Marked (Last Princess Book 1)

by A. M. Hardin

  I shake my head, wanting the things he’s saying to be a lie, but I can’t deny what I just saw. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone put a spell on Adam to act like that?”

  They all shift uncomfortably instead of answering.

  I narrow my eyes at them. “What?”

  “He was spelled because he’s close to you, Cherish,” Xander finally says. I meet his eyes, and even though I want to laugh at the ludicrousy of that statement, the hard set of his lips and truth shines through his eyes.

  “What? What does that mean? I’m not understanding.”

  Kade sighs. “Cherish, you told me about your parents. Are they your biological parents?”

  “Yes,” I answer automatically. They exchange another look, pissing me off. “Okay, enough of the talking with the eyes bullshit. Tell me what the hell you’re getting at.”

  It’s Andrei who lets out a sigh this time. “Cherish, your father isn’t your biological father. Your father is King Leander and–” He cuts off when I laugh.

  “I’m supposed to believe that my father is a king? That’d make me a princess wouldn’t it?” I shake my head. “You’ve got the wrong girl. It’s not me. I know my parents are my parents, and that’s enough for me.” I stand up and pause when Andrei says my name. I turn to look at them. “I’m not who you think I am. I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow.”

  I don’t even bother to stop when Andrie says my name again, and I hear Kade murmur to just let me go for now.

  I scoff inwardly. For now. Whatever.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cherish

  I slam the door to my house, and chuck my bag to the side, needing to take my anger at the guys out on something.

  Me? A princess? As if.

  I look up and see my mom raising a brow at me from the entrance to the living room, as if she came in to see why I was slamming doors and throwing my crap around.

  “Everything okay?” she asks.

  I laugh, the sound void of any humor. “Sure, just got told by a few guys who don’t even know me that dad isn’t my dad. So yeah, everything’s great.”

  Mom’s mouth drops open, and she stares at me, shock plastered across her face.

  “I know! It’s stupid. I told them as much.” Her mouth opens and closes, but no words come out, and I raise an eyebrow at her. “You okay, mom?”

  “Oh, Cherish,” she whispers, her voice filled with pain. I stiffen and wait for her to continue. “Let’s sit down, honey.” She gestures to the couch, and I numbly move to the seat she’s gesturing to. She sits beside me, her body angled towards mine. Grabbing my hands tight in her grip, she examines our hands.

  “Mom? What’s going on? I expected you to laugh at that with me, not get all serious and all doom and gloom.” She looks up and meets my eyes, and I stop when I see the tears swimming in her gaze.

  “I, uh, I really should have told you sooner than this, but we needed to keep you safe and hidden.” She takes a deep breath, keeping her gaze locked on mine. “Cherish, your father and I, we aren’t your biological parents.”

  I blink at her, stunned into silence for a minute. “But, you have pictures of being pregnant with me.”

  She smiles softly and rubs her thumb across my hand. “That was your biological mom. My twin sister.”

  “Your . . . twin?” I choke out, tears welling in my eyes as what she’s saying registers. “You guys have been lying to me my entire life?”

  “You have to understand, Cherish. Your mother was scared for your life. She had every right to be. She was killed shortly after your first birthday, you were staying here for the weekend. Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant with Ella.” Tears fall down her cheeks, triggering my own to fall. “I hated having to lie to you, but your mother told me that your father would send someone for you after you turn eighteen to take you back to him, and that until you discovered the truth I had to keep the fact that I didn’t give birth to you a secret.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” I sniff, willing the tears to stop. “How could she have told you that if she was already dead?”

  A sad smile spreads across her lips. “She left me a letter, explaining everything, should anything happen to her. Explaining what I need to do to keep you safe, about who, and what, you are.”

  “What you are?” I repeat. “What does that even mean? I’m human. Just like you, dad, and Ella.”

  “You are human, honey, but that’s not all that you are. Your father wasn’t human, Cherish. He was an Elf.”

