Page 76 of The Devil of Hollywood

I went to turn to Drayton, stopping myself as his yells of suffering grated my ears.

“He wants you to stay in London, Marian. The Unavowed wants to keep you and Drayton close. You don’t belong here. You have a choice. Don’t let him make you think you don’t.”

“You have to get back.”

The guard’s voice was stern as he waved for Elec to back away.

“This is not your home. It is not where you belong.”

With that, Elec turned, heading back to Bram. I took in the way they quickly talked to each other. They looked between me and Drayton. Neither seemed satisfied with what they were talking about. I wasn’t even sure they were getting along. My thoughts were incoherent. Nothing made sense, but there were things I knew. Important things…

I was Marian Pennington now, and everyone was greedy to direct where Drayton and my future would go. Thanks to my mother’s teachings, I wasn’t going to let them. I was married to one of the main founding members, and I was now tied to a king. That was everything. It held the potential for something more precious than gold. The Unavowed wasn’t the right king, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t help make it that way. My pain was the ultimate currency, and there was no denying the price I had paid. The price was admission into a banished bloodline I could help revive. One, joined with mine… that could rule. We all had parts to play. Even in shock, there was no escaping the deadly deal we’d all just struck. But I had my teachings, and I could play the part.

Lies. Secrets. Death.

The future held the rise or the fall of a kingdom, and the results would depend on us.

Drayton

“Let me down. Let—” I jerked at the cuffs as guards began unbuckling them. “Fuck. Hurry. Just—” I twisted, not taking my eyes from Marian. She was sitting on the ground, and her back was to me. I’d seen her fall. If I wanted to be honest, my world had stopped in that moment. To see her wrath. To see the glimpses of her profile during the carnage. … Marian was not okay. Elec had run up to her at one point. I saw the worry on his face. Whether it was for her or the situation, I didn’t know. I didn’t care. He was worried, and that spoke volumes. That would have been the last emotion he would have allowed anyone to see, and yet, he couldn’t hide his feelings in that moment. Something was wrong, and I didn’t like it.

“Hurry. Up!”

My yell caused Marian to jump, but she didn’t turn to face me. Other than the jolt of her body, she didn’t move off the floor. She sat there, rocking, growing still, and then rocking some more.

“She was glorious, wasn’t she? I saw the way you watched. You liked what you saw.”

My top lip pulled back through the spike of rage.

“You destroyed her.”

“You liked it.”

I put everything I had behind jerking against the arm cuffs.

“You’re wrong. She didn’t deserve to be forced to do that.”

“I’m rarely wrong. Marian wasn’t forced to do anything. She asked for this. She wanted it. What you see …” The Unavowed shrugged. “It’ll pass. She may look defeated, but she is thriving. This didn’t destroy her, Drayton, it started the process of rebuilding her. I just poured the foundation. How you help her build from here is up to you.”

My feet were freed, and I clenched my fists repeatedly as they moved to my hands. The moment the straps were free, I winced, racing forward through a pain that nearly brought me to my knees. There was no me—there was her. There was an us. Marian and I may have hated each other, but we weren’t separate now that we were married; we were one.

“Marian.”

I came up from behind, slowing as I lowered to my knees and moved in front of her. Green eyes were barely visible behind her large pupils. I watched wide eyes take me in, but it was seconds before she came to life and saw me. Blood-soaked hands lifted to my cheeks but lowered as she frantically searched my body.

“Oh, Drayton. Oh, God. What has he done? He’s marked you. That’ll scar.” She paused, letting her hand hover inches from my stomach. “We are the shadows above kings. Isn’t that part of his creed?”

“Yeah. It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter.” I lifted her hand, taking in the gashes from the knife. “You’re bleeding. These cuts are bad. Your dress is covered in blood. You’re … covered in blood.” I quickly rose and grabbed a knife, shredding the silk of her dress to cut a long strip to secure around the hand that was bleeding. Without thought, my hand lifted, cupping her face so I could run my thumb over the red that was already smeared over her cheek. Marian immediately turned into my touch, and her eyes closed. Full lips parted, and I couldn’t stop the way my body reacted as she nuzzled more into my palm. My heart was racing, feeling everything. God, I couldn’t deny how strong the love still was. That knotted my stomach as flashes of her revenge kept blinding me.

“Seems I’m ordering you to your bedroom at the perfect time. I’ll have our doctor address your wounds before the consummation begins. Shower, and he’ll be there shortly.”

Guards approached, and I helped Marian stand, pulling her into my side as I winced through the fire that completely engulfed my chest and stomach. No matter how much I tried to stop the sounds of pain from coming, they kept leaving me at random moments.

“I know you don’t want to do this.” I stopped, trying to control the anger that came with us being forced. “We’re going to make this as fast and painless as we can. I promise.”

Marian glanced at me but stayed quiet as we were led down the long hall. When the door was opened and we were ushered inside, I couldn’t stop from rolling my eyes at the new décor that had been added during the short time we’d been in the great hall. The comforter and sheets were changed to a dark red and black. Even the material had gone from cotton to silk. Candles were so plentiful that they could have left the lights on for as bright as they lit the space. Where I was aggravated, Marian swept inside in a relaxed daze. It had me furrowing my brow as I watched her walk straight to the bathroom. The guards left and I followed, seeing as she stopped in front of the mirror.

Mostly blonde hair was drenched in blood. She had the red substance smeared over one side of her face from pushing back her hair, and there was spray spattering the other side in random spots. The lace sleeves and bodice of the gown held more blood than white. She looked like she’d just walked out of a horror movie. With the smile that slowly stretched across her face, I was starting to think that’s exactly where we were.