by Lynn Stevens
Rebel Princess
Modern Princess Collection, 4
Lynn Stevens
Copyright © 2020 by Lynn Stevens
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Modern Princess Collection
Chapter One
Delilah stared at me as she munched on her baby carrot. Her gray-green eyes were wide.
“Stop.” I dropped onto the couch beside her. “I’m just going to work on the research paper at the library. It’s not like I’m walking down a dangerous street at two in the morning.”
She raised her eyebrows but never stopped chewing the carrot.
“What?” I asked. Her steely gaze unnerved me. “What do you think is going to happen?”
Delilah lifted her finger. “One, you’re persona non-grata right now.” She held up another digit. “Two, it’s almost ten on a Saturday night. Can’t you just work on your paper tomorrow? The Labyrinth’s not going anywhere.” She added a third finger. “Three, you said you have to get up early to practice for your audition.”
“One, yes, I know, but I’m still working on the article. It hasn’t been published yet,” I countered, throwing up my own fingers. “Two, the library will be dead, and I’ll get more done. Besides, it’s the safest place on campus. Have you seen all those windows? Three, I do, and I will.”
Delilah pursed her lips, but she didn’t argue. Obviously, she realized her arguments fell on deaf ears. I shook my head and stood, grabbing my overstuffed backpack.
“Be careful,” she said as I opened the door to our dorm room.
I rolled my eyes. “It’ll be fine.”
She grunted, and I shook my head. The door clicked softly behind me, but I could still hear the TV playing reruns of Project Runway. Delilah watched it endlessly. Her goal was to create gowns and clothes to make everyone look beautiful. After being thoroughly bullied in school for her weight, she wanted to help bigger girls and women feel like supermodels. It pissed me off that Delilah was treated so horribly. She was the nicest person I’d ever met. We’d become fast friends and stayed roommates for the last three years.
I stepped out into the cool Florida night. It was in the low seventies, but it felt so much cooler. An early fall cold front had taken over the south. I loved early October back home in Vermont. The changing leaves, the fresh apples and cider, the bonfires. Here, it was just another day. Whenever I went home, my mom would tell me I’d been in the warmth for too long. I relished the cool air and tugged my Camelot University fleece tighter to ward off the chill.
A bird trilled nearby. I lifted my head, searching for it in the night sky. There wasn’t anything there. My grandmother had told me that unknown birds calling to you was a warning. I guess I’d had a lot of warnings in my life because I couldn’t tell the difference between a robin and a cockatoo.
I stepped out on the path that lead from my dorms to the Labyrinth across campus. The seashell and gravel crunched under my sneakers. The moon wasn’t out, making the campus seem darker than usual. The streetlights along the path were dull and provided little illumination. If I didn’t know where I was going, it would be easy to get turned around this time of night, especially when nobody else was around.
That didn’t happen much at Cam U.
The library was like a beacon across campus. Normally, I avoided the Labyrinth as much as possible. Most things could be found online anyway, but not this time. I tugged my bag open and pulled out the genealogy report from my DNA test. If all my research was right, then I had Roma heritage. My grandmother had told me as much, but the rest of the family denied it.
Now, I had proof. It was time to do some more research on the background of the Romani people and to pony up more money to trace my family tree. Grandmama was the only person interested in our family’s lineage and the only one to keep records. They disappeared when her house burned over a decade ago.
“Em, wait,” a too familiar voice said in the darkness.
I strained my eyes to find him. Colin came out of nowhere on my right. His dark eyebrows furrowed into a single line. I automatically took a step back.
“How could you do this to me after everything we’ve been through?” He stopped when we were toe to toe, forcing me to bend my neck back to see his face. “You’re going to ruin me.”
I snorted and took two steps back, almost losing my balance as I felt the sidewalk disappear beneath me. There was no reason for him to be in my face. Nothing had been done. Yet.
Besides, there was no way he could know what I was up to. “What’re you even talking about?”
“Don’t pull that crap with me,” he snapped. His face reddened to the color of a wilting rose. It wasn’t pretty. I glanced down at his clenched fist. His tendons tightened around the bones. “Don’t lie, Emerald. I know when you lie.”
The grass curled around my sandals as I took yet another step away from him. Colin had never been so aggressive when we dated last spring unless he was on the lacrosse pitch.
“Is this some form of revenge for me dumping you?” he demanded, closing the distance once again.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied. My back hit a small tree trunk. I glanced up to see the palm leaves swaying from the force. Fear trembled my voice. “Calm down, Colin. Please.”
He put his finger in my face. “You’re trying to ruin my life. You’re trying to ruin the team. Back the fuck off, Em. This is none of your business.”
I shook my head to deny it, but he pressed his body against mine, trapping me against the tree. Fear gripped my chest like a vise, but something stirred beneath.
“Leave it alone,” he growled.
