Marian #2
Penelope’s tone was sobering as I looked between the couple. The Unavowed’s rage was shining through. His finger pointed right at her as some sort of warning, but he stepped back, turning and disappearing towards the one place I couldn’t look.
“He’s going to h-hurt you for that.”
Penelope gave a half shrug, pulling me into her arms.
“I don’t care if he hurts me. He hurt you. I will never forgive him for that.”
My arms tightened around Penny, and I couldn’t stop the sob that tore from me.
“Don’t cry. Come on, Shark. Time to spill more blood.”
“I’m not—” My head shook as I squeezed my eyes shut and held on to her tighter. “I don’t know that person anymore. You’re the shark, Penny. You always were. I told you.”
“You told me it was there. I didn’t want it to be. I was scared to face this. I’m not afraid anymore, Marian, and you shouldn’t be either. Look at me.”
I lifted, letting her wipe the tears that continued to leave me.
“These men hurt you.” Her furious stare left me to scan the large room, and her voice only increased in volume so they could all hear her.
“They hurt you, but someday, they will become just as much mine as The Unavowed’s.
I will not forget this day. I will not forget this moment.
” She turned back to me. “Neither will you.”
She leaned in, kissing my cheek.
“End this, Marian. Finish him.” She swallowed hard.
“I’m going to go now. I won’t see you before you leave.
I mean what I said earlier. I love you, and when you come back, because you will, I will be waiting for you.
Every second of every day. Shark,” she said, dropping her voice but emphasizing the word as she picked up a serrated knife.
“Shred him to pieces with these teeth. Show them all who you are. Show yourself. Remember.”
Remember…
I took the knife watching as Penny stepped back, reluctantly spinning and standing tall as she left the room. When I came back to Simon, I forced myself forward.
Remember…
Remember…
Shark.
I was a shark.
I was a fucking shark.
“Oh, look at you. Look at all that hate wrapped in your blank expression. I barely see you a handful of times in the last three years and you grow a pair. No fake smile? No, ‘Mother, it’s good to see you?’
“It’s not good to see you. I have a meeting in ten minutes. Can I help you with something? Perhaps the direction of the door so you can see yourself out?”
“Ouch. Marian Renee. I think I just fell in love with you for the first time.”
“I doubt it, Mother. You love no one but yourself. What do you want?”
“I want you to stop shaking like a scared little mouse and keep telling me how you really feel. You really must control the adrenaline. You’re impressed with yourself for standing up to me, but your inexperience shows.
Don’t worry. A few more meetings like this and I’ll have you spitting out your true feelings like the cold-hearted bitch you need to be.
” My mother bit against her bottom lip as I made my way around my desk, sitting down to face her while she continued to stand.
“I’ll cut to the chase since we both have better things to do.
The clock is ticking. Bastian Allard isn’t going to wait around forever to marry you, and if I’m being honest, I want this deal in the bag.
Do us all a favor and get moving on this wedding. There’s no point in waiting it out.”
“Oh, but there is.” I slid my fingers through each other, clasping my hands on the desk. “I’m going to wait until the last possible second just to spite you. I never wanted this.”
“I don’t care what you want. I care what’s best for this family—for our line. Look on the positive side, the faster you get this over with, the less you have to see me. No more surprise visits. I promise.”
“We all know how reliable those promises are.”
My mother paused, an evil smile surfacing as she leaned over my desk, putting her face level with mine.
“It’s truly pathetic how you wait around for a man who despises you.
What are you hoping for, Marian? That Drayton figures out the truth and rushes in like a knight in shining armor?
We both know that’s not happening. Besides, why would he want to now that he’s getting drunk and high with the sluts of Hollywood?
It’s who he always was, Marian. He’s turned into exactly who he would have become.
A womanizer. A man-whore. He fucks every woman who spreads her legs.
Pick up a tabloid. See for yourself. The whore of Hollywood. That’s who you love.”
“What do they say about throwing stones in glass houses, Mother? I don’t believe he’s the only one with the reputation. Would you like to know what they say about you?”
My mother sneered, but I saw how my words got under her skin.
“Jealousy. That’s all it is.”
I smiled. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you’ll ‘trick’ yourself into believing it.”
“Maybe I’ll—”
I surged forward, not just in the memory but towards Simon. And I was screaming. Swinging.
