Vicious Queen (Boneyard Kings #2) Read online

  VICIOUS QUEEN

  BONEYARD KINGS #2

  BECCA STEELE

  C. LYMARI

  Vicious Queen

  Copyright © 2022 by Becca Steele & C. Lymari

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editing by Rumi

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s crazy imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  CONTENTS

  Synopsis

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Thank you

  About Becca Steele

  About C. Lymari

  Also by Becca Steele

  Also by C. Lymari

  SYNOPSIS

  They told me bad things happen in threes, and they did.

  But what comes next?

  My troubles are only beginning, and those I thought I could trust might be the ones who end up breaking me.

  But I won’t give up.

  They might think I’m just a pawn, but I’ll beat them at their own game.

  If I want to win, a vicious queen I’ll become.

  To always having more time. Even when we don’t have it.

  PROLOGUE

  There once was a little girl with hope in her eyes. Her world was perfect, and her days bright.

  She dreamed of a perfect kingdom, a castle, and a prince, not knowing that her future was already foreseen.

  One… two… three.

  And that perfect world ceased to exist.

  Everything she knew was gone, and a trip across the world was the result.

  She was lonely but not cold. She was shy but coming into her own.

  This little girl grew and forgot all about her castle and her prince until one day she met not one, but three kings.

  Nothing was as it seemed.

  There were secrets, and there were lies, but to these kings, she was not a prize.

  She was not a princess but a mere pawn; if she wanted to survive, something must be done.

  These kings didn't care, for they didn't ask. They gave her pain and served her lies. They took her heart and ripped it apart.

  But they weren't the only ones who wanted her gone.

  If she wanted to win, something must be done.

  Because she wasn't a princess, nor a mere pawn.

  If she wanted to win, a vicious queen she'd become.

  1

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  “Turn it off,” I mumbled, attempting to lift my hand. Only, I couldn’t. I slowly peeled my eyes open, blinking rapidly until the room came into focus. The small, dimly lit room that smelled of disinfectant. Next to my bed was a machine which was the source of the beeping, and an IV drip, both of which were currently attached to my hand. That explained why I couldn’t lift it.

  I was in the hospital? How? Why? The last thing I remembered was driving away from the church… and after that, everything was a little hazy. Had the Boneyard Kings been there? Or did I dream that?

  Groaning, I raised my free hand, and carefully pressed the button that I was hoping would call someone into my room. I needed to know what was happening, and now.

  A few minutes later, the door opened, and a good-looking older man dressed in navy scrubs walked in.

  “Ah, Miss Walker.” He smiled down at me, and I immediately felt at ease. “I’m glad to see you awake. My name’s Doctor Sunak. Do you mind if I run a few tests?”

  “N-no,” I managed to croak out. He flashed me another warm smile before wheeling over a metal trolley. I lay as still as possible while he carried out various tests, the worst of which was when he shone a light in my eyes, which made my head pound madly. He hummed thoughtfully, then fiddled with the drip I was attached to, pressing a button.

  “There. The pain should ease in a moment.” Taking a seat on the chair next to my bed, he studied me. “What do you remember of the accident?”

  “I was in an accident?” My croaky whisper sounded horrified even to my own ears, and he was quick to reassure me.

  “You’re going to be fine. You were very lucky, in fact. If your boyfriend hadn’t acted so quickly, well…” His voice trailed off as he shook his head, clearly regretting what he’d almost said. But all I could focus on was the word “boyfriend.”

  “My boyfriend?” I asked carefully.

  “Yes. Mr.…” He glanced at the clipboard that lay on the metal trolley. “Parker-Pennington III?” Now he was staring at me in concern, his brow furrowed. “Robert? The mayor’s son?”

  “Oh. Yes.” Robbie? Alpha Tau Xi frat president Robbie? What was going on? Why did this doctor think he was my boyfriend?

  His face cleared. “You remember him, correct?”

  I gave a slow nod, then winced at the pain in my head, although it was already dulling, thanks to the effects of whatever he’d given me. “But I don’t remember being in an accident.”

  “Can you tell me the last thing you remember?”

  Everything was so fuzzy. “Um. I was driving my car. I went—” What was I supposed to say? I wasn’t about to tell him that I’d followed my uncle to his clandestine meeting in the abandoned church. “I wanted to go for a drive. My car had been, um, making weird noises, so I took it for a drive to see if I could work out what was wrong with it.” There. That sounded believable, right?

