Chapter Sixteen
TOREN
Silence crashes down around us, shattered only by the sounds of the wildlife and our ragged, desperate breathing.
I can't bear to look at him—I know the instant our eyes meet, I'll see the regret carved into his features, the disgust twisting his expression, and right now I'm too broken. Too shattered.
The shrill ring of his phone slices through the stillness like a blade.
Xaden snarls and pulls out of me without a shred of tenderness.
Pain lances through me but I swallow the cry threatening to escape.
Through blurred vision, I watch him tear through his pockets until he finds his phone.
The moment he turns away to answer, I slide off the hood, trembling as I pull my panties on.
I reach for my jeans but the leg is trapped beneath his foot.
I try to nudge him, silently begging him to move, but he ignores me completely, lost in his conversation.
“Xaden!” I hiss, then shove my shoulder into his back. He whirls around with terrifying speed, his hand closing around my throat like a vice, pinning me with eyes full of murder.
“Find out where it is, Cas,” he growls. I freeze, barely breathing as he continues. “If we find that fucking place, that means we go to war.”
My heart stutters. The war between him and my father, it's coming faster than I ever imagined. I'm not ready. I didn't get what I needed from Kellan. I don't even know who his contact was.
Without Kellan, I'm lost.
I have one other option, but it's dangerous, if he isn't the one Kellan dealt with, I could destroy everything.
I need to talk to Carnage.
“I'll be there soon… I just need a… ride.” His eyes bore into mine, expectantly. I want to laugh at the audacity. “Long story. I'll be there soon.” The call ends but his grip remains, a bruising reminder of his control. “I need a ride.”
The words hang between us like a demand I never asked for.
“And?”
His eyes narrow to slits. “My car needs to be… repaired.”
Fury ignites in my chest. “And that's my problem, how?” I snap, slapping his hand away. I grab the torn edges of my shirt and knot them desperately, trying to cover what's left of my dignity.
Xaden dresses in swift, mechanical movements, then fixes me with that infuriating raised brow.
“What?” I bite out.
“Where's your car?” The impatience in his voice grates against my nerves.
“What makes you think I have one? My dad cut me off, remember?”
He invades my space, forcing me backward until my legs hit the unforgiving metal of his car. He leans over me, bending me back against the hood, the same position I was in moments ago when everything felt different. When his face hovers above mine, suffocating, he finally speaks.
“How'd you get here then, Tink? Use your little wings and fly?”
The mockery in his tone splinters something inside me. I shove against his chest with everything I have until he finally steps back.
“Asshole,” I mutter, stalking away down the road. He follows like a predator tracking his wounded prey, his presence crushing the air from my lungs. I can't think straight when he's near, can't breathe, can't plan. I need him gone so I can call Carnage. He can never know what I'm hiding.
When Halo's Suburban appears through the darkness, I hear Xaden's guttural growl behind me. I ignore it, pulling the keys from my pocket with shaking hands and unlocking the door. I climb behind the wheel and grip it so hard my knuckles turn white, staring ahead into nothing.
The tension between us is suffocating, thick enough to choke on.
“Start the car. Drive.”
The rage in his voice is barely controlled, simmering just beneath the surface.
How he shifts from calm to fury in half a heartbeat leaves me reeling, his mood swings giving me whiplash.
I start the car because what choice do I have?
It feels wrong being the one driving, usually he's in control and I'm trapped beside him.
His phone rings again. “Yeah?” I strain to hear the voice on the other end. “Fuck. Cas is trying to find the location now. Get the men ready, I want them armed to the teeth and ready to roll the second we find this fucking place.”
The venom in his words chills my blood.
“Yeah, I'm on my way. I'll be at the house in twenty minutes, then we're burning Walter House—”
I slam on the brakes.
We both jerk forward violently, seatbelts catching us and yanking us back like rag dolls.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he roars.
I snap my head toward him, my glare unflinching. “Hang up the phone.”
His eyes darken like a storm rolling in. “You don't fucking tell me what—”
“If you want the location of Walter House, you'll hang up the fucking call now.”
His eyes widen just slightly before he ends it and jerks his chin forward. “Pull off the road, Tink.”
The reality of what I just did crashes over me. Stupid. So stupid. I pull onto the shoulder, hands trembling as I shift into park. Xaden turns in his seat, but I can't look at him. Can't face what comes next.
