Shattered Legacy : A Dark Bully Romance (Gravestone Elite Book 1)

by Caitlyn Dare

  “Sure, but come back to me,” he teases, his eyes pinning me to the spot. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  I find Sasha kissing some guy I recognize from around campus.

  “I, uh… sorry, I need to borrow her for a second.” I grab her hand and tug sharply. She stumbles after me, giggling.

  “He’s cute.”

  “And you’re drunk.” And high.

  “It makes it easier.” Her eyes are glazed, her pupils blown wide. “You should try it.”

  “I’m really worried. It’s late, and there’s no sign of Bexley or Alex. And Brandon and Channing—"

  She huffs at the mention of his name. “Channing… Channing can go fuck himself.”

  “Sasha, focus.” I gently shake her shoulders. “The guys seem… worried.”

  “Doesn’t mean they don’t follow orders like the good little lapdogs they are, though.”

  “Think, Sasha… think… Has Cade said anything that might help me figure out what he’s done to them?”

  “He’s obsessed with the old ways.”

  “The old ways?”

  “Yeah… things used to get pretty crazy back then. Blood rites and all these weird initiations with hallucinogens. I heard my dad and Gregory talking once.”

  Fear snakes through me. “I have a bad feeling about this,” I say, chewing my thumbnail.

  I lead Sasha back to the party, but Brook spots us and saunters over.

  “Oh look, it’s the Electi’s pet.”

  “Fuck off, Brooklyn, we don’t have time for your bullshit.” Sasha barges past her, but Brook grabs her arm.

  “Why do you always have to be such a bitch?”

  “Me? Me!” she shrieks, and everyone stops to take notice. “You’re the queen bitch around here, acting like you’re something just because your mom got with my dad. My mom’s bed wasn’t even cold and she just—"

  Brook lunges for her, and the two of them start going at it, hands swinging and nails scratching. I don’t know what to do, so I stand there, hoping someone will intervene. It takes Brandon and Channing to finally tear them apart, but neither of the girls go down without a fight, bucking and broncing.

  I try to move around Brandon to get to Sasha, but someone’s fist catches the corner of my face and I stumble, losing my footing.

  ‘Mia,” someone yells right as my head collides with the ground…

  And everything goes black.

  Muffled voices fill my head, but I’m too confused to latch onto them.

  “Maybe we should take her to the ER.”

  “No fucking way. Not tonight. The last thing we need is the local PD sniffing around.”

  “We should go get them. It was a bad fucking idea to leave them out there on DOM.”

  DOM? Who’s DOM?

  I try to move, but pain explodes in my head. God, it hurts.

  “They’ll be fine. Quit being a pussy.”

  “DOM fucks you up. They could do some serious damage,” someone says. His voice is softer than the other guy’s. Kinder.

  Slowly, I blink, forcing my eyes open. I’m in a bedroom, lying on a huge bed cloaked in black sheets. My eyes find Cade and Channing over by the window.

  “W-what happened?” I try to sit up, but the pain rattles my teeth.

  “Mia, babe, thank fuck.” Cade rushes to my side.

  “What happened?”

  “Brook—"

  “She hit me.”

  “It was an accident,” Channing says. “She was trying to get to Sasha.”

  “They were fighting.” I remember now. Sasha was drunk and high and Brook accosted us in Cade’s huge yard.

  “You had quite the fall by all accounts.” Cade glances up at Channing.

  “Where’s Sasha?” I ask.

  “Sleeping off all the pills and vodka.”

  “I am—"

  “This is my room.” Cade’s eyes darken. “You look good in my bed.” He runs his knuckles over my cheek. “Just a shame it isn’t under different circumstances.”

  I’m too weak and confused to fight him. I already want to close my eyes and drift off into a deep sleep.

  “Whoa, Mia. You need to try and stay awake, in case you have a concussion.” Channing moves closer, concern shining in his eyes.