“You’ll what, Mother?” My head tilted and she stayed silent. “Nothing. You’ll do absolutely nothing. You can’t. When it comes to me, you’re weak. I’m strong. … Stronger than you.”
That damn smirk. “Look. At. You. I like this new Marian. I should have forced you into my profession. I could have made you so much more than some worthless CEO. You smell blood, and you’ve found the nerve to go for it. Such a pity I didn’t see it before. You may be a shark after all.
Loud muffled wails tore me from my enraged satisfaction. Warmth sprayed over me as I swung wide over Simon’s chest, splitting and tearing his skin open with the jagged grooves.
Shark.
Shark.
Womanizer.
Man-whore.
I reared back, making a deep laceration not far from the first. The skin was open, revealing muscle and even a part of his breastbone.
I angled, drawing back the opposite way, ripping through skin to form a large X over his chest. Over and over, I let my rage and screams leave me through the continuous massacre I was creating.
Through the raw realizations at what had been created because of me and my mother.
Chunks of skin were resting on the ground, and the guard’s face was so pale from the loss of blood.
I wasn’t going to be the mouse anymore. I couldn’t be, especially now that I was married to Drayton. But who was I now? Who was I becoming?
“Shark.” I gulped down air, trying to catch my breath. “I’m a shark. I’m a shark.” I turned towards the crowd of guards that were eating up my every move, pointing the knife right at them. “I’m going to kill you all. I’ll destroy every one of you.”
I didn’t wait. I turned, thrusting the serrated knife right through the middle of Simon’s throat, reaching for another knife off the cart and stabbing it into the center of the X on his chest. His body stiffened for only a moment before it went limp.
I stumbled back, feeling my legs give out as I fell to my ass.
The room was spinning. My mind was going in and out of the fog that kept trying to suck me under.
Screams.
Drayton’s voice had me flattening my palms over the stone to the side of me and digging my fingers in as I closed my lids.
“Shark.” I sobbed, feeling for the anger as I whimpered through Drayton’s deep growl. “I’m a shark. I am.”
“Marian?”
I didn’t open my eyes as footsteps hurried up. I put my hand out flat, facing it towards Elec as his voice rang out again.
“You did great, but you need to listen to me. When The Unavowed finishes, it’s not over. He’s going to want to talk. He’s going to want you to stay. You don’t want to be here. You belong back at home. You belong at The Gardens. I can help you there.”
“By erasing my memories?” I finally open my lids, cutting my glare up to him. “I’m a shark.”
Confusion swept his face, but he nodded. “You are that. You have potential to lead. Great potential. I can help you with that. I’m not going to lie. I don’t trust you—”
“Trust me?” I laughed, hearing the wildness in my tone. “You don’t trust me? I don’t trust you.”
Again, he nodded. “You’re smart not to. It doesn’t change the fact that your future is going to change drastically after this. The ties you have to The Order, they’re just ties. Your home is back with us. Back with our circle.”
“My home?”
I went to turn to Drayton, stopping myself as his yells of suffering grated my ears.
“He wants you to stay in London, Marian. The Unavowed wants to keep you and Drayton close. You don’t belong here. You have a choice. Don’t let him make you think you don’t.”
“You have to get back.”
The guard’s voice was stern as he waved for Elec to back away.
“This is not your home. It is not where you belong.”
With that, Elec turned, heading back to Bram.
I took in the way they quickly talked to each other.
They looked between me and Drayton. Neither seemed satisfied with what they were talking about.
I wasn’t even sure they were getting along.
My thoughts were incoherent. Nothing made sense, but there were things I knew. Important things…
I was Marian Pennington now, and everyone was greedy to direct where Drayton and my future would go.
Thanks to my mother’s teachings, I wasn’t going to let them.
I was married to one of the main founding members, and I was now tied to a king.
That was everything. It held the potential for something more precious than gold.
The Unavowed wasn’t the right king, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t help make it that way.
My pain was the ultimate currency, and there was no denying the price I had paid.
The price was admission into a banished bloodline I could help revive.
One, joined with mine… that could rule. We all had parts to play.
Even in shock, there was no escaping the deadly deal we’d all just struck.
But I had my teachings, and I could play the part.
Lies. Secrets. Death.
The future held the rise or the fall of a kingdom, and the results would depend on us.