Page 7 of Burning Truths

My skin bubbles and boils around the iron. The stench of burnt skin and hair fills my nose, bringing back nightmares from the past. My toes curl in from the pain, the clench of my thighs impossibly tighter, as my hands lash out.

“I told you I’d fix it.” He grunts, his breathing ragged from holding me down.

My fingernails dig into his arms. Digging deeper until blood trickles to the surface, slowly dripping down to his hands.

“Please-” My words break off into a silent scream.

I can’t breathe. There is no air to pull into my lungs. The lilies are on fire and my eyes burn from the image in front of me. Shivering. I’m shaking with chills so I must be going into shock. My fingers throb from the hold I have on his skin but I refuse to let go. Blinking past the tears I allow myself to take in the gruesome mess. Melted flesh rips away from the iron when he lifts it, pulling the last of the ink from my body. Yanking the last piece of Ryker from me.

Ryker, are you bleeding? I’m bleeding, are you?

Screaming. So much screaming. The inferno and embers. And then nothing. Black space consumes me. There’s no more Ryker. No more Cole. No more West. Only me and Hank. Only Hank. There is no one else.

Nothing.

Chapter Five

RYKER

Blood splatters on my face, feeding the rage boiling beneath my skin, urging me forward.

Blow for blow.

Flesh on flesh.

Red liquid mixes with sweat. I ignore the ache in my arms, I push through the bone crunching under my fist. Screams and roars fade from around me until there is nothing. The pile of flesh and bone under me fades away. Smokey grey eyes stare back at me in the void. Eye’s that have been vacant.

Killer.

My muscles tremble. Suddenly arms are wrapped around me, the scent of overpriced cologne filling my nose, swirling with the aftershave from the other set of hands. G and West fight for control, but my frustration and anger explode from the bottle I’ve shoved it into. Kenna Kingston dug her way into my bones, tattooing herself on my soul and now she’s vanished in the wind. No one will sleep in Del Mar until I have her back. I’ll show them what it means to touch one of us. She’s always been one of us and she’s fought her way back in, even when I’ve done everything in my power to drive her into the dirt. Turn her to ash.

Instead, she lit my world on fire. The little phoenix.

“Ryker, that's enough!”

“He’s hade-fucking-nough!”

Both voices blend into each other. Blinking once. Twice. Again. Grey eyes fade into crimson until the mess on the mat of The Basement comes into view.

“Ryker Lee Stone!”

G and West freeze on both sides of me. The color must drain from my face because my legs wobble under me. If it weren’t for the two beside me holding me, I might have dropped to my knees. That voice. My full name. My chest shutters when the crowd parts. Everyone slips to the back wall letting her through. No one lives here without knowing her face. That’s why no one speaks a fucking word. The only sound heard through the buzzing of the lights above us is the click clack of her heels. Red Bottoms of course. The powerful woman wearing them bends to step between the ropes and comes to stand at the head of the man under me.

Recognition flashes in her eyes and for a moment I think I see a slight smile before her deep brown eyes meet mine. Cold. Dead. Eyes. Ever since my father, she’s been a shell of herself, but that’s not to be taken lightly. She’s still the savage bitch she’s always been, the same savage that made my family what it is, the head of the table. Most people think my father built our empire with his bare hands, but my mother, Juliana Stone, is the mastermind. She molded my father into the King he was before his death. The women of Del Mar are the head of the families. The ones who come from money. The foundation may breed billionaires, but they also marry into them. It’s the whole purpose of this fucking school and it never disgusted me until Kenna Kingston was added to the list.

“Mom?”

West drops my arms to move in front of me. I know my brother and he isn’t scared of what I’ll do to her, but more afraidof what she might do to me. Staining her name with senseless violence? It’s easy enough to cover up with the town in our pockets, but it’s not the way we work, and that’s enough for her.

“Move.” She says, her voice like velvet ice.

Looking over his shoulder West moves to the side in one step still partially blocking me, but that does nothing to refrain her from causally moving in front of me. G tenses when her hard gaze falls to him and the disdain in them reflecting back at him. A stone settles behind my ribcage with the move of her hands knowing the itch is there. When her eyes fly back to me, her red polished fingers lash out and strike me across the face. Shoes screeching across the concrete floor signal the crowd dissipating behind us. She doesn’t spare them a glance, instead tossing out a threat as if she were saying goodbye to a long lost friend.

“Speak of this and your tongues will be cut from your mouths.” Her words are venom.

West spins with the threat and comes to her side with a wide toothed smile, but I see the strain. I don’t have time for this shit.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but we don’t need you.” I state.