Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 38

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

SCARLETT

R emember that out-of-body experience, where everything around you is happening so fast, but you feel as if you’re moving in slow motion, on the outside looking in?

It’s happening again.

Only this time, I don’t think I have a way out.

Just when I thought I was so close to the end of this recurring nightmare, I wake up only to find the nightmare has once again come to life. It is now my reality. One monster after another, the evil I came so close to overcoming worthless when another shows up in its wake.

This one threatens to destroy us all. Wesley Servite wanted to control everything and everyone. He wanted to isolate me away from everyone I care about, in order to control me, but Macallan, Franco Marchesi, he wants to destroy everything in his way. He’s here to enact a vengeance stronger than mine ever was, and if I was once scared of Wesley, I am absolutely terrified of Marchesi.

He’s a psychopath. A true killer. His blood is tainted by the mob; his father, unable to deal with his son’s “psychotic tendencies” sent him away instead of getting him the help he desperately needed.

But Wesley and my mother deserve it. They are the reason his sister is dead. Gianna Marchesi killed herself because her demons won. They pushed her over the edge with their betrayal, with their scheme to separate her from my father. She was a victim much like me, but I won’t let them win. I will survive, I will make them pay for their sins as an atonement for Gianna. I will help Marchesi end them; destroy everything they’ve built.

But in the end, I will also ruin him, because he’s threatening those I care most about. He’s threatening the only person I love, Ace Servite.

All good things come to those who wait, and I must wait once more. I’m not sure how he’ll take this, I’m not one hundred percent sure he’ll even believe me, but I have to try.

Marchesi knows a truth that not even I ever expected, but surely one that will destroy all the good left in Ace. It will devastate him beyond repair, and I might lose him forever. So I must once again sacrifice myself to save those I care about.

In order to protect Ace, I need to break up with him.

Marchesi ordered Roman to drive me back into town after our conversation and although the last thing I wanted was to be in the same car with my treacherous stepbrother, I had no other option. The drive was quiet, Roman knowing better than to speak to me as he dropped me off at the private beach near the academy, where I asked him to bring me. Not at the house but down the cobblestone path leading toward the cliffside. To the tide pools of Devil’s Point, where Ace brought me last year when he told me what his uncle was really at the front of. To where Wesley threatened me with Ace’s life.

I think back to the conversation I had with Marchesi before coming down here, when he told me I needed to break things off with Ace in order to take Wesley up on his offer to work with him at The Gallows. Marchesi wants me to be a double agent of sorts. To make Wesley believe I’ve finally come to see things his way, that the world he’s built is everything he thinks it is. He wants me to sneak into his office at The Gallows and steal the ledger with his clients’ names, thus exposing everyone and ending Wesley once and for all. In order to do this, I need to be on the inside. He’d do it himself but after the shit he pulled last year, drugging me at The Gallows, he had a falling out with Wesley and is no longer in his good graces.

“What exactly do you want me to say to Ace?” I asked, as he told me a truth I never expected to hear. That Wesley is Ace’s real father. “He won’t just leave me. It has to be believable. He won’t think I’ve changed my mind overnight.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out; you always do, little one,” Marchesi said, his dark hazel eyes bearing into mine.

“Why are you doing this? Why not just leave and make a new life for yourself? This won’t bring back Gianna.” I practically begged him to stop, his vengeance wouldn’t heal his hurt.

“No, but I have nothing else to live for. My family has all turned their backs on me, not like I’d want to be a part of their sinful lives, anyway. But my Gianna was the light of my life. She was pure light. The reason I fought so hard to do better at that god awful military school my father had me institutionalized in. And all for what? They stole her from me, poisoned her already fragile mind and pushed her over the edge. They deserve everything that’s coming.”

“By doing this to Ace, who is not at fault for his father’s sins, nor am I for my mother’s, you’re condemning us to the same fate as your sister.”

“It’s the only way to save you. To ensure this doesn’t happen again. This world must be destroyed, including everyone that is a part of it. The heavens can only be rebuilt when all the fallen angels are annihilated. Only then will it be restored to its full glory.”

Ace appears under the shadow of the horizon, startling me out of my flashback memory. I knew he’d show up. Having left my phone in the cabin that is now blown to smithereens, I asked Roman to send Ace a message, telling him I was here.

