Deviant King (Royal Elite 1)

Except that I don’t want to reply right now. It’s Saturday, so I’ll pretend to sleep in like she told me to.

Don’t you think you’re living your aunt and uncle’s lives, not yours?

I wish Kim never said those words because I can’t stop replaying them.

Yesterday’s nightmare reminded me of something I’ve always put on the backburner.

Like Aunt and Uncle’s reactions to my nightmares.

Why would Aunt Blair ask questions? Why did Uncle Jaxon kick her out?

It’s like they know more than they’re letting on.

The nightmares are

n’t normal and they always follow the same pattern. In a basement. In water. In the dark.

They’ve been the same since I was seven.

Since my parents’ death.

I grip the counter as tendrils of fear shoot through my spine.

For ten years, I always thought that the past should stay where it belonged.

Aunt and Uncle offered me a new life, and the only way to embrace it was to erase any life I had prior to that.

But then again, ignoring it doesn’t mean it disappears.

With shaky fingers, I pull up google and type.

Fire in Birmingham ten years ago.

The first articles that come out are about a grand fire that happened in a copper factory.

Fifty people died on the spot, twenty in the hospital, and a dozen others followed after a few weeks.

It was a massive fire that shook the country and the government. The cause has been ruled as a negligent smoker and the case closed too soon.

I fall into a rabbit hole and study all the articles, comments, and even the interviews. A few workers said that Reggie, the one accused to have smoked inside the facility, never smoked inside. Not that Reggie can defend himself considering that he died on the spot.

I go back to the main search. It takes a few pages to find an article about a domestic fire.

My home.

No. My house. It feels weird to call it home.

The fire happened a week after the grand Birmingham fire.

My back leans against the counter as I read all the information I already know.

‘Stove Malfunction takes the life of a family. The only survivor is the daughter who had been outside by the lake.’

The lake.

‘The fire burned the house inside out and straight to the basement. The detectives found it hard to gather evidence.’

Basement.