Elite (Empire High, #2)(97)

“So much better. But I mean all of it.”

I was clutching the crown in my hand. “What?”

“The dress. Take it off.”

“Isabella…”

“It’s as hideous as you. I’m doing you a favor.” She took a step forward. “Or would you rather I kill you?”

I pushed the straps off my shoulders. And when she kept the gun pointed at my face, I reached around and tugged at the zipper. The dress fell to the ground, pooling at my ankles. I was standing there in my underwear, bra, and sneakers. The cold fall air bit at my exposed skin.

“Oh my God. Get rid of the shoes too.”

My body was shaking. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold or because I was terrified. Maybe it was both. But I couldn’t take off my Keds. I couldn’t let her take the last thing my mom had gifted me. “Please, Isabella.”

“Take them off and maybe I’ll let you live.”

I swallowed hard. Isabella could destroy physical things. But she’d never be able to take away my memories. Unless she killed me. I slowly kicked my shoes off.

“Much better. Now do you want the good news or the bad news?”

I didn’t want anything from her. I just stared at her.

“You’re no fun.” She backed up and tapped on the limo window.

Donnelley slowly climbed out of the car. He was holding a large cardboard box in his hands.

“Donnelley!” I said and took a step toward him.

“Don’t even think about it,” Isabella said. “Donnelley is on my side. Not yours. Isn’t that right Donnelly?”

He didn’t say a word. But he looked miserable. And so freaking guilty. I could tell he wasn’t coming to my rescue tonight. Especially since he was looking at the ground instead of at me.

“So which is it, Sissy? The good news or the bad news?”





Chapter 37


Saturday

The good news or the bad news. This felt like a trick question. There was no way anything she was about to say was good. Maybe I could make her evil head explode. “The good news,” I said.

“Splendid,” Isabella said. “The good news is…I’m probably not going to kill you tonight. Even though I don’t understand why, killing you would make Daddy very mad. And I don’t want to make Daddy mad. So if you follow my instructions precisely, I suppose I’ll allow you to live.” She lowered the gun to her side and I felt like my lungs inflated with air for the first time in ages.

It was good news. Maybe. It kind of depended on what she was going to make me do.

“But the bad news is that you’re leaving town.” She grabbed something out of the box and walked over to me. “Here’s a map.” She tossed it onto the ground in front of me. “It’s about 10 blocks to the nearest bus station. You can use the walk to clear your head. Sound good?”

I was literally in my underwear. She didn’t even let me keep my shoes. And I didn’t have any money. Not that they were going to allow my half-naked self into the terminal anyway. “Isabella…”

“I don’t even care where you go. Just so that you’re out of the city. Gone. Poof.” She snapped her fingers.

“You can’t just make me disappear.”

“Of course I can.”

Her ridiculous pink gun was still lowered to her side. She loved her dad. She didn’t want to disappoint him. Which meant…she wasn’t going to kill me. If she was, she already would have done it. Right? I took a deep breath. “No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not leaving.”

A smile broke over her face. “Oh, I was actually hoping you’d say no.” She took a few steps toward me. “Do you want to know why I’m doing this?”

“Because you’re insane?”

“Oh Sissy, you’re hilarious.” She tapped the gun against her thigh. “You know the actual funny part of all of this? I did want a sibling when I was younger. We could have been friends. I could have at least tolerated you. But no. You sunk your claws into everyone and everything that’s mine! You’ve been ruining everything!

“First you took Daddy. I don’t know what you did to wrap your poor fingers around him, but you can’t have him. I’m Daddy’s princess. Not you. Daddy is mine.”

Gross.

She took a deep breath. “And then with James…”

“Isabella, I’m sorry about kissing James. It didn’t mean anything. We were just…”

“James is just another minuscule blip, you imbecile. You’re not letting me finish!” She stared at me like I was the insane one. “I don’t love James. You think I want to be someone’s second choice? He doesn’t love me. And I don’t love him. His parents were in Daddy’s debt. And James is smart and has a good future ahead of him. So they paid off the debt by offering me James’ hand.

Whoa. What?

“And I’m going to marry him because Daddy says I have to. And I like making Daddy happy. But I still have four years until I’m supposed to do that. Four years to do whatever I want with whoever I want, as long as it’s not in the public eye. Only four years to be free. And then you came in. And you ruined all my plans.”