Page 52 of The Devil of Hollywood

Did I feel any better for telling her my intended plans? No. But she had to be prepared in case—In case, what? Was I seriously thinking about torturing her even more?

I couldn’t help but feel The Unavowed had stolen my revenge. I was torn between right and wrong. Between any shred of morality I had left and the need to sate the festering fury. All my plans. All the pleasure I’d meant to get out of making Marian pay… fucking gone. Pleasure? In what? The woman I’d meant to make suffer had experienced a hell I couldn’t begin to put her through. She was fucking broken, lying on the bed before me, not even sure what the hell reality was. Did I want to hurt her worse than this?

“My mother is dead… My family.”

I stayed quiet as she continued. She kept doing this. She’d just start talking in random moments, but sometimes it didn’t get anywhere.

“I knew the day would come. I knew… I… She did this to me. She h-hurt me again.” A long pause as she seemed to roll into an episode but stop it with small whimpers. When she glanced at me, I knew she was back enough to hold a conversation. At least for the moment. “What did she do this time? It had to be bad. They killed her.”

I shifted on the chair I sat in.

“I’m not entirely sure. Elec’s only told me so much. Apparently, she’s taken things. Money. Property—without consent, whatever the fuck that means. It doesn’t matter. She did it to a lot of people, and they had evidence. Your father knew about it which makes him just as guilty.”

“My brother, Jett?”

I paused.

“He was somehow responsible for the death of Sebastian Rivers. That’s all I know.”

“Seb? He’s dead?”

Marian went to sit, but I surged forward, lowering her back down.

“He is. They just had his funeral. Rest, Marian”

Tears raced down the sides of her face as she went back to staring at the ceiling.

“None of that make sense. This isn’t real. It can’t be. I must be dreaming.”

My jaw clenched. “You’re not.”

Seconds passed. “Heir.” Her head shot over to face me. “The Unavowed mentioned an heir. Your heir.”

“Our heir. That’s the condition to set you free. A betrothal. Between our line and his. The Pennington and LaRoe line⁠—”

“Like fucking hell.” Marian came to life, flying to a sitting position. Sobs and screams tore from her as she tried to shoot off the bed. “Never! Never!”

“Enough. Marian! Look at me.” I held her shoulders, keeping her on her knees as I had to shake her to meet my eyes. “His world, our world, you know how it works. Whatever your mother did, it was bad. I know this because Elec already stressed to me how hard it was to acquire you. That means The Unavowed has claim. That claim could very well change The Council’s mind if we fight it too hard. I had to say yes.”

“No.”

“Yes. Or we risk more than just a tie to blacklisted royalty. Marian, if we fight this, you may not be able to leave. They may change their mind and make you stay here. You’d go to some London elite for breeding purposes.”

“No! This isn’t happening. This isn’t real! You wouldn’t give him our heir, Drayton. You can’t do that!” Sobs left her, and I pulled her in as her fists hit into my chest. A scream muffled into my shirt, and I felt my hand fist into her tangled hair.

“I didn’t have a choice. I agreed to sign a contract, and I will. It’s done.”

Again, hot air from her scream burned into me. I didn’t like what I had to do any more than she did. Betrothals weren’t popular anymore, but they did happen, and now I was forcing that on a child I didn’t even have yet. Tying it to him… to a monster worse than me.

“This isn’t a dream, it’s a nightmare.” Marian broke away, sobbing as she let herself fall back to the bed. “I want to go… h-home. I want to⁠—”

A knock sounded, and the door opened. I turned to see Elec walking through.

“Bram is back. He didn’t have to leave completely to get service. The Unavowed will be here shortly. I’m not sure, but I can’t shake this feeling that something is wrong.”

Marian’s sobs grew heavier, and Elec walked around, lowering to sit on the side of the bed, closer to the foot. Something swept over his face as he took Marian in. It was a mass of emotions that flickered so fast, they were hard to make out.

“Will you let me try to calm you?”