Page 58 of House of Pawns
I swallow hard, feeling the ice around my heart attempting to thaw. But I just can’t let it. “How is Lula handling what’s happened?”
Elle takes a moment to answer, her eyes dropping to the bed. “She didn’t seem surprised at all, actually. He finally came home after your party, and he had to tell us the truth. Don’t get me wrong, Lula didn’t seem happy. But she wasn’t surprised either.”
“She knew about the affair?” I ask, and it’s more than one question.
Elle nods, giving a little sniff before looking back up at me. “She did. Lula wouldn’t tell us much about it, just that Mom was hanging with people she shouldn’t have. She wanted things that weren’t right.”
She pauses, her gaze turning inward. I can feel the weight of this young girl’s world, so heavy on her shoulders.
“Elle, is what happened to Ian ever going to happen to you?” I ask.
Once more she meets my eyes. “No,” she responds simply. “Our dad was my biological father. If you saw pictures of him, you’d know without a doubt. The blond hair. Same nose. You really can’t question it.”
I reach out and take her hand. I feel for this girl, so much. She’s lost so much, had too much darkness in her young life.
It’s then that I see the bandage wrapped around her forearm.
“What happened?” I ask, my brow furrowing. My hand reaches up and as my fingertips barely brush it, the tape peals back, revealing a horrific wound.
It’s really not that deep. But it’s so brutal and stark.
There’s the shape of a cross cut into Elle’s flesh.
“Don’t,” she says quietly as she quickly replaces the bandage. And she won’t look back up at me. “It’s fine.
“Elle, that does not look fine,” I gasp in horror. “Who did that?”
“It’s nothing,” she says. “Some kid at school was just pulling a prank.”
“By cutting into yourskin?” I’m horrified. Luke said things had gotten bad for the Wards, but this…I never could have imagined this.
“It’s fine,” she says, and she practically yells it, staring into my eyes coldly. “We’re taking care of things.”
I’ve never wanted to take so many things back so badly. This poor girl, so sweet and innocent, stuck in the middle of this war that is so much stronger than she is.
Elle clears her throat and once again doesn’t meet my eyes. “I came here to ask you a favor.”
“Anything,” I promise her.
“Ian wants us to leave. He’s been trying the last few days to get Lula and me to pack up and leave Silent Bend. I think he means for forever. But Lula won’t go. She’s been rather…unpleasant about it.”
I can just imagine…
“And I don’t want to go. My whole life I’ve lived here. I have school. And my friends,” her voice grows quieter, making me question the friend aspect. “And I don’t want to run.”
Her eyes rise up to mine, and I see strength there. Determination.
“I know this King is supposed to be bad and scary, I’m not questioning that,” she says. The conviction in her eyes grows stronger. “But I’m asking you to not say anything about Ian. Please don’t mention anything about our family. We’re just another citizen of Silent Bend. Please.”
Her desperation, her plead, it breaks my heart.
For just a moment, I’m reminded of myself, months ago. Desperate to hold on to normalcy. To protect those I held dearest. From the impending threat and danger.
Now, most of those dangerous threats reside under my own roof.
“I promise,” I breathe. I take her hand again, squeezing tightly to show her how much I mean it.
She lets out a big breath. “Thank you. It really means a lot to me. And,” she reaches into her purse and digs around. “I brought you something I thought might be useful.”
