removing her from my bed and putting her back down at the end. “Enough of that shit. I’m feeling unstable.”

Tatum evil-eyes Bishop, brushing off her clothes snobbishly. “Don’t you caveman me, Hayes!” Her eyes dart over his shoulder and her face lights up. “Oh!” She claps her hands and dives for the bag of donuts, pulling one out and biting into it. “Yum, donuts.”

I can’t help it; I laugh. Bishop gives me a dirty stare. “What? So she can eat a donut, but I can’t?”

“Exactly.”

He rolls his eyes and comes back up to my bed, sitting on the other side of me. I open my mouth, about to tell Nate to go on about Daemon, when the doors swing open and my dad and Elena walk in.

“Madison!” Elena wipes tears from her cheeks. “Oh, good Lord.” She rushes near my bed and pulls me into a hug. I can hear Bishop growling beside me, the over-the-top male that he is.

“Hi,” I whisper into her hair softly, looking up to my dad. His eyes are bloodshot red, wrinkles more prominent, and his suit looks a few days worn. “Hey, Dad.”

Nate pulls his mother’s arms off me. “All right, let her dad have a turn now. Ya stage five.”

My dad leans down and kisses me on the head, leaving his kiss there for a beat longer. “I’m sorry, baby girl.”

Closing my eyes, I exhale. All the stress and pain, somehow he takes it all away. “It’s not your fault, Dad.”

He steps backward, his eyes searching mine. “You say that, Madison. But—”

I shake my head, and by God, it hurts to do so. “No. It is no one’s fault.”

His face changes, morphing into anger. “Madison,” his voice turns into the firm one he uses whenever I’m in trouble, “you do not know anything about Daemon.”

“How can you say that? He’s your son!”

He opens his mouth and then closes it again. Looking over my shoulder to Bishop, he then looks back to me. “What do you want me to do?”

I smile. “Thank you. Get him the best lawyer. He will need it.”

“I don’t think this is—” Nate starts, but I cut him off.

“Shut up, Nate!” I look at Bishop. “Are you going to fight me on this too?”

He looks at me and then looks at my dad. “No. I got you, babe.”

Those words. So simple, but meaning so much to me. My shoulders drop, and my heart slows for the first time since I’ve been here. “Thank you.”

“I’ll call around. I know one in New York. He’s the best defense attorney in the state.”

“Okay.” I smile at my dad. “Thank you for doing this.”

“For the record”—he looks at me, his eyebrows pulling in—“I’m not happy about it. There’s a lot you have to learn. But I will respect your wishes enough to grant this for you. But if I find out that Daemon and his….” Dad pauses, then looks back at Bishop. “Never mind. Just—I’m doing this for you. No one else.”