Page 83 of Evil King

“Get him out,” I instructed.

At that moment, Connor elbowed Deon in the face, and Deon fell over to the side. He grabbed the gun and pointed it down at Deon, and Nathan went jumping into the fray, smacking his hand aside. The bullet fired but missed Deon, and soon, all three of them were going at it. It was clear that Nikita wanted to get involved, but it was too messy for her to get a clean shot on Connor, so we all sat and watched in horror as Deon and Nathan struggled with Connor to get the gun away from him.

Finally, Deon managed to hook Connor’s arm, and Nathan reached out and swatted the gun out of his hand. I rushed over and picked it up before pointing it in Connor’s direction and cocking it. Nathan and Deon backed away from Connor as I held the gun on him with adrenaline rushing through my veins.

“You are not going to torment the people I love anymore,” I said.

“Stupid girl,” Connor growled. “You’re the one who’s finished.”

He reached under an end table near where he was and pulled out another gun. He pointed it at me and fired. I froze in place, waiting for the pain of the bullet, but the next thing I felt was Deon crumpling against me. I looked down, and he was gripping his side, blood already darkening his shirt.

“No,” I huffed. “No, Deon.”

“I’m okay,” Deon said, but it didn’t seem like he was being entirely truthful.

“Deon!” Nathan barked.

“I’m fine! Stop Connor,” Deon shouted.

Connor scrambled to his feet, and though initially, The Royal Court tried to stop him, he pointed his gun at them, and they had no choice but to back away as Connor ran out the door.

Deon scrambled to his feet. His bleeding was getting worse, but he didn’t seem to care. He rushed out the door after Connor.

“Deon!” I screeched, and I started out after him. Nathan cut into my path, and I crashed into him. I tried to walk around, but he stayed in my way. “Move.”

“Cherri,” Nathan said. “I can’t let you go. I don’t have time to explain, but if he gets another chance to kill you, he will.” He yanked the gun from my hand and pushed me toward Alistair. “Get Cherri out of here,” he said, and with that, Nathan ran out the door.

I tried to run out after Nathan, but Alistair kept a firm grip on me. “Ali. Let me go!”

“Avery, go start my car.”

Avery looked at me and frowned. “Cherri, I’m sorry.”

“No! I have to go after them. Deon got shot!” I screamed.

The entire Royal Court converged on me as I started to fight back. “Stop it! Let me go!”

No matter how hard I fought, I wasn’t stronger than five people. They dragged me, kicking and screaming, out to Alistair’s car and shoved me into the back seat. Alistair deployed the child locks so I couldn’t get out, and Avery climbed into the front seat. Alistair immediately started his car. All I could think of was Deon out there, injured and getting worse. I’d waited for too long to be with him. I couldn’t just leave him behind.

“Alistair. Let me out of this car.” I tried to punch the window. “I need to get to Deon.”

“Cherri. You’ll thank us later. This is bigger than us,” Avery said. “I’m sorry.”

37

Cherri

Ikept my phone sitting in my lap, waiting for Nathan or Deon to call me. We sat in Nathan’s house, watching the time tick by, hoping to hear anything, but the more time that passed, the more worried I became.

Avery walked over to me and held out a bottle of water. “Here, babe, you should drink something.”

I completely ignored her, as I had been ignoring all of The Royal Court since we got back. After everything we’d gone through to save Deon and Nathan, we turned tail and ran when they needed us most. I wanted to fight by Deon’s side, not leave him when he was injured. If something happened to him while he was out there, I would never forgive myself.

And I definitely wouldn’t forgive The Royal Court.

“Come on, Cherri,” Avery whined. “I’m sorry, but we’re just a bunch of rich kids. You’re too reckless, and Nathan was right. It seemed like Connor really wanted you dead. We had to protect you. You could have gotten arrested, or you could have died. Anything could have happened.”

Once again, I didn’t answer. Best friend or not, Avery let me down, and it might just result in Deon’s death.

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