  He nodded. “Do you remember getting out of your car? Your boyfriend says that you were on foot and ran into the road. He was following behind the car that hit you, and according to his account, the car managed to perform an evasive maneuver. Unfortunately, it clipped you as it turned, and you hit your head. Thanks to your boyfriend’s quick actions in calling the emergency services, everything will be okay. We’ve run all the necessary scans and we’re not concerned about anything, but we’d like to keep you in for a few more days under observation, just to be sure. You have several lacerations and contusions, too, so the best thing you can do is rest and let your body begin the healing process.”

  My head was spinning. “I don’t remember getting out of my car. Where’s my car now? Was it damaged? What about the car that hit me?”

  Clearly hearing the panic in my voice, he leaned forward, injecting a soothing tone into his voice as he held my gaze. “I’m sure your car is okay. You can ask your boyfriend about it when he r
eturns, but there was no mention of another vehicle in the statement he gave to me and to the attending officer, other than the vehicle that hit you.”

  “Officer?”

  “Yes. Your boyfriend was very distraught when he called the emergency services after the accident. It’s standard procedure in these instances for officers to attend the scene, and I expect you’ll be asked to make a statement, but there’s nothing you need to be concerned about. Now, about your recollection of the accident. Short-term memory loss is a surprisingly common occurrence when it comes to head trauma, but rest assured, your memory should return in time.” Standing, he gave me another smile. “Try to get some rest now.”

  When he left me alone, hot tears filled my eyes. These weren’t tears of sadness, but tears of frustration. I needed to remember what had happened. There was a blank space where the memory should be, and I wanted it back.

  What did I remember from that evening? I’d played chess with Callum at the chess club, and he’d interrogated me about my visit to the junkyard earlier that day. That visit… I could feel my cheeks heating, just thinking about what Saint and Mateo had done to me in their workshop…

  Focus. Back to the evening. After the chess club, what had I done? I’d gone back to my room, changed clothes, and driven to the abandoned church—

  Fuck. A gasp fell from my mouth as I remembered what I’d seen—my uncle, two other men, and the lump under the blanket that had moved as I’d watched. Then I’d panicked and run for my car, because they’d seen me.

  The machine I was attached to beeped faster, and I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths until my heart rate slowed. When it was back under control, I went through everything else I remembered, which was just me driving my car without paying attention to where I was going. Had my car broken down? I couldn’t be sure. All I had was vague, fuzzy images that felt like dreams.

  I didn’t know how long I’d been lying there when the door opened again, and I breathed out a sigh of relief as I raised my head. Despite my confusion about how exactly Robbie had ended up in the same place at the same time I was hit by a car, and how the doctor seemed to think that we were in a relationship, I hoped that he could help fill in some of the gaps in my memory.

  But it wasn’t Robbie standing in the doorway.

  It was my uncle.

  2

  Be careful what you wish for, or so they say. We wanted revenge. We wanted payback. We started getting it, but at what cost? Revenge was supposed to feel good, not leave us with a sense of doom and a twinge of regret.

  I was going to be fucking sick.

  Saint already threw up when the nerves got to him.

  That stoic look on Callum’s face finally cracked.

  Revenge wasn’t at all what we thought it would be.

  When Everly took off running, we all followed, but not soon enough. Instead, we put our dicks in our pants and basked in the euphoric feeling of seeing Everly on her knees. She was so docile and sweet that it made defiling her all that more exciting—and the best part was she got off on it too, even if she said otherwise.

  We got cocky thinking that nothing would happen to us at the junkyard. This was our territory, and no one would be stupid enough to cross us.

  Except our laws didn’t apply to the privileged.

  The gates had been closed, and Everly ran straight ahead pulling them open, trying to escape. It was cute watching her try to get away from us. That fun turned into terror when we saw a pair of headlights getting brighter. My brothers and I looked at each other and then ran fucking faster, except we weren’t fast enough.

  “Everly!”

  Callum or Saint had yelled, but I couldn’t hear because my ears were hyperfixated on replaying the noise the metal made as it hit Everly’s flesh. The sound echoed, and my knees felt weak. I was ready to sprint my way there when Robbie showed up out of nowhere. I was prepared to get out and pry him off Everly, but Callum pulled me back. Saint's chest was rising and falling. He didn’t feel any better about that outcome either.

