Tarnished Crown (Gravestone Elite #2) by Caitlyn Dare (books like beach read TXT) 📕

out after class. I get the impression she’s hurt about the party, even though I tried to explain to her that it wasn’t one. Nothing about it was fun, not a damn thing. But it isn’t like I can tell her the truth. Not all of it, anyway. I leave my last class of the day ready to head back to my dorm room alone, but I find Sasha waiting for me.

“This is a surprise,” I say. She’s almost as elusive as her brother and his Electi friends.

“I thought we could hang out.”

“At the house?” Because I’m not ready to step foot back in that place. But then an idea hits me.

“No, we don’t have to go there.”

“It’s fine.” I nod. “I’ve got to get used to being there. Besides, we can stay in your room, right?”

“Or we could check out the pool. I have extra bathing suits.”

“Maybe.”

“Cool. Come on.” Lacing her arm through mine, she guides me to the parking lot, and we climb into her silver Porsche Boxster.

“How were classes today?” she asks, gunning the engine.

“Okay.”

“Did you see…”

“You know I did.”

“And?”

“And nothing.” My shoulders lift in a small shrug. “I told him it’s over.”

“It’s for the best.” She offers me a sympathetic smile.

“Did you hear the rumors about him and Brook? I don’t know why she feels the need to spread that crap. I had a front row seat to the show.” Pain lashes at my insides.

“I don’t think that’s about you.”

“Cade,” I say. “She’s trying to make Cade jealous.”

“Stranger things have happened.”

“How do you do it?” I ask.

“Do what?”

“This. Be one of them. It’s exhausting, and I’m not even an Electi.” My head falls back against the soft leather rest.

“It’s all I’ve ever known,” Sasha replies. “For as long as I can remember, it was me, Brandon, and the guys. Girls tried to make friends with me, but they just wanted to use me to get to the guys. So eventually, I just stopped making friends.”

“It sounds lonely.”

“It is what it is. I accepted my fate a long time ago.”

“And you and Brook… you’ve never seen eye to eye?”

“God no, she’s a vapid bitch who takes after her mother. I didn’t speak to my dad for a month when I found out he was seeing her.”

“What about Brandon? What does he think about everything?” He and Tim are the two Electi I still haven’t gotten a read on. Tim loves Fawn, I don’t doubt that, and from afar it looks like he’s one of Cade’s closest friends. But there’s something that doesn’t quite add up.

“Brandon doesn’t give a crap so long as he’s drowning in beer, pot, and pussy.”

I smother a snicker. From what I’ve seen, that sums up the Cargill heir perfectly.

“Are he and your dad close?”

“My father isn’t close to anyone, Mia. I think he thinks if he lets Brandon get it all out of his system now, it’ll make his transition into Q life smoother.”

“So when will his Eligere be?”

“Next spring.”

We finally pull up at the Electi house and my skin vibrates, my heart racing in my chest. They’re all here. Their cars line the driveway like perfectly polished weapons. Including Alex’s Porsche and Bexley’s BMW.

Sasha reaches for my hand and squeezes gently. “You’ve got this, Mia,” she says, and I gulp.

“Yeah.” A thin smile graces my lips.

I really don’t.

But if I want to find a way out of this nightmare, I know I don’t have any choice.

5

Bexley

The house is in silence when I get back from college on Monday afternoon despite all of their cars being here.

I don't bother looking for them. Instead, I grab some food from the kitchen and head up to my room, locking the door from the inside and falling down on my bed, wishing that I was back in my dorm. Hell, wishing I was back in Sterling.

Listening to Mia tell me we were done earlier hurt. It really fucking hurt. But what can I do other than let her walk away?

Deep down, I know she's right.

There is quite possibly nothing either of us can do for us to be together.

I might be new to this world, but I already sense that you don't go back on things like the Eligere.

I blow out a long, frustrated breath.

I've successfully avoided Cade and his lapdogs since yesterday morning when the truth was revealed, but I know my time is running out.

I'm one of them now. Certain things are going to be expected of me. Although I still have no fucking clue as to what they could be.

Needing to talk to someone—someone who doesn't live under this roof and isn’t controlled by Cade—I pull my cell from my pocket and find Hadley Rexford's number. I know she left a few years ago, but I need to know more about Cade and his family.

"Hey," she says with a bright smile as she answers my video call.

"Hey." My voice is much less animated than hers, and her face falls immediately.

"I was going to ask how things were, but I think your face pretty much says it all. How was the weekend?" she asks with a wince.

"Well," I say, placing my cell on the bed and quickly pulling my shirt off. "I got this," I say, showing her my new brand.

"Holy shit," she breathes, her eyes so wide it looks painful. "It's really real."

"You thought I was lying?" I hate that my voice breaks on that question. She has every right to question my words after everything that went down in Sterling Bay, but it still stings.

"No, not at all. No one knows all the things you do unless they're part of this. But seeing that, it just makes it so—"

"Real," I mutter. "Tell me about it."

"Did it hurt?"

"Not as much as what came after."

"What happened?"

"I didn't tell you everything on the beach," I admit, scrubbing my hand down my face. There is so much she still doesn't know.

"Oh?"

"Did you know Mia Thompson back in high school?"

"Err… the name is familiar, but I