Obviously, the text was from a burner phone roman ditched on the side of the road as soon as he sent it. All it said was if he wanted to see me again, he needed to come here. I figured Ace was going crazy right about now searching for me all over the woods near the cabin. I needed to ease his mind and let him know I was safe. Well, sort of.

This would not be a pleasurable reunion.

The sun is setting behind dark storm filled clouds, making the sky an unnerving gray, pink, and red, like blood falling from the heavens, preparing to drown the earth in its sorrows. He approaches closer, my hearing focusing in on his footsteps as they thump loudly in my ear, only to realize it’s the loud beating of my heart.

“Scarlett, where the fuck have you been?” he shouts, rushing toward me and embracing me in a tantalizing hug. He grips my face with his hands, worry clouding the blue of his eyes making them appear dark and gray. “God, when I heard the explosion, when I drove up to the cabin, and saw what remained of it, I nearly died then and there. Fuck, Scarlett, I’ve never been so scared.”

“I’m fine, Ace,” I assure him. “I made it out before the explosion, just a couple bruises and scrapes but I’m fine.” I try to back away, but his grip on me tightens, not allowing me to move.

“Where did you go? I found the guys in the woods, they said they got there right before the explosion. They saw you run out and ran after you but something about gunshots and then you all but disappeared.” The earlier worry turns to confusion, but it quickly is going to shift to rage after what I’m about to do next. I close my eyes mentally preparing myself for what’s coming.

“I ran into your uncle,” I lie, following Marchesi’s script. “I had a pleasant chat with him, actually. You don’t have to act like a martyr any longer, Ace. I know the truth.”

I look up at him, his eyes filled with ire as he watches me trying to make sense of what I’m saying. “What the fuck are you talking about?” he growls.

I pull away from him at the first sign of him losing his composure and turn away, not able to look him in the eye as I speak. “Wesley told me everything. How you were the one who brought my mother back to Hillcrest when you found out some parentless poor kids from the slums were going to infiltrate your kingdom. He told me how you were the one who’s been pulling the strings all along. You started the fire tonight. He showed me the video of you pouring gasoline all around the house, and around the yard, dressed in a red cloak.”

The rage in his eyes fades to humor as he bursts out laughing, his body folding forward by the force of his laughter. “Oh man, babe,” he says, catching his breath. “How fucking hard did you hit your head, Red?”

I ignore his laughter as it threatens to break me further. This is going to be a hell of a lot harder than I thought. “It’s over, Ace, just let it go.”

His mood turns somber as he realizes I’m not joining in on the laughter. “Okay, babe, now you’re freaking me out. What the fuck are you talking about? You’re not making any sense.”

“You and me, it’s over. I’m done with this. I thought I could forgive you after everything you’ve done but I realized there was only one reason I couldn’t.”

He reaches for me but I back away swiftly, only irking him more. “Oh really, and what’s that?”

“I didn’t want to. I fooled myself into believing I was reluctant to trust you again because of what you’d done, but it’s because I simply had no desire to.” He laughs again, not believing any part of what I’m saying. I told Marchesi he wouldn’t buy it. Ace knows me better than I know myself.

“That’s fucking bullshit, Scarlett!” he shouts, and I know I need to step this up. I need to make it more believable, it’s for his own safety .

“That’s the thing, Ace, it’s not. I spoke to Wesley and my mother, and I’ve agreed to work for him at The Gallows.” His eyes instantly are consumed with rage.

“Are you fucking crazy? Why the hell would you do that?!”

“I realize that I’m only hurting myself more by denying them, and I’m tired of fighting. Ultimately, they’ll win. So I’ve given in, accepted my fate. I know it’s not something you’ll ever understand, which is why it’s best we go our separate ways.” I try to maintain a shield of indifference as I speak to him, mainly to protect myself from the pain I see in his eyes.

“Okay that’s it, we’re going to the fucking hospital. We need to get your head checked out; you’re not making any fucking sense.” He reaches for me, grasping my arm but I quickly tug away from him.

“Oh, but on the contrary, I see things clearly now. This is what I need. He’s told me the salary he’s going to pay me and fuck if I’ve never seen that many zeros before. My future is set. I won’t have to struggle to fill my plate, to find a place to sleep.”