Anger flared inside me. I hated being trapped. My instincts kicked in, and I pushed against him as hard as I could. He knew I was claustrophobic. He knew how to provoke me too. Trap me like a bear, I come out like a lion defending her cubs.
Colin stumbled a few steps back, a smile flickering across his lips.
“Don’t touch me again,” I said, letting my bag fall to the ground.
“Drop the story, and you’ll never have to see me again,” he said, calmer than his eyes betrayed him to be.
“What story?” Oh, I knew. Believe me. I’d been working on it since last spring, digging into a scandal that would ruin his academic and athlete career. It was one of the reasons we broke up. Well, that and the freshman in his room who wasn’t wearing any clothes.
Colin’s temper boiled over. I’d never seen him this volatile, this terrifying. On the lacrosse pitch, sure, but not in person. Playing brought out the animal in him. Was this just a game too?
“Look, Colin,” I said slowly, trying to calm him down. My hands shook. I held them out between us. “I’m working on a couple of stories for the school paper.”
His eyes widened, and his nostrils flared. “The. One. About. Me.”
“I’m not working on one about you. That would be the sports department.” His pupils looked dilated when what little light we had hit them. It could be a trick o
f the light. Or he could be on something. He took our breakup pretty hard.
“I didn’t cheat,” he said.
Then his body twisted, and I didn’t have time to move as his fist connected with my face. I crumbled to the ground, pain splintering across my cheek. My palms slammed into the dirt. My forehead slammed into the tree trunk. My head vibrated from the impact. I must’ve blacked out because when I opened my eyes, my face was full of grass, and my head was resting near my backpack.
“Stop,” someone shouted. It echoed in my mind like a bad hangover.
I turned my head in time to see someone pushing Colin away. They were arguing, but my ears felt stuffed with cotton, and I couldn’t make out a single word. My vision blurred. It looked like ten guys fighting each other.
Five Colins went down on one knee then merged into one. He stood quickly and swung at the other guy. I blinked to clear my sight. I only knew which one was Colin because I knew him so well. The other guy could’ve been a mass murder, but at the moment, he was my savior. He sidestepped Colin’s off-balanced punch and grabbed his arm. Colin spun around while the guy pinned Colin’s arm behind his back. He said something, then shoved Colin away. My chicken-shit ex-boyfriend ran off. He didn’t even look back to see if I was okay.
I pushed up on my palms, and my head started spinning. The grass crunched under me as I forced myself into a sitting position. I blinked hard against the darkness at the edge of my vision. This was going to suck worse than a hangover.
“You may have a concussion,” the stranger said.
I opened my eyes as he knelt in front of me. His face was in complete shadow, but there was a large hump on his shoulder. I recoiled against the tree at my back.
He held up his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. Just let me look at your cheek.”
A bright light flashed, and I cringed. Pain shot through my cheek. I cringed again.
“Sorry,” he said, turning off the light. Orbs bounced in my vision. “You definitely have a concussion. I called Campus Police. They should be here any minute.”
“No, no, no, no,” I muttered. This was bad. Way bad.
“Why not?” he asked. Even without knowing this guy, I could hear the disbelief in his tone. “That guy attacked you.”
I pressed my eyes closed, trying to focus, but my mind scattered. “Please, no.”
He leaned forward. “I can’t stop them now.” His finger touched under the throbbing bruise, and he gently turned my head. “He’s not a nice person to do this to a woman.”
“He’s the dean’s son,” I said, gritting my teeth. “He gets away with everything.”
The stranger leaned back, and the hump on his shoulder fell away. My gaze tracked it. Only when it thumped on the ground did I realize it was his backpack. I glanced back up at the guy who chased Colin off. He had shifted and sat on the grass with one knee bent and his arm resting on it. The left side of his face was still shadowed, but the right side was nothing short of gorgeous.
“You’re pretty.” I closed my eyes tight when I realized the words actually came out of my mouth. Not one to hide behind mind-numbing humiliation, I opened my eyes to his smirk. “I’m sorry. Normally, I keep those thoughts to myself.”
I felt his deep baritone laugh in my knees. “Normally, nobody thinks I’m pretty, so it’s nice to hear, even if it’s not true.”
I opened my mouth to ask why when a blinding light flashed across his face, and his left side came into view. It was distorted somehow. I didn’t know how to describe it in that brief moment other than to say something had destroyed his skin into a red, ugly landscape. The light flashed to me, and I held my hand up to block it. My head throbbed harder.
“You the one who called?” a campus cop said. He spat sunflower seeds near my feet.
I recoiled. That’s nothing short of disgusting. He could’ve at least had the courtesy to spit them away from me.
“Some guy attacked her,” the mysterious stranger said as he got to his feet. “I chased him off, but I didn’t get a good look at his face. She’s got a concussion.”
