The Other Side of Truth (The Marked Ones Trilogy Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

mine before his head cocked to one side. “But you’re not wearing any pants.”
    I glared at him. “If you really don’t know what I mean, I’m walking away right now,” I stated flatly.
    “Feck, fine , I accept your terms,” he said, as he extended his hand a little more toward me.
    “Good, so what’s your guess?” I asked cockily as I slapped my hand in his, because there was no way in hell he was ever going to guess right.
    “You’re Von Rothbart’s daughter Odile, the Black Swan,” he answered as he leaned against the bar so he was facing out toward the dance floor.
    I just gaped at him, my hand falling like a dead weight against my leg. “How did you—?”
    “Dad’s Irish, Mum’s Russian, and oh, does she love the ballet,” he replied with a devilish grin as he finished off his drink, and turned back to the bar so one of the bartenders could refill it.
    I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s cheating.”
    “I hardly consider being dragged to the bloody ballet every month cheating,” Damian replied with a snort and a crooked smile. “Now what ya drinkin’, love?”
    “Fine,” I said sourly. “I’ll have a—”
    “Bullshit!” one of the bartenders called out as he slammed a drink down in front of someone who was on the other side of James.
    “No, seriously , I read she’s been screwing the older brother for four years now,” the guy next to James nearly shouted in a drunken slur.
    “There is no way,” the bartender countered as he folded his arms across his chest.
    “I don’t know, Arius Nualla is pretty damn hot. I don’t think I’d mind playing second fiddle to a little brother if I could keep banging her,” another guy next to them said, joining in on the debate. And that’s when it finally hit me that they were talking about me .
    “How dare they say things like that about the Arius,” James growled under his breath as he made to lunge forward.
    “James, leave it be,” Damian said firmly as he grabbed James’ shoulder and jerked him back.
    “But—”
    “James, go find her before she hears this,” Damian ordered as he shoved James in the opposite direction of the guys, and pulled a cell from his pocket.
    “Too late,” I said in a low voice as I clutched the edge of the bar with my left hand.
    Both Damian and James’ heads whipped in my direction. “What?”
    But I didn’t answer them, I was shaking way too badly with anger, embarrassment, or horror—I wasn’t sure which. Or if it was just all of them mixed together.
    “Hey, pictures don’t lie,” the first guy stated as he spun his phone around on the bar for the bartender to take a look. “And you have to wonder who’s that royal baby she’s supposedly carrying actually is.”
    The bartender put his hands to his mouth and took a step back. “Oh gods, that’s messed up.”
    “Hey, if I was one of those brothers, it’s what I’d be wondering,” the guy said with a slur as he pointed with his drink.
    I finally lost it, and slammed the flat of my hand down on the bar. “She never slept with him, that’s all a bunch of lies!”
    “Oh now you’ve done it, Mike,” the second guy said as he slapped his friend on the back.
    “And I bet you also think the Arius Nualla is still pure and innocent?” the first guy—Mike—said mockingly with air quotes as he looked over at me.
    “No, far from it actually. But I also know she’s not sleeping with Travis either,” I countered defiantly.
    “And how would you know, girly?” Mike said with a condescending, smug smile as he gestured at me with his glass.
    “Because I’m Arius Nualla,” I stated through gritted teeth as I ripped the feathered mask from my face.
    The eyebrows of everyone listening shot up, and Mike’s friend started coughing up a storm, apparently swallowing his drink wrong. “ Oh , you are in sooo much trouble, dude” he taunted Mike as he continued to pound his chest and cough.
    Mike ignored him, and looked me up and down