Chapter Nine #2
He blanks his expression, his tone empty. “They stood by him when she died. They blamed her for getting sick, even started whispers that perhaps she had some witch in her bloodline somewhere.”
I close my eyes and huff at the irony, thinking of all those innocent women during the trials who had been accused and found guilty of practicing witchcraft.
All because a man said it was true. Clearly, history taught us nothing.
But something tells me this man taught them a lesson none of them will forget anytime soon.
“You killed him? Your dad, I mean?”
“My father was a complicated man who liked to decompress by hunting, not just witches, but animals too. Such a shame that he and his friends stayed in a cabin where the gas fireplace hadn’t been serviced in so long.
If it had been, they might all still be here.
They don’t call carbon monoxide poisoning the silent killer for nothing. ”
I bite my lip, believing with every fiber of my being that those men died because Austin made it so. And knowing what I do, I can’t wrangle up a sliver of pity for them.
“Most of the other wives and children moved away once their shackles of bondage were severed. But I guess I will always be a cowboy at heart. I didn’t want to leave the only memories I had of my mother, so I stayed—not in the same house, but in the same town.
I renounced everything I knew about hunting witches and…
turned my life in a different direction. ”
I feel my lips twitch. It’s not like he became a doctor or a teacher, but who am I to judge?
His face takes on a serious note again. “I thought I got my brother out soon enough, that my father’s claws hadn’t dug in that deep. I naively assumed that because I saw the truth about who we were, and that I chose differently, he would too. I didn’t stop to think about the alternative.”
He scrubs his hand over his face. “He was a quiet kid. Shy, sweet. I worried about him all the time. He seemed so easily breakable. How did I get it so wrong?”
“You are not his parent. You are his brother. Do you have any idea how many parents or family members have stood where you are now, wondering where they went wrong? All those times you hear about a woman being raped and murdered or a young man gunned down in the prime of his life for the twenty dollars in his wallet—we think about the victims and their families. Still, people rarely think about the families of the killers or how they’re vilified, too.
I’m sure some of them absolutely deserve it.
But others…they’re just normal people who, by some cruel twist of fate, brought life into the world that was tainted. ”
“You think people are born evil?”
“I think that would be far too simple a statement to make. I think two things can be true at the same time. Evil can be born from innocence, and innocence can rise from evil. Only the size of someone’s heart and the strength of their character will ultimately depend on which direction their moral compass leads them. ”
“Do you think I’m evil? I do a lot of fucked-up shit. Shit, by definition, that would have the pearly gates locked up tight with a sniper waiting to take me out.”
I laugh at that, surprising us both. “Firstly, I don’t think snipers and pearly gates should be used in the same sentence.
You might end up smote or some shit. Secondly, I don’t really know what I believe anymore.
I see too many bad things happen to good people not to wonder if faith is just a hoax.
Something people feed themselves to feel a little less alone. ”
“Like a placebo.”
I nod. “I mean, if you believe in heaven and hell, chances are the pearly gates and the gates of hell are the same damn place. The only difference is your perception of them.”
The door opens, jarring me from my thoughts. Riggs stands in the doorway, the light spilling out behind him, making him look like a dark angel.
“Everything okay?” he asks me, ignoring Austin completely. I can read the tension across his rigid, broad shoulders and in the tightness of his jaw. But he doesn’t storm over and make any demands of me, even though I know he’d rather tuck me under his arm and keep himself between Austin and me.
“I’m okay. I’ll be in shortly.”
He looks me over, not just taking my word for it but needing validation. I can’t say I blame him. He was there the last time this man was in my orbit, and I nearly lost my damn mind.
Once he’s certain I’m good, he focuses on Austin. I don’t miss the threat of violence that flashes in his eye, a warning, if you will, of certain death if he so much as lays a finger on me. I don’t bother questioning why that makes me feel so damn hot.
“Alright. I’ll be back out in ten if you’re not in by then.”
I dip my head and smirk, but I don’t miss the look Austin throws at him. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it looked a lot like jealousy. But that can’t be right. Either way, Riggs seems completely unbothered by it. He heads inside and closes the door.
“I wouldn’t have thought he was your type.”
I cock a brow at that. “A sexy pirate slash cowboy is everyone’s type. Besides, how would you know what my type is? The last time we interacted, I was sixteen. I didn’t even have a type.”
The look he gives me can only be described as devilish.
I shiver without realizing it, but he misses nothing.
His lips twitch as his eyes skim over me in a heated caress.
“You think I didn’t notice the way you looked at me back then?
Yeah, I might have been far too old for a sixteen-year-old, but you’re not sixteen anymore. ”
My mouth drops open in surprise. I had no idea he was interested in me. Or maybe he’s not, and he’s just messing with me. I narrow my eyes at him, deciding he’s fine to drive home now, and get to my feet.
“Just to be clear, Riggs is exactly my type. The man is sex on a stick.” I move past him toward the house, but he reaches out and grips my wrist, not hard, but enough for my skin to feel like it’s on fire.
“He doesn’t push your buttons. He’s soft. Probably doesn’t even know what to do with a real woman, let alone one as…gifted as you.” His eyes lock on my lips. I assume he means gifted in a more than having powers kind of way.
I bend down and bring my lips to the shell of his ear. “And here I thought you were good at reading people.” I tug my hand free, but I don’t pull away. Not yet.
“He’s killed enough men to understand the value of life.
Escaped death because he has no fear of it, and he doesn’t feel the need to push me because he prefers to pull me in.
He likes me close so he can touch me, kiss me, fuck me.
You see soft, I see smart. Because he’s not the only man who wants to get between my legs, but he was the first one I willingly spread them for. ”
And with that successful parting shot, I walk away, pretending I don’t see him adjusting himself. He’s right. A ten-year age difference when I was sixteen might as well have been a lifetime. But now, ten years is nothing but a grain of sand in the hourglass of our lives.
And I have no idea how to deal with that knowledge. I retreat, needing Riggs now more than ever.