Page 2 of Ever After Between the Lines (Montgomery Ink Legacy)

Chapter Two

SARINA

I tossed the recycling in the dumpster and shook my head. Well, standing in an alley surrounded by dumpsters and trash was at least better than my former life. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was mine.

My back ached, my feet hurt, but to me, that just meant an excellent job for the day. I still had another shift at the bar later, but for now, being a barista at Café Taboo paid some of my bills.

That’s why I worked as a bartender at Ink on Tap, the gay bar down the street that my best friend owned, in the evenings.

I didn’t have a life, but that was fine. Who needed a life when you were working two full-time jobs and sleeping when you could? I didn’t need a life outside of that.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

After all, I had lived dangerously and a little more high-octane when I had been in high school. I didn’t need anything more than this.

I rolled my shoulders and turned towards the other side of the alley to get back into the café and finish my shift. I tripped over a rock, my whole body turning to ice as I looked at the person in front of me.

It was a ghost. It had to be a ghost because he couldn’t be there.

After all this time, that couldn’t be Stone Anderson standing in front of me. The one person I had left, the one person that had taken everything from me.

Or rather, perhaps I had taken everything from him.

I had given him myself, my innocence, my heart, my future, and he had thrown it away because he chose his family over me.

He had chosen everything over me.

“Stone,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

“You remembered me.”

I blinked at him, my hands shaking. “What happened to your face?” I asked, wondering why that was the first thing that came out of my mouth. Of course, it couldn’t be helped. He looked horrible.

Perhaps beneath the split lip, black eye, and swollen cheekbone, there was still that gorgeous ruggedness that was Stone, but I could barely see it. No, instead, all I could notice were the imperfections, the signs that perhaps he hadn’t left the life like he had promised me he would.

He had stayed behind when I left, and whatever had wrapped its hands around his neck had taken more from him that I could comprehend.

“Sarina,” he whispered, his voice a growl. It did things to me, just like it always had. That was the problem with Stone.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t think when he was around. He made me lose all sense, lose all reality.

Because he was supposed to be my everything. My salvation. My one true everything.

And then he had chosen the Kingdom.

Chosen the place that had killed my father. Killed my brother. Killed everything.

Chosen the place that had wanted me. Not for who I was, but what I could do for them.

They had wanted my body, my soul. They had wanted everything other than who I was and what choices I could make.

Stone had chosen them.

How was I supposed to look at the man in front of me and want anything other than to run?

So I did. I left the alley. I turned on my heel, and I ran.

My feet dug into the gravel, and I ignored the blisters on my heels. I ignored Stone’s shout.

I ignored him.

I’d have to call Hailey later and let her know why I had left in a hurry, but she would understand.

She had to. She and all of her family always understood what was going on.

It was as if they had a sixth sense. They would understand why I had to leave.

They might not know every detail, they knew enough to understand my running.

At least for the day, and if Stone wouldn’t walk away, perhaps forever.

I had been hiding in Denver for four years, but maybe this would be my last moment. Maybe I would have to fully leave and never come back. Never return to the place that I had called home for so long.

I ran down the block, and nobody paid me any mind.

They were all focusing on their own lives, their own problems. Nobody cared about the woman in the apron running for her life.

I had left my purse behind, everything. The only thing I had was my phone, and whatever wits I had left.

Because if Stone was here, the Kingdom couldn’t be far behind.

And I needed to be safe.

I couldn’t be near them.

Because if the Kingdom found me, I would be dead. My life would be forfeit, as would everything else I had ever thought I could possibly have.

Because once the Kingdom had you, there was no leaving. The King had wanted me for his Queen, even at a barely legal age.

He had seen what Stone had, and had wanted me.

His own Queen had died only six months prior, and everyone said it had just been an accident.

We all knew that was a lie. The old Queen, Gwen, had been the Guinevere to her Arthur and had found her own Lancelot.

She had cheated on the King, fallen in love with the wrong man.

With the one man, she couldn’t have and he hadn’t been ruthless enough to save them.