  “What the hell?” I hissed.

  Callum pulled us so we could remain in the shadows.

  “We go out right now, it’s going to look bad,” he warned.

  I pulled out of Callum’s hold, not caring about what he said.

  “We go out there, and Robbie is going to yell rape,” Saint said almost stoically.

  Rage burned through my body because I hated it, and I knew they were fucking right.

  “I told you guys he was going to be a fucking problem,” I spat, mad at myself more than I was at them.

  I could bet my life that the little rich boy was out looking for some snow. Which instantly made me look up, and the window between when the cops were called and when they got here was usually twenty minutes, but if a white, rich boy called, that number would be cut in half.

  “I know what he wants,” I said.

  Callum, already knowing where I was going with this, took off his shirt and handed it to me. I took that shit and began to run. Not toward the gate but to the side of the house. Even as I ran as fast as I could, it felt as if I was barely moving.

  I needed Robbie’s attention on me while Callum and Saint closed the doors to the garage. Usually, we wouldn’t care, but the cops would want to come in and investigate. Out of all the days this could happen—shit, we had hot merch that would put us all in jail.

  At least if the doors were closed, we could hold them off and ask to see a warrant.

  Robbie didn’t look at all surprised when he saw me. Our gazes locked, and he looked at me with a smirk. Right now, he probably felt like he had us by the balls, and he probably did. My step faltered because even if we told ourselves we were ready to make Everly bleed, I don’t think we knew the weight those words held. I needed to be strong right now and as much as I felt like I was going to be sick, I needed my poker face more than ever.

  Because seeing actual blood on her made me sick. Her pale face had been stained with red, and I wanted to punch the sick bastard that had hit her.

  “Did you get the plate number?” I spat at Robbie as I pulled Everly from his hold.

  Of course, he didn’t answer my question. He watched in amusement as I slowly cleaned Everly’s face. She went into the hospital like this, and it was game over—especially for us. We had all been down to the station for petty shit and bullshit crimes. It was all in our teens, but they had our DNA in their system.

  Staying ten steps ahead was now crucial. My heart started to pound like crazy. It wasn’t the thought of losing my scholarship, not even the fact that I might get separated from my brothers. It was the thought of not seeing Everly again.

  Shit.

  “What do you think the cops will do?” Robbie asked gleefully.

  I didn’t look up as I cradled an unconscious Everly. Her breathing was faint, but it was there. Fate couldn’t be this cruel and take everything away from me in the same way. Only once I had finished cleaning Everly did I look up at Robbie.

  “I’ll get you what you want. In exchange, you’ll keep your mouth shut.”

  His face lit up, thinking he had won. He was probably going to open his mouth and spew some shit at me.

  “Don’t think you won,” I spat at him as I laid Everly on the ground and rose to my feet. “You haven’t witnessed the wrath of the Boneyard Kings.”

  I turned around and started to walk back to my house, since I knew this place would be swarming with pigs in an instant. As much as I hated Robbie, we needed him as much as he needed us. Everly’s uncle got a whiff of this, and it was game over on everything. Revenge might not feel good on Everly, but I could stake my life on the fact that it would be sweet as hell on her uncle.

  “Keep your mouth shut, white boy, and I’ll bury you in quality snow.”

  I walked away without a backward glance. I went inside the house and locked it. We didn’t dare turn any lights on. I went to the room by the garage where we kept the cameras and turned them all on. I couldn’t see m
y brothers anymore, so I knew they were sticking to the blind spots.

  They showed up in the house just as the cops had pulled up.

  “All good?” I asked without taking my eyes off the screen.

  I could hear their heavy breathing, and I knew they had set up a booby trap or two.

  “What did he say?” Callum asked as we watched Robbie talk to the cops. Some of the cops looked this way and pointed to our place, and Robbie stood up and pointed toward Everly.

  “He probably thinks he has us by the balls,” I replied.

  We all watched in silence as the ambulance came, and they rushed Everly away. And I knew we all thought the same thing. We should be right there with her.

  “He wants to play games with us? Fine, we’ll show him how we make the rules,” Callum vowed, and I knew that Robbie had just dug his own grave.

  3

  “Police! Open up!” The shout was accompanied by a loud banging. I swung around, staring wide-eyed at the old man, who gave me a reassuring nod.

  “No need to panic, boys. These cops think they’ve got a reason to search this place, but they won’t find anything, will they?”