This is book 2 in the "Beautiful Destruction" series. You MUST READ "Theirs to Claim" first in order to understand this one.
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When I was ten, my father told me that all of my dreams would one day come true. Naively, I believed him.
I may have gr...
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~ FLASHBACK ~ ONE WEEK AT THE KEEP
"Give it back!" I shout as I chase my father down these stupid long hallways, no matter how much he tries to walk away from me.
This was the first day whatever drugs they'd been giving to "calm me" had worn off enough that I could even walk on two feet. I planned to use every second of it while I could.
"I don't care if you have to go back to New York to get it. I want my ring back since you refuse to even let me see them!"
Still, he walks away, my mind remaining a little foggy from how little I've moved around this last week.
"Dad!" I shouted again as I finally caught up, grabbing onto his elbow and forcing him to stop. I could see that in some sick way my father kept me here out of love—out of wanting to protect me, but that didn't change the fact that I was mere seconds away from bursting at the seams.
I felt their absence like a physical weight stretching out across my heart, making my chest ache and my eyes prick with tears.
I needed them back.
I needed them all back.
"What in the fuck is going on? You take my clothes, my friends, my home. You take my loves away from me and think you have the right to lock me here like some broken criminal?"
All that earns me is a shake of his head. My dad sighs as his fingers run through his slightly greying hair, creases around his eyes and across his forehead showing the tiredness that has dawned on him with age.
I couldn't bring myself to care right now, though.
That ring had a tracker in it. The loss of it made me feel more alone than I ever could have imagined.
"Kid, you know it's not like that." My father says with genuine sadness in his voice, but I could tell this was him still brushing me off. Both verbally and physically as he gently moves his arm from my hold, moving to continue to what I'm beginning to recognize as his office.
"Dad!" I shout again as though it would make a difference, but I know it won't. I'll just have to make him.
Someday, somehow, I will return to Caleb, Alec, and Xavier.
I will return to them, even if the cost of that is myself.
"Can you at least give me back my dagger? You know, the one you stole from me as well!"
"As the leader of this institute, Maddie, you know I can't do that." He murmurs, continuing to walk.
How long were these goddamn halls?
It didn't matter. I would make him listen. I would make him hear me, because if he didn't, I knew I would never get out of this maze-like prison on my own.
