Chapter 13
Viper
She doesn’t fight me as I drag her through the bay doors.
She remains silent, just like she did the entire drive here.
Our strong girl, the one I watched walk with her head held high back into the hands of our enemies, said nothing.
She just swiped at those fucking tears that won’t stop.
Each one that slides down her cheek drives another splinter into my chest.
She’s still trying to be brave. After everything he did. All those years and years and fucking years.
After all we’ve done to her. The secrets and lies and promises we had no right to make.
At some point she’s going to explode. Completely deconstruct and fall apart. I only hope that when she does, her rage explodes outward instead of swallowing her whole.
Behind us, Breaker closes the door, the metal rattling loudly through the room.
I glare at him, barely registering Cora’s fingers clawing at my grip.
His confession burns through me every time I think about it.
Even though I want to throttle him for being so careless, I don’t.
His guilt is punishment enough. And I know it’s not his fault.
Not really. He acted out the same way I would have.
No. What Breaker did was tame. I would have acted on impulse and rage and the desire to avenge her after that asshole, Zane, insulted her.
Put his hands on her.
A writhing destructiveness courses through my veins and I can’t seem to gather any self control.
The second she started crying, a dull, throbbing noise started in my head, and I lost the ability to breathe.
Think. All I hear is that noise. The same constant, awful, hideous sound that takes me back to that clearing.
It pushes my mind back further to that dark room, and I can’t seem to get my head together.
To make it stop. To make myself stop. Tame this hideous feeling inside me, because I know Rune hurt her.
Again.
Hurt her in more ways than she admitted to Breaker.
And she went right back to him.
My heart splinters beneath my ribs. I clutch my chest, wishing I didn’t understand why she went to Rune.
The thrumming noise in my head grows louder. Screams.
Cora jerks, trying to free herself from my grasp.
I stop in the center of the room, taking a deep breath to calm myself.
But it doesn’t help. Breaker moves forward, his jaw granite-hard, eyes glacial.
That deadly look is aimed at me. I’m being too rough with her.
I know I am, but I can’t seem to let her go.
He reaches for her, trying to take her from me, and I shove him back.
He stumbles, grinding out something, a threat maybe.
I don’t know, and I don’t fucking care. There’s too much chaos in my head.
Every word is just meaningless syllables, each one drowning in the chaotic roar in my head.
My vision blurs, my chest squeezing, crushing my lungs.
Cora yanks out of my grasp. I lurch for her, but pause mid-step the second my eyes land on the purple bruise and the lump on her forehead. That primal need to ruin claws at my insides, trying to rip free.
“He knows it was one of you,” she says, but it’s like we’re in a tunnel, her voice distant and echoing. She backs away, almost in slow motion, and points at Breaker. “Zane is going to lose his mind when he recovers.”
“Let him,” Breaker says, voice dripping with violence. “So I can fucking ruin him.”
An exasperated sound catches in her throat. Her eyes dart around like a trapped animal, before locking on the bathroom door. As she bolts, I lunge after her, but Breaker grabs my arm. I whirl, muscles coiled and ready to strike.
“Calm down,” he grates. “You’re scaring her.”
My teeth gnash together as she disappears into the bathroom. I take a deep breath, knowing I probably look like a maniac. And that’s the last thing she needs right now. More violence and rage anywhere near her. None of this is her fault.
It’s ours. All of it.
Fucking Reaper.
He counted on this. Breaker leaving, me following. The control freak must have thought that between the two of us, we’d be able to keep her safe.
How? How the fuck are we supposed to keep a delicate jewel from being crushed under Rune’s power? How do we protect her from his sick games and twisted mind?
I just want her home. Safe. Away from this sick place. Walking through the garden, picking mint leaves, turning her face to the sun, letting it wash away the years of shit she’s endured.
Let her have peace.
All of us just need some fucking peace.
I rake my fingers through my hair, the throbbing in my head growing louder, so I barely hear the bay door sliding up. It’s not until I spot Harlow, dipping under the door that my focus snaps with precision onto him.
“You can’t just pop up like that, drawing attention to us!” His scream is loud enough that it breaks through the noise in my skull. He stalks my way, finger pointed at me. “You’re going to ruin years of planning.”