She died at the hands of her own King, of her husband.

And the King wanted me.

And when I said no, he killed my brother, his Rook.

And when my father, his Knight, had fought for me, he killed him too.

Their blood still stained my palms; I could see them in my dreams, hear their screams. In the end, there was nothing I could do.

I had run. I hadn’t run far enough, it seemed.

It was never going to be far enough.

Stone had found me. And soon, the new Rook and the new Knight would as well.

Stone was their runner, their tracker.

And the others would follow, and I would die. Because I would die before I fell before the King as a supplicant.

Before I became his bride.

Before I filled his bed.

I would die.

I pounded on the backdoor to Ink on Tap, praying that Rebel could hear me.

“What the fuck, Sarina?” Rebel asked as he pulled open the door.

He was shirtless and in sweats and looked like I had just woken him up.

Maybe I had. It was still early enough in the day that he was probably sleeping upstairs in the apartment that he owned rather than working on opening up the bar.

Of course, nobody would be here other than him for the next hour or so, but it didn’t matter.

I needed to find a place to be safe. I needed to be safe.

“Can I come in?” I asked, my whole body shaking.

Rebel gave one look at me, tugged me in by my apron, and slammed the door behind me, locking it. “What’s wrong? Are they after you?”

Rebel had left the Kingdom long before I had. He had dropped out of high school and ran before they could destroy his soul and his heart. That was over fifteen years ago, and now he owned Ink on Tap, the prominent gay bar for the area, the one that was inclusive, a safe house, and a safe place.

It was my salvation, the one place I could be myself.

The one place Rebel could be his self.

And I was going to have to leave it.

“Stone’s here,” I blurted.

Rebel cursed under his breath. “Is he alone? How did he find you?”

“I think he’s always known where I was. Of course, he would.”

“Fuck. Okay, we can get you some new identification, get you out of here.”

“I left my purse and everything behind. I’m such an idiot. All I have is my phone.”

“Okay, we’ll get you out of here. I know somebody up in Wyoming. They can keep you safe.”

“Really? Is that going to be the best I can do? Running for the rest of my life?”

“I don’t know what else we’re supposed to do, babe. I’ll go with you. So you’re not alone.”

“You can’t give up everything.”

“I would. You know I would. My family’s long dead and the King won’t even remember who I am. After all, he didn’t know me as Rebel.”

I nodded and sighed. “Okay. I guess I’ll leave? I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

Rebel opened his mouth to speak and then frowned, pulling out his phone. “Well. It seems that Stone found you. Fuck. Okay, we’ll get you out another way. Unless they have us surrounded.” He let out a breath. “It’s been so long since I’ve done this. I’m rusty.”

Stone’s voice came through the doorbell camera alert. “Sarina? I’m alone. I left. I promise you. I left.”

Rebel and I both froze, my palms damp, bile filling my throat. “Did he say he left ?”

“That’s what he says. Fuck, it looks like somebody did a number on him.” Rebel met my gaze. “Sarina, babe. Stone would never have hurt you. You know that. He might have stayed to protect his brother, but he always promised that he would never hurt you.”

“Why are you throwing that back in my face?” I asked, my laugh hollow. “He did hurt me. Just not in the way that he might think.”

“Of course he did. He’s a man. He’s a dumbass. He stayed in the Kingdom to protect his brother, but he’s out there, looking pretty hurt, and I don’t know, something doesn’t feel right about this.”

Tension slid up my shoulders again. “What do you mean?”

“There’s nobody on my surveillance, Sarina.

” He showed me his phone, at the eight cameras and their feeds.

“Not a single thing. And none of my contacts have warned me that any of the Kingdom’s coming here.

I’ll reach out if you want to see what’s going on with Stone, but this doesn’t feel like a setup. ”

“Isn’t that going to be the last thing that anybody says before they find out it was a setup?”

“Maybe. But come on, let’s go see what Stone wants. I’ll protect you.”

