Page 48 of Madness & Mayhem
Archer turns around with his brow lifted. “Yeah?”
Reign is silent as he steps toward them. My body tenses as fear rolls through me, fear that they’re going to get into a fight, that Reign will go full slasher and gut Archer right in front of me, just for putting his hands on me.
Reign extends his hand.
Archer narrows his eyes, staring at Reign’s extended hand. “What the fuck is that?”
Reign drops his hand, running his fingers through his hair. He looks uncomfortable as he stands there, as his chest rises slowly and falls. “I’m… ah, shit,” he groans, tilting his head toward the ceiling. “I’m fucking sorry, man. For how everything happened. For fucking Creed, man.” He shakes his head, and my chest hiccups with emotion.
Shit, Reign.
“I’m sorry for how shit went down. You have to know I never, ever wanted Creed to die. I tried to… I tried to save him.” His throat grows thick with emotion, and he clears it. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for it all, and more than anything, you guys are fucking family. Shit might have been fucked up, but death for my family isn’t what I wanted.”
Archer stares at him for long moments. I’m almost worried he’s going to storm off. Kyler steps around Archer, grabbing Reign in a tight hug.
“Thanks, man,” Kyler rasps.
Reign nods.
Posie smiles softly, tears in her eyes as she and Kyler turn around and walk out the door.
Archer still stands there, watching Reign.
Reign stands still as a statue until he finally steps back, ready to accept defeat.
“Wait,” Archer says, stepping forward. He pauses a second, and then grabs Reign’s arm, hauling him to him. They end up in a bro hug, which is so much more than a typical bro hug. They hold each other for many moments, not saying anything.
Until Archer steps back, keeping his head tilted toward the ground. “I’ll talk to you,” he grumbles before walking out.
I walk up to Reign, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind. He lays his hand on my arm, giving me a squeeze.
“That was brave,” I whisper, nudging my nose against his spine as I inhale him.
He sighs, not saying a word.
We stand like that for many moments until he finally releases me.
“What if we went tonight to deal with Braylin? If we wait until tomorrow, we might be too late. They’re going to search tonight? What if they find us?”
He shakes his head. “They aren’t going to come this far. They’ll only go to the border of Hellcrest Heights and in the woods there. We are too far off.”
“But—” I start, ready to complain yet again, but he cuts me off with his fingers wrapping in my hair. He pulls my head back, until my eyes clash with his.
“Enough, Lakyn. We lay low tonight. Tomorrow morning I’ll show you a few things and we’ll go deal with her.” He’s not in the mood. Got it.
Deal with her. Kill her.
I nod, my fingers raising to his hair. Bending down, he secures his lips with mine, and he takes my breath away with the way he possessively steals my soul.
Chapter EIGHT
REIGN
“Not like that. Like this,” I growl, shaking my knife in front of her as I try to show her how to grip the knife properly.
With the way she’s holding it, she’s either going to hurt herself, or she’ll barely be able to get it through the tough meat of a human body.
“Like this?” She holds the knife incorrectly again, her thumb curling over her fingers, holding the handle too low to the bottom, her grip not nearly tight enough.