Page 59 of The Devil Takes

But it was just as meaningless as his love was.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Buck had risen at some point, joining Marv in the doorway to the kitchen. They looked like twins, probably because they were. Their dark hair stuck out at odd angles, their brown eyes flooded with mystified concern as I pushed through their bodies and into the living room toward the front door.

Diving in front of me, Buck blocked my way, Marv joining him a moment later.

“Move,” I growled, my earlier anger still buzzing like poison in my veins.

“Dude, what the fuck?” Buck raised his hands placatingly. He still had grease smudged across them from his last shift at the auto shop, but even that familiar sight wasn’t comforting. If I glanced to the right, I knew I’d see his Playstation controller sitting on the couch where he’d left it, just as stained as his hands. Familiar. Reminding me of all the good times I hadn’t known were shit until now.

The longer I stayed here, the scarier it became to dive into the unknown. Little reminders of what I was leaving behind bittersweet.

“What’s going on?” Marv tried, piping in more gently. He’d always been softer than Dad and Buck. He’d bullied me as much as Buck had, but he’d at least been a bit apologetic about it. He lived by his own set of morals, even if they were slightly twisted.

“Percy’s being a grade-A douche-nozzle.” Buck rolled his eyes, glaring at me. “That’s what’s going on.”

“I am not,” I hissed, desperate to get out of there before shit really hit the fan.

Any second now, Dad could walk through the back door, and I’d be fucked.

“Then what’s your deal?” they both asked at the same time.

“You’re in my way, and I’m trying to leave.” I tried to shove through them, only for Buck to shove me back, a mean twist to his lips I hadn’t seen in years. He’d never treated me more gently because I was an omega, despite living by an outdated sense of chivalry. In that moment, I was glad for the equality, glad I didn’t have to feel bad about hitting him if this fight took itself to a physical level.

If I had to punch my way through both of them, I would.

“Fuck off,” I glared at him and he raised his hands again, flashing a second confused look at Marv. This wasn’t like me. They both knew it. I was the peacemaker, the quiet one. The one who took the hits silently, letting the world blur, and his tears die before they were ever born to begin with.

Marv made a face of realization and nodded toward me, “He’s trying to get out of here before Dad shows up.”

Idiots.

“Oh.” Buck’s concern turned wicked. “You’re probably right. Fuck.” He grinned at Marv, gleeful. “What do you think he did?”

I could feel the way my body shook, my anger boiling over. The grip I had on the laundry basket slipped a little, and unable to think of an alternative, I braced myself to lose the last things that meant anything to me. With Haden’s jacket too tight across my shoulders, I dropped the basket, watching almost in slow motion as both my brothers’ eyes widened and they dropped like potatoes down to catch it before it hit the floor, effectively clearing the way to the door.

“What the fuck, Percy?!” Buck huffed, basket clutched in his arms. I wound around them both, only inches from the doorknob before Marv dove in front of it again, fury twitching the muscle at the corner of his jaw. I almost wished he’d punch me, just so I could punch back. But then the worst possible thing happened.

The back door opened with a familiar creak.

And just like that, all my anger melted away and a lifetime of fear came back full force.

I could smell Dad before I saw him. Taste the bitter heat of his anger in the air as it traveled on the breeze that wafted in behind him before the back door shut with a loud click. Suddenly, I was grateful for all those years I’d spent without being able to fully taste his hate in the air, or the scent of my own resulting fear.

The stench was overwhelming.

“What the hell is going on?” Dad was a man of few words. He always had been. So when he asked a question, we’d all learned we better answer. Promptly too.

Two seconds.

It only took two seconds for my world to fall apart.

On instinct, I backed into Marv, the movement jostling us both as my gaze flickered to his face and I watched in slow motion as everything fell apart. His breath hitched and his eyes widened. The scent of our fear mingled, and that thought made me sick. Why was he looking at me like that? My confusion evolved when I realized what exactly it was he was staring at.

It wasn’t Dad.

It wasn’t Buck.

It was me.