  “Stay with her,” Cade orders. “I have shit take care of. Do what he says, okay?” He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I’ll be up later.”

  Cade leaves and Channing takes his place in the chair beside the bed.

  “You like to make life difficult for yourself, don’t you?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means stop ruffling feathers, Mia.” His brows crinkle.

  “I’m not supposed to be his prosapia, Channing. You know that, right?”

  “I’ll admit, it’s a little suspect your name got picked. But the decision is final.”

  “Ugh. Everyone keeps saying that, like I’m supposed to just accept it.”

  He studies me carefully. “You’re not what I expected.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” I wince as pain shoots through my head.

  “Here, take these.” He hands me some pain pills and a glass of water.

  “You promise it’s just Advil?”

  “I might be Electi, Mia, but it doesn’t make me a monster.”

  “What will you do,” I ask, “when Alex is inducted in?”

  “You should rest. Just don’t fall to sleep, okay?”

  “Easier said than done,” I grumble. “My brain feels like mush.”

  “We could watch TV.”

  “Or we could talk, and you could tell me where Bexley and Alex are.”

  “Nice try.” He chuckles darkly. “But not gonna happen.”

  “But why? You helped me clean up Bexley that night after the pit.” He’d snuck me down to the basement and then left the door open for them to escape.

  Channing is a good guy. He’s just in a bad situation.

  “Shh,” he hisses. “You can’t be saying stuff like that in here.”

  “Is it bugged?” I glance around.

  “No, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t spies everywhere. Just watch the TV and don’t make this any harder than it has to be, okay?”

  “Fine,” I huff. “But tell me just one thing?”

  “Go on…”

  “Will Bexley and Alex be okay?”

  He looks at me with a grim expression.

  “I really fucking hope so.”

  33

  Bexley

  “Do you have any fucking clue where we are?” I ask Alex as we finally emerge through a door that has daylight on the other side of it.

  The bright sun burns my eyes, making them run and my head to once again spin as I come down from whatever fucking trip that was.

  Whatever it was, I know for a fact that I don’t want a repeat.

  I glance over to see Alex looking around as he shields his eyes from the sun.

  He looks like hell. His pupils are blown and there are dark shadows circling his eyes. I have no fucking clue how long we were down there, but from how exhausted I am and how high the sun is, it’s got to be damn near twenty-four hours.

  “If I had to guess, I’d say the forest behind the Electi house. The graveyard is over there.” He points. “But really, it could be anywhere.”

  “How the fuck are we meant to get back? We’re fucking naked.”

  “Ever hot-wired a car?”

  I stare at him with my brow quirked. “Do I look like the kind of kid who used to spend his weekends doing that?”

  “No, but guess who did?” He winks, and I can’t help snorting with laughter.

  “Fuck off. Did you? You’re too good.”

  “Am I?”

  I open my mouth to respond, but I soon find that I have no words.

  “You’re not the only one who likes to keep the past in the past, dude.”

  “Okay, well, lead the way, Mr. Grand Theft Auto.”

  A
s naked as the day we were born, we start tracking through the forest.

  Sticks, stones, and God knows whatever else digs into my bare feet until by some miracle Alex navigates us to a house.

  “Is that—”

  “Just as I suspected. Now, whose baby did you want?”

  “You can steal those?”

  “No, there’s no fucking chance. I can barely remember how to do it to an old banger.”

  “I fucking believed you,” I snap.

  He shrugs. “Come on. We’ve made it this far.”

  “We’ll get pulled over for indecent exposure. We can’t walk down the fucking street like this.”

  “I know a back way. Come on.”

  He drops back into the forest and takes a wide berth around the back of the house.

  By the time our dorm comes into view, my feet are a bloody mess and I’m ready to fall headfirst into my bed and sleep for a week.

  Sadly, that’s not what happens, because the second we push through into the communal area of our dorm—after amusing more than a few fellow students with our mortifying walk of shame—we stumble straight into an ambush. Sitting on the couch is none other than the motherfuckers who did this.