“Talk.”
The command is clear but the words lodge in my throat like broken glass. Memories of that place flood through me, a nightmare reel I can't stop. The agony of discovering the truth, realizing everything was a lie... it crushes me from the inside out.
“I'm not going to—”
“That's where I was,” I say, cutting him off. My voice sounds hollow. Dead.
“What?”
I force myself to turn and meet his gaze. “You thought I ran away. Took a year off traveling or some shit, didn't you?”
His jaw clenches, eyes hardening to stone. “Didn't you?”
The laugh that escapes me is bitter. I look back out the window because I can't stand to see the judgment in his eyes.
“When I woke up in the hospital, I had no memories. Nothing.” I see him tense in my peripheral vision, his grip on the phone turning his knuckles white.
“I begged my father, begged Masen to tell me where our friends were. Why no one would visit. I needed to call Kenna. I needed answers about what happened, why I was there…”
The weight of his stare burns into the side of my face. Finally, he'll hear the truth.
“When they discharged me, I thought… God, I thought I'd finally go home. See Kenna, Cas, Kellan. Get answers.” My voice cracks. “But the second I stepped through those hospital doors, there was a van waiting. Two male nurses. Two female.”
I have to force the next words out through the tightness in my throat.
“When those men grabbed me, I looked at my brother. I begged him with my eyes to help me. I needed Masen, needed him to save me… but he…” The memory stabs through me like a knife. “He looked away. Turned his back while they dragged me into that van and took me to my prison.”
“Walter House,” Xaden breathes beside me.
I nod, turning to face him so he can see the raw truth burning in my eyes.
“I never ran away, Xaden. I didn't hide hoping people would forget.
I didn't even know what happened that night.” My voice shakes with barely contained fury.
“I was locked away by my own father. Forced to take the blame for a crime I didn't commit, all so my brother wouldn't lose his shot at being drafted.
Masen making the NHL expanded Steven's reach. A senator with a major league hockey player as a son is good for business.”
The bitterness tastes like poison on my tongue.
“I rotted in that hell while they lived their lives. No visits. No calls. I was completely alone until…”
My gaze drops to his neck and the air in the car transforms into something volcanic.
He exhales like he's been gut-punched, reaching into his shirt to pull out the pendant. Tears blur my vision at the sight of it.
“I know you won't believe me.” My voice breaks. “I know I sound insane, but it's the truth. For that entire year, I saw your sister…”
The growl that rumbles from him could shake the earth, but I won't stop now.
“She was my salvation, Xaden.” The tears spill over.
“She kept me from shattering completely. That necklace... when I finally escaped, it was the only piece of her I had left. It grounded me. Gave me something to hold onto when everything else fell apart. After Harper arrived, I thought it was strange she never acknowledged Em, never mentioned her. It all made horrifying sense when my memories came back.”
“She didn't see what you saw.” His voice is thick with anguish and I hate myself for causing him this pain, but he needs to know. He needs to understand I'm not the monster he believes I am.
I shake my head, tears streaming freely now. “Harper was never meant to see Em. She was mine… my burden, my blessing. And I carried her with me, grateful for every moment.” My voice softens. “I may have only met the version I created in my mind, but I believe she was real. I have to believe that.”
His eyes fill with something raw and vulnerable. “What was she like for you?” The question sounds almost desperate.
I smile through my tears at the memory of her. “Happy. Kind. Nurturing. Fierce. Bossy…”
A small smile tugs at his lips.
“She held me when I shattered. Forced me back to my feet when I wanted to give up. She helped me see the world through my own eyes, not the way my father demanded I see it. She and Harper—”
“Cas's pet, Harper?”
I bristle but nod, the ache in my chest intensifying. “Yes.”
“She was with you at Walter House?”
“Yes.”
He spins in his seat, nodding as he taps his phone and brings it to his ear. “Drive, Tink. You're taking me there now.”
Shock roots me in place.
“Get your pet. She knows where Walter House is and she'll lead you there.” He pauses as he listens to Cas’s reply. “Toren was there, that’s where she was that whole time.”
My teeth grind together as I shift into drive. If he's bringing his people, then I'm sure as hell bringing mine.