“Scarlett babe, come on you’re not making any sense. What has he threatened you with now? I know the explosion must have been scary, but we can do this together.” His hands caress my cheek as I turn away, tears threatening to flood out.

So instead I force a laugh out, I’ve gotten rather good at faking it. After all, I've turned into a bold-faced liar. “You honestly think we ever had a chance at defeating him? Please, we were only fooling ourselves. You know what they say, if you can’t beat them, join them.”

“You’re wrong, I won’t do that. I’m done being his fucking puppet, his slave who answers to his every beck and call. I sure as hell will not let you do that either.”

I step into him, running a hand across his chest. “Well then, maybe he’s been right about you all along, you don’t belong here, you never did. You’re too weak. You act all high and mighty but you’re a coward. Promise after promise of fighting against him, of keeping me safe, but you’ve done none of that. However, he promises I’ll want nothing else. He’ll give me everything I need.”

“That’s bullshit, Scarlett, just stop fucking playing around. You’re pissing me off.” He wraps his arms around my waist pulling me into his body as he leans his forehead to mine. “I’ve been thinking for a while now, I think we should just leave. You and me, let’s get out of here, just the two of us.”

“And where would we go?” I ask, for a moment almost giving in to him. The small glimmer of hope in his words makes me almost want to fight. But then I remember it’s not just Wesley’s threat that looms over me.

“Anywhere.” He runs his tongue over his bottom lip, gently grazing mine, a need to close the space between us shoots through me threatening to consume me.

“As long as we’re together, we’ll never be safe, Ace. He won’t allow it,” I whisper against his lips.

“Then what, you’re just going to leave? Work for him and ignore this, this force between us?” His solemn demeanor shifts to frustration as his tone grows more desperate.

“No, I think you should leave Hillcrest Hills, to make this easier for both of us,” I admit, hoping he’ll listen to my absurd pleas.

He desperately runs his fingers through his hair, for a moment turning away from me. “I’ve lived my entire life here, you’re the one who’s only just shown up. Snuck in and implanted yourself where you weren’t wanted. Yet you want me to leave?” His tone is now cold, but it’s exactly what I hoped for.

“You grew up in this world, grew to hate your place in it. Hate everything around you, hate everyone, hate everything about it. And I’ve grown to realize this is just what I needed, exactly where I need to be. So why should I be the one to leave, when you’ve spent your whole life trying to get away?”

“So you expect me to believe you’re asking me to go?” he asks, turns back to me, a baffled look clouding his eyes. But what I find under all the uncertainty moves me to say what comes next. There is a hope under all the anger and confusion, a hope that what I’m saying isn’t real. And as much as it pains me, as much as I’m dying on the inside, I need to squash that hope.

“Yes, because that’s exactly what I’m doing. Well, it’s more of a demand.”

He steps forward to meet me, our chests connecting as we come face to face. His scowl turns from confused to an awfully chilling smirk I feel deep within me as a shiver of fear courses through me. “Then fuck it, consider me gone.” He reaches out to me, gripping my neck with his angry fist. He lifts my chin to meet his, his teeth gently grazing my heated flesh, as he whispers against me. “You once asked me to fight for you, to never give up. No matter what obstacles were thrown our way, no matter what challenges we faced. No matter the evil that tried to keep us apart, you asked me to fight.” He looks down solemnly at me, the blue of his eyes glossy with tears ready to erupt. Angry tears, sad tears, tears of frustration, tears of surrender. “Well, consider me defeated.”

“There are some wars we aren’t meant to win,” I mutter, my voice barely audible as tears threaten to suffocate me, drowning me from the inside, begging to be set free.

“Baby, you’ll come to regret this decision, but that’s on you. And when you do, know that I will no longer be here.”

“That won’t happen, I won’t allow it. I learned exactly who I’m supposed to be. The weak-willed woman who crawled at your feet, who asked you to stay, to fight, this world changed her, corrupted her. Made her into what she should have been her whole life. It’s how I’ll ensure to never feel as much pain and agony as I have before. To become a monster just like him, and stop being a helpless victim. So if you want to blame anyone, blame yourself, for showing me your world, for showing me how much I fit in.”

He lets me go, shoving me as I lose my balance falling down against the sand. I crawl backward on my hands as he slowly bends to meet me. “Thank you, for showing me how much I didn’t.”