Chapter Twenty-Two
Kytten
I may not have understood what she was doing when she started. After all, women didn’t do those kinds of things to kids. Women nurtured; they didn’t sexually assault children.
At least, that was what I thought.
“Why didn’t you tell Val then?” Cash asked, his voice low and quiet. Almost a whisper. I felt his body vibrating next to mine.
“Because I didn’t want her to be mad at me.” I bit my bottom lip to stop the trembling. “I don’t want you to be mad at me,” I whispered.
“Torment, get out,” he ordered.
“Cash—”
“Get the fuck out. Now!” he growled.
I glanced up at Dr. Dunaway and nodded. I wasn’t afraid of Cash. I knew he would never hurt me. Not physically, anyway. It would hurt when he walked away, but I would survive. I still had my brother.
At least I hoped I did.
Dr. Dunaway stood. He removed his glasses and left them on the table with his notes. Before he left the room, he turned back to us.
“I will be right outside this door.”
When the door closed, I took a deep breath.
I pulled my hand from Cash’s and clasped it together with my other hand in my lap.
I was ready for him now. I had steeled myself against the pain.
The monsters stood by, waiting for instructions.
The knife in my back pocket beckoned me. But I was determined not to feed them.
“Cash, I know you’re angry—”
“I’m not angry. I’m fucking homicidal.” He stood and paced the room.
“I’m sorry,” I said, my eyes locked onto my hands that were held so tightly together my knuckles turned white. My fingers longed to scratch at my legs, but I was determined to hold them back.
Cash stopped pacing and turned to me. I watched him from the corner of my eye. Not brave enough to look up.
“What the fuck are you sorry for? You have nothing to fucking apologize for, Rose. You were a kid.”
“And now I’m an adult. I know better. When you know better, you’re supposed to do better.”
“She fucking brainwashed you!” he shouted.
“She used your innocence and your vulnerability against you to get you to do what she wanted. She is no different from the thousands of other sick fucks that are out there. The fact that she has a pussy and not a dick makes no difference. What she did was wrong. And when I get my fucking hands on her...” He turned away and ran his fingers through his hair.
Finally, I looked up at him, my mouth gaping open as I stared at him. Rage poured off him like steam from a grate in the city. Rage that wasn’t directed at me, but at Syrena, at what she did.
Carefully, I stood. Slowly, I walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm. He turned so fast, pulling me close and wrapping his arms around me that for a moment I stiffened in fear. Until he lifted me up and buried his face in my neck.
“Baby, I’m so fucking sorry you had to go through that. I wish I could take it all away. I wish I could wipe it from your memories.”
“You do, Cash. You make me feel safe. Feel loved.” With my legs wrapped around his waist, I pulled back.
My hands cradled his cheeks. “You make everything quiet. You make me want to live without the monsters. Like it’s safe to feel again.
You make it safe for me to live again. I don’t feel like I have to just endure, to just get through the day.
You make me happy to wake up every morning. ”
His mouth attacked mine. His kiss was frantic; it matched the way I had been feeling since I’d made the decision to tell him my secret.
The moment I felt his tongue, I moaned and ground myself against him.
I wanted him. I wanted to feel him inside me, to take away the memory and pain of what I had shared.
I pushed at his cut, trying to remove the leather from his shoulders, but he wouldn’t release me.
“Not here, baby. There are cameras in this room, and I am not letting any of my brothers see you when I make you come on my fingers.” He kissed me.
“And my mouth.” He kissed me again. “And my fucking dick.” I felt like he would swallow me whole.
I didn’t care who saw us as long as he made good on that promise right fucking now.
A knock on the door broke us apart. He didn’t release me. He held me tighter as he turned to give whoever came in my back.
“We need the room, brother.” It was King’s voice and by the sound of it, it was important. That meant it was about Amber. I dropped my legs, but Cash didn’t let go.
“Cash, you need to find her. Let me go.”
He set me on my feet but held my face in his hands. “I can’t leave you alone right now. I want to trust you, Rose. But what you just told me? What you went through—” He inhaled, closing his eyes. “I need to know you’re safe.”
“The old ladies are in the main room. Everyone was called in,” King said.
Cash looked down at me. “I need you safe.”
“I’ll stay with the old ladies. I won’t leave the room, and if I need to use the bathroom, I will ask one of them to go with me.”
He rested his forehead against mine. “I love you. I can’t fucking lose you.”
“I love you, too. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Cash let me go, and I went to walk out of the room. King put his hand on my arm and said, “This wasn’t on you.”
“It was. But thank you for saying that.”
I walked past him through the double doors and found Sam sitting on the couch with Ellie and Beck. Ellie rushed over, pulling me into her arms.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded. She searched my eyes for a lie, and when she finally believed I was telling the truth, she hugged me again.