  “You all owe me a hundred bucks,” Ashton announces, jumping up in delight.

  “Smug motherfucker,” Brandon mutters, pulling a few bills out of his wallet and throwing them at Ashton.

  Anger explodes in my stomach, my entire body trembling with my restrained fury.

  “You were fucking betting on us?”

  “All’s fair in love and war, Easton. Stop getting your panties in a—oh, that’s right, you’re not wearing any.”

  “You’re all fucking sick. What did you give us?”

  “Just something to make sure you had fun.” The smirk on Cade’s face has me stepping toward him, my fists curled at my sides, ready to take a swing at him.

  “You’ve got three hours until tonight’s dinner. You’ll both find suits in your rooms.”

  “Fuck. You. I’m not doing anything else you fucking say, you sick bastard.”

  “Oh, but I think you will.”

  My teeth grind as our eyes hold, hate crackling between us.

  “You don’t show and I’ll make sure something very precious to you gets broken. And not just by me.”

  He must read the horror on my face, because an accomplished smile curls at his lips as the images from my time locked underground come back to me.

  “I don’t want to share her. But I will, if I need to. And I’ll make sure you get a front row seat.”

  I fight not to react, but I fear it’s pointless. He already knows.

  “Fucking cunt,” I mutter, knowing he’s got me over a barrel.

  “Make sure you’re at Gravestone Hall by seven. If you’re late, I can promise you, you will regret it.”

  “I’ll probably regret it if I’m on time, too,” I mutter under my breath. “Are you done throwing your weight around, boss?”

  “Just make sure you’re there. Or don’t, actually. I think I might enjoy your punishment too much.”

  He pushes from the couch and steps toward me. If he wants me to cower to him, then he’ll be bitterly disappointed.

  “Don’t let me down, Easton.”

  He breezes past me, his little minions following soon after.

  Channing’s eyes hold mine for a second too long, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s trying to tell me something, but I’m too exhausted to attempt to decipher it.

  “I need sleep before the games continue,” Alex announces, turning toward his room.

  “I’m so fucking sick of this,” I bark, watching him go.

  “Tonight is the last test. It’ll be over then.”

  “We might initiate in, but I think we both know this isn’t going to stop. Not unless we kill that motherfucker.”

  “We’ll see how it goes, eh? I’m gonna pass out now.”

  He damn near falls through the door before slamming it behind him.

  Following his lead, my feet take me to my room before the others return—assuming they were banished the second the Electi turned up.

  My chin drops the second I step into my room.

  All my stuff has gone.

  All that’s left is the furniture and a black suit hanging on the closet door.

  “What the fuck?” I mutter, looking around, but in all honesty, I don’t care right now.

  I fall into bed, not giving the fact that I have no alarm set for a few hours time a second thought as I pass out.

  “Wake the fuck up,” someone shouts as my shoulder starts to shake.

  “No, it’s too early.”

  “It’s really fucking not. I suggest you shift your ass unless you want Cade to follow through on his threat.”

  Ripping my eyes open, I blink a couple of times as the blurry image of Channing standing over me emerges.

  “Why the fuck are you in my room?”

  “You should be thanking me, Easton. If he knew I was here he’d kick my ass.”

  “You think I give a shit? You’re no better than him.”

  “Really? I thought you were fucking smart, Easton.”

  “Whatever.” I wave him off and push to sit in bed, keeping the sheet over my waist, not wanting to flash him twice in one day.

  “You’ve got thirty minutes to be at Gravestone Hall. Get your fucking ass moving. Mia needs you."

  My eyes find his, and for the first time, I see genuine concern in his depths.

  "Fuck, okay." I jump from the bed and make a beeline for the bathroom.

  "Is Alex up?" I shout over my shoulder.

  "Going there now. I'll be down in the parking lot. Be fucking fast."

