Page 11

Marcus

"So…" Elliott drawls out, "What do you guys need to know?" Her eyes are still locked on her mug with her bottom lip between her teeth, her leg bouncing on the stool.

"Let's start easy? How about we start with how you came to be in Everton?" Hunter says.

"Easy?" She scoffs, taking one more sip of coffee before setting it down and keeping her hold on it.

"Alright…the Donovans adopted me when I was ten.

I was in foster homes since I was basically a baby.

They saved me, really…well…" I see her swallow hard as her eyes glaze over for a moment, "I thought they did. "

"Are you okay to keep going?" Hunter asks her softly, trying to be comforting. He can sense her unease just as much as I can.

She nods and continues, "I’ve lived with them ever since."

"And Samuel Donovan is your brother? "

"Yes, at least that’s what I thought." Elliott looks away, avoiding Hunter's gaze.

"That the Divine had spoken about my place in his life when he visited my last foster home.

" My eyebrows furrow and she looks at me slightly before she snaps her eyes away again, "Samuel was the one who picked me from all the other girls at the foster home.

He chose me as his. I know now that he chose me to be his future wife. "

"And you found out at the funeral?" Hunter pushes for her to continue and I keep my eyes on her, watching as she starts to squirm with unease in her seat.

Her eyes glaze over and she stares into nothing as the words leave her lips in a whisper.

"He announced it in front of the whole community that day.

I never knew that was my role." She shakes her head, closing her eyes, "I should’ve known better than to hope for a real family. "

"You couldn't have known." Hunter leans in towards her, his hand landing on her knees only for her to jerk away from his touch.

"I was naive." Her posture grows stiff as she sets her mug down softly in front of her on the countertop.

Her eyes flicker to me but I keep my face expressionless.

"I should have been able to tell something wasn't right.

" Her eyes slam shut and she starts to shake her head.

She goes to stand and Hunter copies her movement, "Can I take a break?

" She stands there in front of Hunter with her head low, staring at the ground.

"We barely started." I interject .

"It's fine. I get it, take some time. We can talk again in a bit." Hunter answers her question like I didn't say a fucking thing.

Elliott ignores me as she leaves without another word, back to Kameron's room.

I pushed off the cabinet, "She didn't give us shit that we didn't already know. She needed to keep going!"

"She gave us more than what I thought she was going to give us." He says to me, his eyes still focused on the hallway she escaped down.

"And do we believe a word she says? That she isn't in on this whole Divine cult bullshit?"

"Did you not hear the way she talked? Her body language during that whole confession? You really think she is faking that?"

"I've seen a lot of fucked up shit in my life. I wouldn't be surprised."

"Geez, give her the benefit of the doubt, please. You know how it feels to have nothing in this world and scavenge scraps from whoever will give them to you. You don't know her story yet, Marcus."

He knew just how to push my buttons and this time was no different.

He was right, I did know all too well how it felt to crave scraps of love from unworthy people who only used my loyalty for their own evil gain.

I knew what it was like to think that being kicked, beaten, and then given specks of affection was what love was.

I used to lick the floor for those scraps .

"Whatever. I'm going to go fuck with the cyberwalls." And with that, I leave Hunter to himself.