Chapter Four
Hades
You’d think pacing in the moonlight would calm me the fuck down and if you thought that shit, you’d be wrong.
It was late enough that the crickets and frogs drowned out the sound of the highway in the distance.
I paced back and forth, wearing out the cement like it had done me wrong, with my teeth clenched so tight my jaw ached.
I couldn’t fucking stop thinking about the look in Raven’s eyes when she refused to talk about her past.
I had no right to expect her to give up the details of her past even if I shared mine.
It was clear she wasn’t ready to talk about it, but whatever was on that flash drive had her spooked, which had me on edge.
I didn’t have all the details, but I knew enough to know that whatever she’d seen had put that haunted look in her eyes.
I had to find a way to get her to trust me enough to let me help her.
“Yo,” Falcon called out but I was too lost in my thoughts to respond. “Hades, man, what the fuck is wrong?”
I stopped abruptly and looked up, my brows dipped with concern. “What do you know about Raven’s lost years?” That’s what he called the years they were out of touch, and I didn’t ask because he never looked like he wanted to talk about it.
Falcon watched me closely, hands fisted on his hips like he was trying to figure out why I was asking.
His shoulders fell slightly and he nodded.
“She got this fucking boyfriend who was a problem and then she got hooked on drugs. We didn’t talk for about three years and then she just showed up in Steel City one day. She’s been here ever since.”
I heard his words, but they didn’t make sense. “Are you sure?” I knew junkies and Raven didn’t have any of the markers of a junkie. There was shame hidden in her eyes but mostly it was fear. It was goddamn trauma.
Falcon frowned at me, rubbing one side of his jaw as he thought about his answer. “Yeah,” he said but I knew him and he wasn’t as sure as he wanted to be.
Fuck. “That doesn’t make sense,” I finally said. I should’ve just told him what happened today and what I’d observed but I didn’t.
“Yeah well, she doesn’t like to talk about it. For obvious reasons.” He shook his head and I saw the guilt written on his face.
“That’s not actually true,” Macy said from the doorway. She flashed a soft, almost apologetic smile.
I hadn’t even heard her come out, which was just another fucking sound of how distracted I was.
Falcon found his voice first. “What do you mean it’s not true?” His voice roared at Macy and she visibly shrank. “Shit, sorry. What do you know?” he asked in a softer voice.
“Look,” she sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you this since it was shared with me in confidence, but it’s not fair to Raven.
After all she’s been through, it’s not right that you think she got tangled up with an asshole and hooked on drugs.
It’s not close to the truth.” Tears filled her eyes, but Macy didn’t let them fall.
“She survived a living hell,” she whispered as Vandal came out and put a supportive hand on her shoulder.
“That’s all I’m gonna say, but the story you’ve been told is just that, a story. ”
“You can’t just say that shit and leave,” Falcon called out.
“It’s not right, I know. But I can’t betray her.” She stood taller. “I won’t.”
Vandal slid between them, his glare a warning to back off. And then they were gone.
Falcon simmered with anger. His body vibrated with it, and I knew he was moments from snapping. “I need to talk to my sister.” He stormed off and I followed close behind, stopping him before he gripped her bedroom door. “What the fuck, man?”
“You’re too fucking emotional, Falcon. If you go in there angry and demanding answers, she’s just gonna shut down. She might not share anyway, but if you go in there angry, she’ll definitely shut down.”
He was still pissed, his breath heaving while he glared at me. “What the fuck do you know?”
“Nothing about the past,” I admitted but nobody told him about the dead girl at the community center, so I did. “The girl was murdered and it was brutal man. She knows more than she’s saying but that’s it.”
His face reddened and I knew he was about to argue with me. “Fuck,” he roared. “Okay, fine.”
I smiled. “Wow, Viv and TJ finally knocked some sense into you,” I teased.
“Fuck you.” He smiled and leaned against the wall beside the door. “Go.”
***
I nodded, knocking on Raven’s door before I pushed it open. “Hey. Can I come in?”
She shrugged and when I didn’t move, she nodded. “What’s going on?” Her pink hair had dried into wild ringlets that made her look years younger than twenty-three.
I thought about a dozen different ways to soften the blow but in the end, Raven was a straight shooter, and she wouldn’t want me tap dancing around the truth. “Falcon knows the truth,” I finally said. “You gonna tell me?”
She sucked in a sharp breath, her skin paled and when her legs gave out, she dropped onto the bed making the springs squeak. “What?” she stammered out. “But, how the fuck does he know anything?”
I held my hands up. “I asked him what he knew about the years you were apart and he told me about the boyfriend and the drugs. Macy overheard us and shut that shit down quickly, said it wasn’t fair to you that he go on thinking that, but she didn’t give any details other than a living hell.
” I rubbed a hand over my head and down my face, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Fuck, Raven, I’m so sorry to hear about it.
I hate that you went through that shit.” I more than hated it; I wanted to avenge all the shit she’d gone through until that haunted look in her eyes went away.
She looked away and crossed her arms, anger simmering in her small frame. “I’m not a victim,” she insisted.
I smiled, happy to see she hadn’t lost her fire.
“Hell no, you’re not,” I shot back. “You are a badass, a fucking survivor. But Falcon is your big brother and he’s feeling a whole lot of shit right now, none of it good.
” I didn’t blame him one fucking bit, but he hadn’t seen her earlier, how shutdown she was.
“I can’t worry about his feelings right now.”
“I’m not asking you to. Falcon is a big boy, and he’ll calm down soon enough. Maybe. I hope.”
She huffed out a laugh, but her walls were still up and impossible to scale. “So what are you asking?”
I let out a heavy sigh and crossed the room, dropping down on the bed beside her for the second time that day. “I’m asking you to let me in, Raven. Now that I have some clue about the hell you’ve been through, I know enough to know that you need help. If you don’t want to trust me, trust the MC.”
Her gaze met mine and she let out a sharp exhale. “It’s my past,” she whispered.
“Based on what happened to that girl and that look in your eyes, I’d say it’s now your present.”
Her breath hitched again and tears pooled in her eyes, but she blinked them back and shook her head. “Shit.”
“I know it’s not easy, Raven. The shit that’s going through my head right now is making it really fucking hard to stay calm, but this ain’t about me either. It’s about you and keeping you safe, if that’s what’s needed.”
“I’ll think about it,” she whispered softly.
My shoulders relaxed instantly. It wasn’t agreement but it was as close to it as I’d get tonight. “That’s all I ask.” I did something I rarely did but had done far too much of today, I wrapped an arm around her and held her close. “If you need anything, I’ll be here tonight. All night.”
She stiffened for a quick second and then relaxed again, nodding against my chest. “Thanks, Hades.”
“Of course.” I don’t know how long I held her like that but eventually she grew heavier against my chest and I knew she was asleep.
After settling her in bed, I kept the light on and left the room, finding Falcon still leaning against the wall beside her door.
“She’s okay,” I told him. “But give her some time. She’s sleeping now and she didn’t tell me any details.
She will,” I said with a sudden confidence that felt real.
His jaw clenched with frustration and I clapped him on the back.
“Let’s grab a beer. She’ll talk when she’s ready.”