  I have the quickest shower of my life. It's hard fucking work, because my limbs don’t want to move as fast as my head tells them to. But finally, I drag on the suit that's waiting for me and head across the living area to grab Alex before we're late.

  "You ready?" I ask, shoving my head into his room without knocking. Seems fairly pointless, seeing as I've almost seen him naked more than I have myself in the past week.

  "Yes, let's go."

  We blow through the dorm, earning us more than a few curious looks. Alex still looks like hell, and I didn't bother looking in the mirror. I just ran some wax through my hair and hoped for the best.

  "What the fuck is Channing playing at?" Alex asks when we step into the night to find his headlights illuminating the parking lot.

  "I don't know, but something tells me he's helping."

  "Really? You think he'd go against Cade like that?"

  "Fuck knows. I feel like I don't know which way is up right now. You still tripping?" I ask.

  "I thought I was showering in snakes."

  "I'll take that as a yes," I laugh.

  "That shit was brutal. I lost count of the number of people I killed."

  "Tell me Cade was one of them," I mutter, stepping up to Channing's car.

  "Sadly not. He's fucking invincible, that cunt."

  "Yeah, I got that sense too."

  We pull out of campus in silence, tension rippling around the small space.

  "What can we expect tonight?" I ask, needing to get out of my own head.

  "It's a formal meal with Q to welcome you to the fold."

  "We're in?"

  "You'll have to wait to find out. It's not over yet."

  "Fucking great." I scrub my hand down my face.

  "For what it's worth, I'm glad you're both okay. I had nothing to do with the DOM."

  "The what?" Alex asks, poking his head between the front seats.

  "DOM. It's what you took. A hallucinogen. A fucking strong one."

  "You don't say," I mutter, staring out of the window as the town passes us by.

  "Just… just watch your backs tonight. Cade is planning shit, but he hasn’t even told us what it is. But historically, the after party gets a little… wild."

  "More than the last event we were forced to
attend?"

  "You have no fucking idea. Prepare yourselves for the worst," he says, pulling into a full parking lot. It's like a showroom for the rich and famous. "Let me go in. Give it five minutes, then follow. If he finds out…" Channing trails off. He doesn't need to say the next words. We all know.

  We climb out of his car and I nod at him before he takes off across the lot and toward the entrance.

  "Something tells me tonight is going to be anything but fun."

  "You got that message as well, huh?"

  "I fucking hate this. I much preferred life when I was just Alex Shaw," he says sadly.

  I want to agree with him, but I soon realize that I never really liked the man I was before being Bexley Easton either.

  After our five minutes are up, we head toward the entrance.

  We're welcomed by name by a couple of young men I've never seen before and directed through to the bar while everyone else seems to already be in the main ballroom.

  Pushing the door open, I square my shoulders and jut out my chin when we find it occupied by only the Electi and Quinctus.

  "Ah look, our initium are finally here," one of the elders says—Tim's father, I think—before every other set of eyes, including Marcus', turn on us.

  "We didn't think you were going to make it," Cade pipes up.

  "Sorry to disappoint you, Kingsley, but we wouldn't have missed it for the world."

  He smiles at me, but it's full of venom.

  They chat briefly, exchanging pleasantries with us about how our initiation is going like they don't already know what twisted games Cade is playing before someone comes to tell us that we need to make our entrance.

  Yeah, our entrance.

  The ten of us walk into a silent reception room that's laid out much like a wedding reception complete with a top table. It’s empty bar one person waiting for us.

  Mia.

  Everyone in the room stands as we enter, and I barely contain a snort. It's fucking ridiculous.

  We take our seats, and at Cargill's instruction, everyone in the room takes their seats once more.

  The whole sight is really something to behold.

  I look around the room, wondering where their wives are, and find a table at the back of the room full of females. Chauvinistic assholes.

  They have every right to be up here with their husbands.