Page 29 of Piece You Saved
No one would have known Dad spent most nights knocking me around or tossing empty bottles at my head unless I slacked on my concealer. They didn’t figure out the reason I was so eager to stay late or start early until Dad came stumbling into whatever place I was working on the hunt for cash for more booze.
Kade continues stroking the tips of his fingers up and down my arms. “I was conscious enough to know what was happening to me. What Aden is going through? No warning and no idea what the fuck is going on? It’s worse.” The smile I never believed was genuine slips right off his face as if it never were. “It’ll be fucking worse.”
I asked myself at the hospital which mistake I made was the worst one, and now I know.
Staying.
I knew what Rylan was capable of. Hadn’t I seen first-hand how monstrous he could be? And still, I stayed with Aden when I knew what would happen.
“How long will it last?” I force myself to ask, hating myself more with each passing second.
Kade loses himself in the past again. “His body doesn’t know how to shift. He’s fighting his body, fighting the snarling wolf in his head, fighting, fighting, fighting, and he won’t know if any of it is real.”
“But Dariel—”
“Can talk to the animal,” Kade interrupts, staring through me. “But the man? Where Aden is right now? I promise you, angel, he’s in no fit state to listen to anything except the snarling wolf in his head that he won’t even know is real until it bursts out of him.”
I’ve never been someone who would rather live in ignorance, but I wish I didn’t know this. I wish I could wind back time and stop myself from asking Kade to talk, because I willneverforget this for as long as I live.
My anger starts in my gut. It burns. Not like the paint stripper whiskey that nearly burned the lining of my throat. This is different. It’s bitter. It’s hotter. And it damn near ignites my veins.
I can’t imagine what Aden is going through. The thought of him suffering like that consumes me piece by piece until all I feel is rage. Until all I am is rage.
Kade shakes his head, returning to the present, and frowns when he gets a good look at my face. “Shit. I shouldn’t have fucking—”
I push myself to my feet. When Kade grips my hips and tugs me back down, I glare at him. “Let me up, Kade.”
His eyes probe mine. “Why?”
He doesn’t loosen his grip, but I don’t stop trying to shove myself to my feet. It’s a losing battle. I will never be stronger than a shifter, yet somehow, I have to find a way to kill one.
“Because I need to blow a goddamn hole in the middle of Rylan’s head. That’s fucking why.” My voice cracks at the end. “I need to rip him apart with my bare hands, if that’s what it takes. He needs to die.”
A tear splashes on my cheek. He lifts a hand to brush it away. I slap it aside, so furious at Rylan, but most of all myself because if I hadn’t stayed, none of this would have happened.
The Cerberus wouldn’t be closed.
Maybe Dariel wouldn’t be fighting a battle with his wolf. Who knows?
And Aden… Aden would still be Aden.
Maybe I’m wrong about all of it. I just know things wouldn’t be this bad if I hadn’t left Rylan, or if I hadn’t let Aden help me evade the pimps who chased me into the grocery store on that cold, dark night.
Kade gives me a probing stare and lifts me to my feet before getting to his. “Come on.”
I eye him curiously as he grips my hand with one hand and grabs his laptop with the other. He leads me out of the kitchen and toward the stairs. “Where?”
As Kade heads upstairs, I follow, trying not to wince with each of Aden’s pained whimpers and growls. “My room.”
“Because?” I prompt.
Kade doesn’t answer until we’re in his all-black bedroom. After setting the laptop down on the desk, he drops into his chair and pulls me into his lap before bringing up YouTube.
“Uh… Kade?” I ask, more confused than anything.
“No one knows guns like Aden, but he taught me a bit over the years. I learned a lot by practice. I also learned a lot by watching him when he took me to the range.” He glances at me. “Now isn’t the time to be out doing target practice, but there’s a guy Aden said had good form. You’re going to watch him.”
“Why?” I ask, my eyes already drifting to the laptop.