29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Within seconds, I’m a teenager again, with a sweaty, angry man shoving himself inside me. Cockroach. The word he would moan into my ear while I tried to fight him off.
If you’d asked me this morning if I’d dealt with my trauma, I’d have said, absolutely. I’ve dedicated my whole life to overcoming it. My days are spent helping others overcome theirs.
But a single word wipes away fifteen years of hard work.
“Kyrielle.” Trinte’s voice is laden with concern. Around his massive frame, I see Huracio come into view. The same hideous face with a long-healed brand on his cheek. My abuser looks delighted to see me.
Vines slowly slide out of his palms. Shackles at the ready. “Cockroach, I didn’t know you’d come by. What a lovely surprise. I’ve been looking for you.”
My inner child curls into herself in fear.
He spent years torturing me in so many ways.
I know exactly all the fucked up things those vines can and will do.
My body reacts to their appearance with rolling nausea and bile threatening to fill my mouth.
Flexing my fingers, everything inside me coils, ready to flee.
Trinte steps fully in front of me. “Don’t talk to her. We’re here for Janeeka’s things. That’s it. Then we’ll be out of your hair.”
Huracio reaches the bottom of the stairs and lets out another chuckle. “Boy, I don’t know who you are, but you probably aren’t aware of who you’re with. That little slut right there will—”
Trinte’s arm moves. A crack sounds, then a loud thump. He stalks forward, allowing me to see Huracio crumpled against a wall where Trinte’s wind threw him. Wide eyed, I watch the blue Dragon lean down and snatch him by the throat.
“I said don’t fucking talk to her. That includes talking about her.”
Huracio’s eyes bulge as Trinte squeezes. Choking, he grins and holds out a hand toward me. Vines lash out like whips, snatching all four of my limbs before Trinte or I can react.
I scream, slamming into the wood floor. Too many memories flood my mind, making it hard to think.
Hands. Mouth. Teeth. Vines. Thorns. Shoving. Thrusting. Biting.
Trinte roars and throws Huracio. Plaster collapses inward as the Sprite’s body lands inside the wall. Still, the vines squeeze. Out of an old habit, I try to gnaw at them with my teeth. Tears stream down my face, and I can’t stop screaming.
The vines slacken. Trinte yanks them off my limbs and picks me up in one fluid motion.
“Hold on,” he growls. We make it three whole steps, then we’re both falling forward.
I yelp as we slam into the floor. Huracio’s vines yank Trinte back by the ankles. He tries to twist and tear at the vines, their thick, leafy shafts refusing mercy. More appear, wrapping around his body. His body’s alight with electric bolts, but the vines barely shutter.
Huracio’s laughing. “You didn’t realize who would be here, did you? Janeeka knows me as Laurice, but you, Cockroach … You know me as so much more.”
Trinte whips his tail at Huracio. The Forest Sprite leaps back, barely escaping the attack. Trinte cranes his neck to look at me. “Run!”
I’m frozen, unable to make a decision. He’ll kill Trinte — I know he will. He’ll kill us both. Trinte looks at me, terror written deeply in his expression. Terror for me.
Years ago, I decided enough was enough; I’d fought back, and I can do it again.
That snaps me out of it.
I’m no longer the teenager being terrorized by a grown man with mommy issues. I’m the fucking Firecracker who spent her entire adulthood learning how to prevent this shit. Icy rage sluices down my veins, exploding into blue fire at my fingertips.
Pushing myself up to stand, I snarl, “Let him go. Or I’ll burn this fucking house down, too.”
Huracio’s eyes flicker with fear, then resolve. “You broke in, little Cockroach. I’m merely defending myself.”
“Janeeka gave me a key.”
“This isn’t her house. It’s my house.”
The fear returns for a split second. That definitely complicates things. My expression must show this newfound understanding.
Huracio grins. “I see she neglected to inform you of this.” Trinte grunts as vines shove themselves into his mouth.
He hasn’t stopped struggling, but the bursts of lightning he’s pouring into the vines aren’t doing anything.
Wind whips around Huracio, but he’s used vines to root himself into the flooring.
The blue Dragon, unless he shifts and destroys this entire building, is useless.
But he hasn’t yet, which most likely means he thinks it’ll hurt me. Which also means I need to leave this house.
