Read Online The Betrayal of Renegade X (Renegade X, Book 3) by Chelsea M. Campbell - Free Book Online Page A

know what you’re talking about.”
    “Damien.”
    “I just hope you’re getting the help you need at this place.”
    He takes a deep breath. “Is this because of the... If you have a problem, you need to come to me and talk about it. Instead of attempting to punish me for it.”
    Attempting? “So you’re saying you don’t feel like you’ve learned your lesson?” I pick up my binder and write that down, shaking my head.
    “ No. That’s not what I...” He clears his throat. “You found the brochure I brought home, didn’t you?”
    “Yeah. Thanks for coming to me when you had a problem. Instead of, you know, going behind my back and making plans to have me committed.”
    He sighs and sits next to me. “I was only thinking about it.”
    “ What?! ”
    “About suggesting therapy. That’s all. I thought it might help.”
    “Help with what?”
    He looks away. “To help you make better decisions for yourself.”
    If anyone here needs to make better decisions for themselves, he just proved it’s him. “I don’t need help making decisions. But even if I did, aren’t you supposed to teach me that? As a parent, I mean. I guess parenting’s just not for you, huh?”
    “My job is to make sure you learn how to make the right choices, and if I can’t get through to you about it, then that means finding another way.”
    “Okay, then there’s no reason to send me to that place, because, lucky for you, I already am making the right choices. Your job is pretty much done.” When he just sits there, scowling at me, I add, “You should be happy about that.”
    “Doing what’s right isn’t about doing whatever you want, regardless of the consequences.”
    “I wasn’t .”
    “You broke the rules, on purpose. You attacked an unarmed man. And you don’t think there was anything wrong with that. Now, I understand wanting to protect those kids, but you need to learn when it’s okay to use your power and when it’s not.”
    “Let me guess. The times when I’m supposed to use it are... never?”
    “You shouldn’t think it’s okay to use it on people.”
    Wow. He’s seriously telling me what I should think ? And he makes it sound like I go around zapping everyone I see. “Uh-huh. And before you say you think I’m crazy and need to take a semester off to ‘rediscover myself’ in group therapy, let me ask you this. Do you want the whole city to see that brochure with you on the cover? Because don’t think that’s my only copy.”
    “I don’t think you’re crazy. And I’m not sending you to therapy.”
    Good, because high-quality color prints don’t come cheap. “Too expensive?”
    “It wasn’t the right choice. I want to get through to you, but I realize replacing one institution with another and inflicting more rules on you isn’t the way to do it.”
    “ And you were afraid I’d zap them all and you wouldn’t get a refund when I got kicked out. It’s okay—you can admit it.”
    He shakes his head, then claps me on the shoulder before getting up. “Just come to me next time you have a problem, all right? And, please, consider your decisions before you act on them. Villainy might be about doing whatever you want, but being a hero is about following the rules.”

Chapter 5
    I GET ONE OF Mom’s guests to take a picture of me and Zach under all the sparkling icicle lights and real boughs of holly, in front of a ten-foot-tall Christmas tree at the wedding. We’re both wearing black tuxes with green accents. Just like Mom wanted, since all the guests are supposed to dress up in red and green for her perfect Christmas wedding.
    “I’m Marianna’s son,” I tell the wedding guest as she hands me my phone back. She’s got gray hair and a red velvety dress that makes her look kind of like a Christmas stocking. I think she’s one of Taylor’s aunts, though I don’t know which one.
    “Her son?” she says, glancing across the room at where my mom is pretending to dance with Xavier, as if