  “An elf?” I double-blink. “Like, the little itty-bitty people that help Santa Claus in the north pole? Pointy ears, weird little hats, and everything?”

  She snorts out a laugh, despite the tears streaming down her cheeks. “No. Those itty ones are just in fairy tales. Elves are real, and though they do have the pointy ears, they’re about the same size as a human male or female. Well, from what I understand, the females are fairly small.”

  “That’d explain my shortness,” I mutter under my breath.

  Mom gives me a watery smile. “Yes, you don’t get your height from your mother. She was actually pretty tall for a human woman. Just like I am. She was only about an inch taller than I am. From what I can guess you’ve probably got your grandmother’s height on your father’s side.”

  I pause. “This is why you and dad have been fighting isn’t it?” I ask quietly, pulling my hands away from my mom and looking away.

  Her hands come to either side of my face and makes me meet her gaze again. “It’s part of it, I won’t lie to you about that. Your father loves you, honey. He does. He just isn’t dealing with you being eighteen very well. Although, if I’m honest, I haven’t been dealing with it very well, either. We’ve had you with us for seventeen amazing years, and you are our daughter.

  “We love you, and we don’t want you to leave us, but there’s a chance that you’ll have to. If it means keeping you safe, then that’s what you have to do. Your father is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that you might leave, and it’s put a strain on both of us, but it is not your fault. I want you to understand that.”

  I nod. “I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.” I cover her hands with mine. “If what you’re saying is the truth, do you think that the new guys at school are the ones my, um, biological father sent for me? Do you think they were telling me the truth?”

  She smiles sadly. “I think that if you stormed out of there without hearing them out like I believe you did, you should probably apologize and hear what they have to say.”

  I purse my lips and nod. “Okay. Thank you, mom.”

  Her hands drop from my cheeks. “For what, honey?”

  “For raising me like I was your own when I wasn’t. I love you and daddy more for that, and I don’t think I could thank you for that enough.”

  She wipes a tear off my cheek with a soft smile gracing her face. “I’ll talk to your father, and if you and he agree, we can either tell Ella or keep it between us.”

  I shake my head. “No. I don’t keep secrets from Ella. This is a really big one to keep from her. I want her to know, but I’d like to know what dad says.”

  “Go on up and get your homework done. Your dad’s working late tonight, so it’ll just be us for dinner. You can talk to him tomorrow after he gets home from work when we’ve had a chance to talk about what happened today.” She moves to stand, and I follow her lead. “You should also go back to those boys and talk to them again after school tomorrow.”

  “Okay, I will.” She gives me a look. I roll my eyes. “I promise, I’ll talk to them tomorrow. This is just a lot to process right now, mom.”

  “Good girl. I love you, Cherish.”

  “Love you too.”

  "So are you going to tell me what the hell happened to you and why you have those bruises?" Ella asks a few hours later, interrupting my reading.

  I glance up at her, notice her stern expression, and realize that she's not going to let this g
o. I sigh and set the book off to the side. I rub a hand over my face. "I honestly don't know where to even start," I admit.

  Ella sits on the edge of my bed and slaps my leg. "Don't give me that shit. I let you put off telling me for the whole day. Tell me what's going on."

  I bite my bottom lip. "I'm honestly not sure what exactly happened. Adam cornered me in the hallway at prom and wanted to talk to me. I said fine. He was trying to get me back, and when I refused he just . . . he lost it."

  Ella's face is tight with anger. "Are you telling me that he left those fucking bruises on your arms?"

  I wince. "Yeah, but it was like he wasn't himself."

  "That doesn't excuse it," she shrieks, making me flinch. I cover her mouth with my hand.

  "Be quiet!" I hiss. "I don't want mom and dad knowing."

  She glares at me and pushes my hand off her face. "Why the fuck are you protecting that asshole?"

  I sigh. "I'm not protecting him. I really don't care, I just don't want to deal with the questions and the yelling at me part." I give her a pointed look. She just shrugs.