“Come sit with us.” She led me over to sit next to Sam.
“We’re here for you, Kytten. No matter what.” Sam put her arm around me and pulled me close. I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. I laid my head down on her lap and cried.
I didn’t cry for me. The person I was now.
I cried for Rosebud. The little girl who lost her mom and her brother.
I cried for the girl assaulted by a woman she trusted.
A woman who said she loved her. A woman who vowed to always be there for her and never hurt her.
A woman who lied for her own sick, selfish fetish.
I cried for the girl who thought she would lose everything she had, only to find out what she was walking away from was nowhere near as important as what she was walking into.
Sam ran her fingers through my hair as she spoke soft words to me. Words a mom would say when her child was hurting. Words that made me feel safe, not scared. Protected, not used.
Charlie crawled onto the couch with me and snuggled up against my chest. She wiped my tears away and whispered, “Momma will make it better.”
I fell asleep in Sam’s lap to the soft murmurs of a mother’s love and the quiet whispers of a little sister’s promises. I didn’t know how long I had slept, but I woke to the yelling of a familiar angry voice.
I opened my eyes just in time to see Charlie kick Arsyn in the shin and yell, “Shut up! My sister is sleeping!”
“What the fuck?” Arsyn yelled as she reached down to rub her leg. She glared at Charlie, and I jumped from the couch. Rushing over, I grabbed Charlie and held her in my arms.
“It’s okay, little sister. She’s a friend.”
“She’s not very nice.” Charlie continued to glare at Arsyn, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“No, she’s not very nice, but she’s good to have on your side in a fight. So let’s not piss her off, okay?”
I set Charlie on the floor, and she scoffed before walking off.
No doubt looking for Mimic. I turned back to Arsyn.
Most people would see the long dark ponytail, the low-cut jeans and tattoos and immediately think Lara Croft.
What I saw was my big sister. Arsyn was a protector.
It’s why she was so good at what we do. But her personality tended to rub people the wrong way.
I could have gone to her immediately. I didn’t because I knew she would kill Syrena. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe that when a fire broke out in an area Arsyn rescued someone from, that it was a coincidence.
“What are you doing here?”
“Val called us in to help find Amber.”
Of course, she did. I should have known King would call Val immediately. Looking around the room, I wondered who else had arrived while I was sleeping.
“They’re still in church,” Sam said behind me. “Introduce us to your friend, Kytten.”
Arsyn studied Sam with blatant hostility. There were only a few people Arsyn liked, and even fewer she tolerated. I was thankful to be counted among the former.
“Sam, this is Arsyn. She’s a Nyght Nymph.”
“Hello, Arsyn.” Sam’s voice was cold. I had never heard her talk to anyone with anything less than acceptance and caring. My eyes ping-ponged between the two of them as though I was watching a tennis match.
“Hello, Sam,” Arsyn responded, her voice like ice. I knew Arsyn didn’t like people, but this was unusual even for her.
“What am I missing here?”
“Arsyn doesn’t like me very much because I refused to listen to her,” Sam explained.
“You’ve met?” I asked, my brow pulling tight as I tried to remember when that could have been.
“I was called in when Sam ended up in the hospital, beaten to shit by her husband. She refused to let us help.”
I turned to Sam. “What? Jack beat you?” I asked angrily, ready to storm into church and beat his ass. I would do it too.
“Jack would never touch me in anger,” she said, her glare fixed on Arsyn.
“Though Lord knows he had a reason to. No, I was married before Jack. It’s a long story, and one day I will tell you everything.
Including why I chose not to go. But right now, we need to focus on Amber.
” She turned her soft eyes on me. “And you.”
“I’m fine.” I tried to wave her off, but she wouldn’t dismiss me.
“No, you aren’t. But you will be.”
“What the fuck is going on, Kytten?”
I looked at Sam, pleading silently with my eyes for her not to tell Arsyn anything. I wasn’t ready for the Nyght Nymphs to know any of my secrets.
The front door opened, and Harmony and Lucky walked in. Harmony was Asian. I wasn’t sure exactly where her family hailed from, but she was as beautiful on the outside with her long dark hair as she was on the inside.
Lucky was Irish. You couldn’t miss her flaming red hair and her bright green eyes. Seeing these two here warmed my heart. And it made me wonder why I had ever believed Syrena’s lies.
I ran across the room and threw myself at Harmony. She was aptly named and had a way of bringing peace with her everywhere she went. I clung to my friend.
“Hey, baby girl, what’s wrong?” she asked, looking around the room.
“I’m just glad to see you. It’s been a lot the last few days.”