“Is that so?” The cop dropped the flashlight from my face, and I finally got a good look at him. He was round in the middle with thin legs. Another cop stood off to the side. Both of them looked pissed to even be called out. “How do you know she’s got a concussion?”
“Served as a medic in the military,” he said. “Saw my share of concussions.”
“Is that what happened—”
The stranger cut the cop off. “Anyway, she knows the guy who hit her. I was just strolling by.”
“Give your information to my partner here, in case we have any other questions.” The cop turned toward me and bent at his knees. “My name’s Officer Vincent. You need an ambulance, girl?”
“No, I’ll be fine.” I tried to stand, but my legs gave out from beneath me.
“Yeah, you need to go to the ER.” He pressed a button on his shoulder walkie talkie and called dispatch for the local EMTs. He pointed over his shoulder at the stranger. “You know this guy?”
“Not until he chased Colin away,” I said, then I cringed. “I mean, the guy who hit me.”
The cop stared at him, and realization dawned on him ten seconds later. “Shit. You’re the girl who used to date Colin Franks. I knew I’d seen you before. You saying he did this to you?”
I found myself nodding even though it hurt like hell.
“And this guy just happened to show up?” Office Vincent asked again.
“Yeah.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened? From the reason you’re out here until I showed up.” He bent at the knees again and waved his hand for me to get on with it.
“I was going to the library to do some research. Colin stopped me. He accused me of trying to ruin his life, then he hit me.” I kept my voice calm despite my suddenly shaking limbs. “The stranger chased Colin off, like he said. Then he talked to me until you showed up.”
Officer Vincent nodded and stood, leaving me on the ground. That was comforting. Good to know campus PD cared. At least my sarcasm wasn’t unharmed. Unlike my pride and dignity. I watched as the stranger nodded, and took a business card from the other cop. Then he turned and walked away. I watched him until he glanced back over his shoulder at me.
I tried to smile, but I felt sure it came out as a grimace. He raised his hand before disappearing around a building.
For a brief moment, I wondered where he went. It was the last thing I thought of before I woke up in the hospital.
Chapter Two
It was three days before I was allowed to go back to classes. Delilah enjoyed nursing me. She called it practical experience if she went to med school. As a junior, she still hadn’t decided what she wanted to be when she grew up.
I was going to be a dancer. My mother, may she rest in peace, was a dancer of the exotic variety, but she’d dreamed of being a professional on Broadway. She taught me to dance, then when I was eight, she died in a car accident. Dancing made me feel close to her.
She was the best mom—never lied to me, not even about her job. I grew up knowing men wanted women and would pay anything for a good time. I also grew up knowing men could be assholes.
I showed up at my community services class, ready to take notes. The class wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exciting either. We hadn’t done any actual community service, which was the whole point of the class. So far, we had only talked about the different types of service and how it affects the community.
Mr. Wilkes strolled in without his usual dirty brown messenger bag. “Okay, everyone. You guys ready to get out in the world for some practical experience?” He dropped his bag on his desk and grinned. “Come on, let’s see some enthusiasm.”
My grin matched his, but it made my head hurt. The concussion symptoms had ebbed, but the massive bruise on my face deepened into a greenish-purple. I tried to cover it with my hair and failed. People had been staring at me all day, relentlessly asking me questions.
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“Glad to see a few of you are interested in today’s project.” Mr. Wilkes rocked on his heels. “We’re heading toward a homeless shelter to help make and serve lunch. We’ll stay as long as we can, but I know a few of you have afternoon obligations. Officer Redman has agreed to accompany us. Since the area is a little sketchy, those who need to leave at the end of the hour have Public Safety officer escort you back to campus. The rest will head back with me when we’re done. Sound good?”
A few people mumbled their disapproval, but I didn’t mind. The whole point of this class was to give back and fill a requirement. Mostly to give back though. We packed up our bags and filed out of the room. Mr. Redman stood grim-faced in the hallway. Then again, I’d never seen him smile.
Mr. Wilkes led us outside into the bright Florida sun. I slid my sunglasses on before my head started throbbing. So maybe I wasn’t one hundred percent concussion symptom-free just yet.
“Okay, class,” Mr. Wilkes said, walking backward down the sidewalk. “We’ll trek over. It’s about a five-minute walk at the most.”
That caused more grumblings.
“There’s a homeless shelter that close?” a girl I didn’t know squeaked.
I rolled my eyes. None of my usual friends had signed up this semester, so I was stuck with a bunch of people I didn’t know. And, to be honest, I really didn’t want to know them. Unfair? Totally. My life was complicated, and I kept my circle tight.
“Right?” her friend said. “It’s kinda creepy.”
“Completely creepy. What if they’re all serial killers?”
I couldn’t take it anymore. Ignorance was one thing, but they had crossed the line. I spun toward them with my hand out to stop them.