“I’m not going to have you hurt because of me.”

“It would never be because of you. You know that.”

“Rebel, we left.”

“And maybe Stone did too.”

I swallowed hard and rolled my shoulders back. “Fine, he’s never going to go away. It always seems like he can find me. I’ll see what he wants, tell him to go, but you stay safe. I don’t want him to see you.”

“Sarina.”

“What? Let me protect you for once. Maybe it’s my turn. I shouldn’t have come here. I put you right in the thick of things all over again.”

“I’m here to protect you. Remember that.”

“No, we protect each other.” I kissed him hard on the mouth, and he rolled his eyes before he followed me towards the backdoor.

“Stay out of sight.”

“Fine, but let me put on shoes. I’m not going to fight off a team while I’m barefoot and shirtless.”

“If anyone could do it, it would be you,” I teased, trying to lighten the tension.

“Sarina,” Stone said again, through the doorbell camera. Rebel had the camera set up to hear what Stone was saying outside, and that was the only reason I felt somewhat like I could have control here. It took me forever to find my control, my own life.

I opened the door partway, the glass partitioning it off. It was bulletproof glass, and there was no way Stone could make it through. At least, that’s what I told myself.

“Sarina. You ran.”

“Of course I ran. What are you doing here, Stone? I’m not going back.”

“I’m not going back either. I’m free.” He shrugged, then winced, pressing his hand to his side.

“Stone.” I reached up, almost getting to the door to help him, then realized what I was doing.

He wasn’t going to get me this way. Nobody was going to make me feel like an idiot. “I’m fine. Just need to heal. It was a goodbye present from Eddie and the others on my way out.”

“You’re gone then. You just left.”

“There was no just about it, but I’m out. I’m not going back.” He let out a shaky breath. “I should’ve left long ago. I was a fucking idiot. But I needed to stay for Phoenix.”

“I’m sorry about your brother.” I swallowed hard. “I heard about what happened.”

“Sorry about a lot of things.”

Phoenix had been Stone’s older brother and had died in a shootout with a rival gang.

I didn’t know the details, only that Phoenix was dead, and the sole reason that Stone had stayed was gone.

And yet, Stone hadn’t come. I had waited foolishly, as if expecting him to show up and for us to pretend that nothing had changed between us and that he had finally had a reason to stay.

In the two years since Phoenix’s death Stone hadn’t contacted me, hadn’t shown, and that had been the final nail in the coffin of whatever dreams I had once had.

I left the Kingdom because there was only death of my soul and my body back for me with the King. I had left, with a promise from Stone that he would come for me.

And then a single note saying he couldn’t because Phoenix needed him had shattered everything. Had torn away the fragile bonds of whatever promises we had made to one another.

With the death of Phoenix shocking around our underworld, I had thought maybe I had a chance. Maybe he would come back.

He hadn’t. Stone hadn’t come.

And so, these past two years, I had found a way to be myself, the person that I was.

Stone hadn’t come for me. I had come for myself.

“I came for you; you don’t have to do anything. I’m going to stay for a while. Figure out who I need to be. But Sarina? I’m back. I’m here.”

I looked at him then, looked at the man I had once loved, and I could see the parts that I had loved before, the parts that I had been connected to, but he wasn’t him.

I loved Stone Anderson. I had given everything to him, and he had stayed to protect his family, and while I understood that, I needed to defend myself.

For once, I needed to do something for myself.

“I’m glad that you’re out. But I’m not the same person.

I’m not the girl that needed your help to get away from the King.

I’m not the girl who watched her father and her brother die.

You’re free, but I’ve been free longer. Be safe, Stone.

But I’m not yours anymore. And maybe I never was.

” I raised my chin, then closed the door in his face, locked it, and ignored Rebel’s look.

Instead, I fell to my knees, my hands ice against the cold metal steel of the door, and let the tears fall.

I had loved Stone before.

And perhaps part of me always would.

He was my past, not my present.

And if I wanted to survive, I couldn’t let him be my future.