His Favorite Color is Blood (Sex & Mayhem #8)

Prologue

Logan

Sparks danced through the air like shooting stars until their light died down. The flames screamed through the open windows, tearing through the mesh screens. They were so bright on the background of the dark sky that it almost seemed as if the walls were holding back a nuclear explosion from bursting all over the woods around the house. In the background, the sound of a siren was slowly approaching, but the firefighters wouldn’t be able to do much at this point. The whole interior had been consumed, and Logan turned away from the adults, who pushed him to the back as if they didn’t want him to watch his whole life being scorched.

He pressed his lips shut, swallowing tears he didn’t want anyone to see, as he watched the bright, warm light pulse over the bark of the trees. The usually damp air was now nothing but sickening heat, and he clutched at his throat, unable to breathe through his silent sobs.

A bright yellow dot caught his attention, and he stepped forward, brushing away the tears from his eyes. His heart drummed as the little canary opened its beak, and it must have released its song, but Logan couldn’t hear it through the insistent sound of the approaching siren. All the adults dispersed to make room for the truck, but Logan stepped closer to the tree, and then the little bird spread its wings and gracefully flew down. Its tiny feet squeezed around Logan’s index finger. It buried its beak below the wing, as it cleaned its feathers, uncaring about the chaos that was unleashed around it.

Logan squeezed his jaw so hard it felt as if his teeth were close to cracking, and he grabbed the little body in his fist. He couldn’t breathe as anger closed down his windpipe. Without thinking, he grabbed the tiny head with his other hand and turned it, as if it were the screw top of a soda bottle. The sharp crunch that followed resonated throughout Logan’s system, but as the bird went limp, he pulled, twisting and turning, until the body fell to the ground, leaving just the head in his bloodied palms.

Tension dispersed from Logan’s muscles.

The firefighters arrived.