Malum: Part 1 (The Elite King's Club 4)

He flips her off, and then pushes a couple of fingers into his mouth, whistling out. I watch as a blonde girl crawls out of the passenger side of his car. “Yeah?”

Oh glorious, she actually responds to his dog antics. Gross.

“Find a ride home.” He turns, dismissing her.

“Good to see he hasn’t changed much,” I mutter under my breath.

Madison scoffs, hooking her arm in mine. “Oh, he has changed. He has gotten worse.”

Pulling out one of the bar stools that are tucked under the oversized granite kitchen counter, I slide on top, picking up the glass of whiskey Madison has poured.

“Just saying, aren’t you both too young to be starting this…” Bishop points to the glasses.

Madison shoots him a glare.

His hands come up in defense. “Alright, alright.”

“Talk, Tillie. Quit fucking stalling.” That’s Nate.

I take a long shot of the amber liquid, letting it rest on my tongue before throwing it back and relishing in its scorching travels down my throat before it blisters in my belly. “She took our daughter and she will not give her back. After Daemon’s funeral, she had us locked up in a place in New York City. I’m not sure where it is or what it is, because when they’d transport me, I’d be blindfolded.” Not a lie. This isn’t so bad. Daemon’s death impacted all of us. He was Madison’s long-lost twin brother who was the leader of The Lost Boys and held on an island called Perdita. An island my deranged mother ran and operated for The Kings. Something about a birthright to do so and family lineage, I’m not completely sure. I only not long ago found out about Katsia being my mother. Daemon spoke fluent Latin and hardly any English. He was silently disturbed. The kind you don’t speak about because you can never get close enough to him to have an opinion.

Only, I did.

My eyes finally go to Nate’s, and I regret it immediately. His pupils are dilated and He’s seething, absolutely livid, and all that anger is aimed at me.

“If you hadn’t run in the fucking first place, then I could have fucking protected you!”

I narrow my eyes. “I didn’t run, Nate! I was fucking taken! There’s a difference.”

He steps closer to me and I instantly freeze, every single warning bell inside of me ringing, signaling me to shut the fuck up or this boy will kill me. “Yeah? There’s a difference is there? Care to test that theory?”

“Nate!” Madison snaps, but he doesn’t retreat. His eyes are solely on me, and mine on his. I won’t back down, I refuse to. He can be angry, but I’m over being made out to be the bad person just because my options are tied and have been tied since I damn well came into this world. Not all of us have the freedom that money and power provide. Some of us have to actually unlock ourselves from what keeps us shackled, not pay our way out.

“Maybe you should…” I counter, challenging him.

His eyes weaken, and a lazy smirk pulls up the corner of his mouth. “Now, now, princess, don’t go asking for things you know you can’t handle.”

“Last I checked, I handled it just fine, thank you,” I mutter, finally taking my eyes away from him and concentrating on my drink.

“Okay! Sorry I’m late, but I had—” Tate cuts off from behind me. I don’t turn around to see her, because somewhere inside my brain, I know that she hates what Nate and I have.

Madison leans closer to me, her elbows resting against the counter. “Stay here for as long as you need, okay? We will get her back. I promise.”

I smile. “Thanks, Mads. I appreciate it.”

She stands again, rounding the counter to take my hand. “Come on. I’ll show you into Daemon’s old room. You can stay there while you’re here.”

Pain slices me in the chest, but I swallow it down, aware of all the eyes I have on me.

I don’t make eye contact with any of them. I keep my head bowed low and let Madison guide me to Daemon’s room.

We stop outside the door, and Madison’s grip tightens in mine. “I know about you and Daemon, Tills.”

My head snaps up to hers. “What do you mean?”

She swallows, and then her eyes slowly open onto mine. “I know about you both, and what happened between the two of you.”

“Okay,” I answer because I don’t really know what else to say to her and I really, really hate lying to her. Out of everyone on this earth, she is the one person I really don’t want to lie to. I need to find a way out of this mess I’ve found myself in.

“I just want you to know that it’s okay to mourn him in here. I haven’t come into his room since it happened, mainly because I haven’t been able to stomach it.” She pauses and swallows. “But also because I felt like it wasn’t my place to touch.”