  "He's not here for me to yell at him, but you can bet your short little ass that I'm going to kick him in the nuts if I see him at school tomorrow."

  I snicker. "Whatever. As long as you're not making it known. I don't want to deal with questions and people blaming me for it." She opens her mouth, but I cut her off. "You know that's what will happen, El. The kids at school would blame me for it before they see their golden boy as the problem."

  She scowls. "Stupid high school bullshit. I can't wait til I'm out of that place."

  I chuckle, the sound sad, even to my ears. If mom's right and I have to leave, I won't get to be here when Ella graduates. We've been there for everything together. I don't want to miss that.

  "What?"

  I shake my head. "It's nothing."

  She eyes me, but when she realizes that I'm not saying any more she sighs. "Fine. Maybe you can tell me instead why you kinda just ditched me here after school without explaining where you were going or why?"

  I chuckle. "You know the new guys right?"

  She nods. "Um, yeah. You'd have to blind to not notice them."

  Rolling my eyes, I grab my pillow from behind me and throw it at her, slapping it into her face. "Anyway," I start, drawing out the word, "they had something to talk to me about after school and invited me to their house."

  "What'd they want to talk to you about?"

  I hesitate for only a second. "They were the ones who stopped Adam at prom from being even more of a douche. They wanted to check to see if I was okay."

  "Why couldn't they do that at school?" she asks.

  I shrug, hating that I'm lying to her. "I don't really know. They didn't really say anything else besides making sure that I was okay."

  "And are you?"

  I smile at my sister. "Yeah, El. I'm fine."

  Just processing the fact that the guys might be right about who I am, and I'm totally freaking out on the inside. Nothing to be concerned about.

  "Alright. I just wanted to come in and bug you about where the bruises came from before I went to bed. I'll see you in the morning." She raises a brow at me before standing up. "Are you even going to be getting up on time? You've managed a few times without any struggles and that's rare. Should I expect you to not show up to school until lunch tomorrow?"

  She moves to the door, and I chuck my other pillow at her, missing by a mile. "Shut up." Though, she does have a point. I just don't want to admit it.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cherish

  High school fucking sucks.

  I slam my locker shut with a loud bang and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

  "You okay?" Zoe asks softly from beside me.

  "Yeah, just idiots talking out of their fucking ass," I grumble. "I'm just thankful today's done and over with."

  "Don't let them get to you," Zoe says with a reassuring smile.

  "Yeah, they're all assholes anyways," Lucy says with a shrug. Her eyes narrow on someone behind me, and she scowls. "What the hell do you want, asshole?"

  I don't even need to turn around to know who she's talking to. I just wish he'd leave me alone.

  "I want to talk to Cherish," Adam says.

  I roll my eyes and turn around to face him. "This feels a little bit like déjà vu. Go away, Adam. I'm too pissed off to deal with your mood swings today." I push him back and move to walk around him, thankfully moving quick enough that he can't make another grab for me like he did at prom.

  "Come on, Cherish. I just want to talk. Your friends can stay if you really want them to."

  "Not interested," I wave a hand dismissively and keep walking with Lucy and Zoe following me out to their cars that are parked near mine.

  "Does he seriously think it'll be that easy?" Lucy hisses. "He fucking hurt you, and he thinks that any of us would just let it go?"

  "I don't get it either," I admit.

  "So, do you think it's him that's been spreading those rumors?"

  I grind my teeth so hard it hurts. "I don't fucking care who's spreading them. Honestly, I don't really think people think that it's true. They're just hoping to have something to talk about, and as long as it's not them they're happy."

  "It could be Adam spreading that rumor. I mean, he was the one who freaked out at prom about you fucking Andrei, Xander, and Kade," Zoe says. "Either that or he was bitching about it to someone else, and they went to spread it around. I don't know."

  "Yeah, well I wouldn't have a problem with the damn rumor if it were actually true. Hell as long as any rumor is true, I don't give a shit. What I give a shit about is the fact that they're wrong. I'm not fucking any of them, let alone all of them."

