Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite, #6)

by Rina Kent

To the divine, raw chaos inside you.

There’s freedom in chaos.

I stood there, pulled my hands apart and drowned in the silent chaos all alone. It was liberating, black, and so still. Nothing ruined it or interrupted it or ended it. Constant silent chaos.

Chaos is the only thing that makes me stop and stare. It’s a pause button to my brain.

I learnt silence before I learnt talking. Silence gives you room to think, to plot. Talking only gets you in trouble.

Chaos taught me many things, and the most important of all is: you have to start it yourself. You can’t wait for chaos to happen.

I stand at the edge of the pool, staring down at all the red. Chaos in its truest form. For the first time since that day I returned home, I take a deep breath. A long breath. I can breathe and it’s not black. I can see and it’s not the darkness. I can feel and it’s not nothingness.

You’re a monster. He thought I was a monster. Maybe I am.

Silver often comes over when I’m playing with Aiden and Xander, but I don’t like her. She talks and argues a lot — like, a lot — and it ruins the silence in my head. I should leave, but something stops me. The tears in her eyes.

Her face is a mess, full with snot, glitter, and her endless tears. Her cheeks are red and her lips are rosier than usual. Chaos. It’s come to me again.

Silver lifts her head up, and when her eyes meet mine, they widen until they nearly swallow her face. For a second, I stare at her, unable to do anything else. I love that look. I want to keep that look. But how?

I need her to tell me why she’s crying, because if I know the reason, I can use it and maybe I’ll be able to bring back the look from earlier. Chaos.

“Are you sure you want to know? This secret will keep us together for life.” “F-for life?” “Yes, Butterfly. For life.” She scowls. “Why are you calling me that?” “What?” “Butterfly.” “You have one on your hair.” I motion at her dress’s waist. “And on your clothes. Do you want to fly like one?” “I do.” Her expression brightens. “Why?” “Because, you know, they’re so beautiful and everyone smiles when they see them. They bring happiness and light.”

Silver might talk a lot, but she doesn’t like to ask for things. She also doesn’t like to put herself out there.

She glares at me, jutting her lip forward. It’s adorable.

This close, I notice the tiny freckles lining her nose that I haven’t seen before. Tears glisten in her eyes, and the view from the bottom allows me to look at the clear contours of her shadowed face. It’s…beautiful.

“Now tell me your secret,” she demands, still fighting with the remnants of her crying. I grin. “I want to be your first.” “My first in what?” My thumb wipes the moisture under her eyes. “In everything, Butterfly.” “Then I want your firsts, too.” She juts her chin. “Promise me.” “Promise.”

He’s been a wanker ever since. He makes me think he wants to spend time with me, just to say mean things while smiling. I hate it when he does that.

I hate his smiles and his chestnut hair that he keeps long enough to be ruffled by the wind. I also hate that his eyes are a green so rare, it’s mesmerising.

“Are you still mad because you lost in chess earlier?” He smiles. “You’re a newbie.” “I’ll win next time. Whatever.” “You can’t win against me, Butterfly.”

“You haven’t done it to any other boys.” It’s my turn to smile. “Because you want my firsts?” He nods. “Now do it or I’ll pull your hair again.” “Say please.” “I’m not saying please,” he mocks. “Do it or I’ll pull on your hair.” “Then I’ll just kiss Aiden’s cheek and you’ll lose that first forever.” Cole’s nostrils flare and I fold my arms, feeling smug.

He leans in slightly so his left cheek is in front of me. But the moment my lips are about to make contact with his skin, he abruptly turns his head and his mouth seals to mine.

“I told you you’d regret it. Don’t threaten me again, Butterfly. You’ll never win against me.”

“Hate me all you want, but keep our promise. All your firsts are mine.”

I know people at school call me a bitch, the queen B, but I don’t mind. Being a bitch means I’m doing a perfect job of hiding my emotions and I don’t have to live that nightmare again. It means I get to keep all my pieces together.

I hate Cole Nash. I despise him from the bottom of my heart. He’s levelled up from pulling my hair and taunting me to playing games. He loves those a lot — games, I mean. The belief that he has control over someone.

Everyone thinks Cole is charming as well. He smiles at them and offers to help with their homework, like he’s the prince from their favourite fairy tales. Idiots.

Cole thrives on games and he’s been playing them for years. He likes to think everyone is a piece on his chessboard and that he can control their fate.

We mostly avoid each other. The more I see his true self, the more he sees mine. I hate that.

He does that a lot, reading. Like a nerd, making all the girls watch him and say he’s so swoony. So attractive. So hot. He’s not.

Why does kissing him feel so good? It’s not supposed to, right? I hate him.

“You’re not bad compared to the others,” he says. The others. Plural? My eyes snap open and I shove him away with a force I didn’t know I possessed. “Don’t you ever touch me again.” I storm out of the room with tears in my eyes. I hate Cole Nash. I despise him.

Unless there’s chaos, it’s as if the world is permanently grey and there’s no way to inject colour into it.

I’m Famine. According to them, silent but deadly. I’d say I’m always hungry for more. More information, more books, more chaos.

My entire body sharpens whenever she’s in my vicinity. It’s been getting more noticeable over the years. Every time she’s there, I have this urge to get up, grab her, and take her…somewhere. Anywhere.

It’s not only her lips that I haven’t been able to stop staring at. It’s her. All of her.

I still don’t like Silver Queens. And not because she acts like a bitch to everyone at school, but because she’s not actually a bitch.

It’s a game we play. Pretending the other doesn’t exist.

I’m that mountain in her life right now. The one she’ll never be able to reach the top of. I won’t let her. I’ll keep her hanging on to me because I need the chaos she brings to the solid exterior. The way she digs her nails in and disrupts the boring cycle.

I always have this overflow of energy that starts in my chest and ends in my dick.

Silver is trying to pacify Ronan and Xander’s fake fight. A pacifier — that’s what she is deep down. However, she’s been slowly but surely trying to get rid of that part.

Cole doesn’t just win. He crushes. Then he walks all over you as if you never existed.

One day, you’ll fall, Butterfly, and I’ll stand there and watch as you burn.

I’ll get over the cancer that’s been eating at me for years. The cancer without a cure. Cole.

I’ve always thought sleep is a waste of time. Why sleep when you can read?

She ruined it. She ruined everything. She killed the small living part in my chest, and now, I’ll kill her in return. It might not be today or tomorrow, but Silver Queens will pay for this pain. I’ll make it slow and torturous, just like the thing dying in my chest.

I might not like Silver Queens, but I’ve always considered her something sacred. And mine. She ruined that. She ruined everything.

I hate that he has the ability to calm me down by his presence alone, but I keep my mouth shut about it. I’ve accepted it because we share secrets. He knows something about me no one else does and vice versa.

If I’m to be killed sooner or later, I will find a solution or die trying. It’d be worth it.

I notice the necklace he’s clicked around my throat. It’s dainty sterling and has a small butterfly pendant, its wings wrapped in an infinity symbol. Whoa. It’s so beautiful.