He’s worried about the plan? Now?
“Fuck the plan,” I growl. “He needs to die.”
“You know that’s not an option,” Breaker says. “We need to get into that compound. We need to get—”
“Fuck. The. Plan.” I shove past him, focusing on the bathroom door.
“Give her space,” Breaker barks out, and I freeze.
Slowly, I turn back to face him. Whatever he sees in my expression makes him straighten, like he’s preparing to take me on.
“Give her a minute,” Breaker says. He motions to my face. “You’re a lot, Vipe. Give her space to think.”
I shake my head, disbelief tumbling from my lips with a huff of air. “Space?” I ask. “You mean like the space we gave her that allowed Rune to move in and what, Breaker? What exactly did he do?”
He closes his eyes, his chin dropping to his chest.
“That’s what I thought.”
Harlow lunges, grabbing the collar of my shirt with one hand, the other cocked back. His fist grazes my jaw as I twist away, my shirt stretching in his grip. I catch his next punch mid-air. The impact jolts up my arm, and I shove him back hard enough to send him staggering.
The veins in his neck bulge, eyes wild and burning with an intensity that could level a city as he screams, “You fucking knew? You knew Rune was hurting her?”
Another punch comes flying, faster than I expected, but I block it, a little taken aback at how fast he is. How skilled. Though I shouldn’t be surprised considering what I know about him.
“Watch it, old man,” I snarl, gripping his fist and shoving it away. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
His rage collapses, his eyes hollowing. The anguish making his shoulders slump would affect someone who gave a fuck, but I don’t. I don’t care about his fucking feelings. I care about our girl.
“Don’t act like you didn’t know,” I snarl, jabbing a finger into his chest. Into the fucking suit he always wears that reminds me of Fallon.
“Don’t act like you didn’t turn a blind eye to everything Rune has done over the years.
Don’t act like you feed Fallon info for any other reason than to assuage your guilt for what you allowed. ”
Harlow pins me with a glare. “I didn’t know.”
“Which part?” I say, malice icing my tone. “And which woman did you fail to protect? Pick one.”
My words hit him so hard he takes a step back.
I dig in deeper, wanting him to hurt, needing him to feel as much agony as our girl. “You’ve ignored what Rune has done for years. Pretended it didn’t happen even when you saw for yourself what he does when he thinks no one is watching.”
“I didn’t know what he planned,” he grinds out. “And I certainly never knew about Cora.”
“But you suspected.” I shove past him, heading for the door.
Give her space. Fuck that. She doesn’t need space. She needs people who care.
I’m going to have to do.
The second my palms hit the metal door, I freeze. The memory slams into me like a brick to my chest. I close my eyes, breathing. Focusing. Trying to rid myself of the image that suddenly occupies every corner of my mind.
I roll my shoulders, unease creeping up my spine as I walk into the room.
Water drips from the shower head, hitting the tile with a shallow, echoing plink.
I grind my teeth, refusing to let my mind take me back there, and move further into the room.
When I see her, I stop, breath rushing from my lungs.
Cora sits, her back to the far wall, eyes closed, head tilted back against the tile, her arms wrapped around her middle like she’s holding herself together. She must not hear me because she doesn’t move as I walk toward her.
Her fiery hair escaped her ponytail, the pretty ringlets framing her face. The too-bright light overhead washes out her skin, making all the little freckles on her nose and cheeks stand out. My throat closes at the sight of her. She’s so tiny and delicate.
So fucking beautiful, it wrecks me.
I remind myself to move slowly, to be gentle. But that’s not what I needed. I needed wrath and ruin and someone to make the monsters hidden in plain sight bleed.
Right now, Cora needs strength and fucking vengeance.
And I need to know she’s okay.
My footsteps echo as I stalk toward her, and her eyes pop open.
She tracks me as I approach, her face devoid of all emotion.
I grip her arm, pulling her to her feet, more roughly than I intended, and her lips part.
Her eyes grow wide as I grip her long-sleeved button-up shirt and yank it off, tossing it to the floor.
I scan her wrists and arms, lifting them above her head to see every inch.
When my eyes land on the faint bruise and the remnants of stitches, the world turns a blurry red.
It was removed. Cut out of her.
For Zane.