  "We know, Cher," Zoe assures me, rubbing a hand on my shoulder, easing my tension a little.

  I shake my head. "Whatever. I'll see you guys later." I wave goodbye to my friends and get in my car. Instead of going straight home, I go to the address Kade gave me yesterday.

  I grab my bag from my car and go to the door. After knocking, I wait for the noise of someone moving behind the door and take a deep breath to steady myself.

  The door opens, and Xander smiles at me. "Hey," he says simply.

  "Hey, uh, can I come in?" I ask, suddenly nervous.

  He opens the door wide and steps back, so I can enter.

  "Are the others here?"

  He tilts his head toward the same room we were in yesterday. "They're in there, waiting."

  I pause. "Waiting?"

  Xander grins. "We kind of figured you'd come back."

  I narrow my eyes, not at all liking that they were expecting me to come back. "Why?"

  He smirks. "Princess, I highly doubt you would have left here and not said anything to your mom or dad about what we said." He starts walking, and I follow him until I see Kade sitting on the couch and Andrei at the window, staring at something outside.

  Kade flashes me a smile when he sees me, but Andrei doesn't show any reaction to my presence.

  "I take it your mom talked to you?" Kade asked softly.

  "If you mean the fact that neither of my parents are who I thought they were, you're right about that," I admit.

  Kade and Xander exchange shocked looks. "Wait, what?" Kade asks.

  "My mom isn't my biological mom. She's my biological mom's twin sister."

  "Shit," Xander says, running a hand through his hair. "What happened to your biological mom?"

  "She died, not long after my first birthday, apparently." It still doesn't feel real. I haven't even grieved because I don't really know how to grieve for someone that I don't really know, even though she's my mom. "My mom’s sister and husband took me in, and my mom told them to not tell me about them not being my biological parents until I heard from someone that my supposed dad would send for me."

  I look at each of the guys, noting that Andrei's now facing me, watching me curiously.

  "My mom said she lef
t a letter, explaining you guys would be taking me away. Is that why you're here? To make me leave?" I ask softly, begging internally for it to be a lie.

  Andrei nods. "That is the plan. We were actually sent to find you, first. No one knew what you'd look like since the last time your father saw you, you were an infant. Until you're willing to come with us back home, we're here as your guards."

  "Guards?" I ask. "But, aren't you guys teenagers?"

  Xander and Kade laugh while Andrei's lips quirk up a little. "We're quite a bit older than teenagers, Cherish."

  I narrow my eyes at him. "Okay? How old are you guys then?"

  Kade smiles. "I'm the youngest, I'm a hundred and thirty four."

  My eyes bulge as I stare at him. The fuck? "That makes you the youngest?" He nods. "How old are you guys, then?" I ask, looking from Xander to Andrei.

  "Andrei's the oldest at five hundred," Xander explains. "I'm a hundred and eighty."

  I close my eyes to process that. Opening them I give them a shit-eating grin. "So, you're all old geezers. Got it."

  Andrei scowls, but his eyes are glinting with amusement. Xander and Kade both chuckle.

  "Technically, I guess so," Xander says.

  "How do you guys look so young?"

  "With our species the aging process slows around twenty. It takes dozens of centuries to age enough that we look like old geezers, as you so delicately put it," Andrei says.

  "Species," I mutter. "Right. My mom said something about elves, but I was honestly hoping she was joking."

  Xander smirks, and the air glimmers around him for a second before revealing his pointed ears. "Sorry, Princess, she's right."

  I gape at him, not really knowing what to say to that. Kade and Andrei also drop whatever was hiding their pointed ears, because they no longer look like normal human ears. "How?"

  "Glamour," Kade explains. "Elves have their own special kind of magic. Those of us who are old enough can cast spells without needing to speak the words aloud."

  "Like what?" I ask, curious.

  "We could call on the king, so she at least knows what he looks like and maybe talk to him?" Kade suggests, though the suggestion comes out as a question. Andrei nods.