Cocking my head, I try to stay calm. “Let him go and you can do whatever you want to me.”
Trinte screams with renewed rage, desperately chewing against the vines preventing him from speaking.
Huracio sucks air through his teeth. “See, I would, but I think he actually likes you. And that means he’ll go out of his way to find you. I don’t feel like being chased by a Dragon for the rest of my days. They’re so damn territorial.”
One of Trinte’s forearms snaps. His body seizes from the pain, and a tear drops from the corner of his eye.
I cry out, rushing forward. Huracio builds a wall of vines; I collide into the fortification.
Slamming my palms onto the greenery, I ignite it.
Ash flies in the air as I level a menacing glare at the Forest Sprite.
“Let him go,” I say with velvety softness. “And I’ll let you out alive.”
“In case I wasn’t clear, I won’t be doing that.”
There’s always a deep pool of rage sitting in my chest, generally undisturbed, but ready to spew like a furious volcano.
Connecting with it, I allow it to fill me up, scalding me from the inside.
My whole body hums with fiery power, causing my skin to glow like hot coals.
Fire roils around my flesh, licking my skin with its heat.
“I’m done negotiating,” I snarl, slapping my hands on the floor. A wall of flames rages toward Huracio, eating everything in its path. Huracio’s eyes widen with fear. Separating from the vines, he bolts down the hallway away from the flames.
It’s vindicating to see him bolt like a rat, but I know it’s temporary. There’s no way he’s going to let us go that easily.
I rush over to Trinte, ripping away the murderous greenery from his mouth first. He gasps. “You’re fucking stunning, you know that?”
Grinning wildly, I keep tearing away the vines. My hands are shaking so hard, it’s difficult. “Yes, but feel free to repeat it all the time.”
When enough of the vines are removed, Trinte flexes, shattering the rest. He assesses his swollen forearm, where bone threatens to split the skin.
“Is that going to be okay?” I ask, unsure what can be done right now.
“It’ll heal on its own,” he says dismissively, pressing down on the lump with a wince. “Dragons heal pretty quickly. It’ll be annoying until then, though.”
“Just be careful.” Which should go without saying. The corner of his mouth quirks as we stand in the flames.
Frowning, knowing Janeeka doesn’t deserve to lose her belongings, I tighten my fist and snuff out the flames, leaving smoking, charred wood behind.
“Where did he go?” Trinte asks, looking around.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s time to go,” I announce. This being Huracio’s house, in the middle of the night, makes things infinitely more complicated.
“Agreed,” Trinte mutters, placing a hand at the small of my back and steering me toward the front door.
We walk out of the house with the intention of going to the launch pad, but we’re about fifteen feet away from the front door when vines yank my ankles. My body slams onto the earth.
I wheeze as the air’s knocked out of me. I’m dragged backward, clawing at the grass, screaming. Trinte whirls, looking from me to where Huracio must be. Pure hatred twists Trinte’s face. His mouth opens, brandishing deadly fangs, then the air shimmers.
A blue Dragon appears, rearing and roaring so loud that my entire body vibrates.
The ground shakes as his front legs slam down, darkening the night as Trinte lands above me like a protective shield.
My first thought is concern for the broken bone, but Trinte doesn’t flinch.
He must have a disturbingly high pain tolerance.
Huracio lets out a scream, and doesn’t stop screaming. The vines stop, then loosen.
Kicking away the offending plants, I scramble to stand, my head not even touching Trinte’s scaled belly.
I look from between his legs, where the long lizard neck guides my eyes to Trinte’s head.
Between his jaws are Huracio’s legs. The Forest Sprite is wailing, all of his vines burning upon impact on the blue scales.
Do you want to? Or should I?
Trailing a hand along Trinte’s smooth belly as I walk toward his maw, I grin. “I don’t know. Are we committing murder here?”
Is it murder if he attacked you while your back was turned? I know Dragon law permits deadly defense against that.
“Please don’t kill me,” Huracio sobs. Each time he tries to dislodge himself from Trinte’s jaws, fangs longer than my palm cut into his body even more.
I stop at Huracio’s head, cross my arms with a scathing glower. “You’ve grown uglier over the years. Maybe it’s all of that hate you love eating.”
“Kyrielle, don’t do this,” he pleads again, using my full name like he did all those years ago.
Cold with fury, I cock my head. “Pretty sure I used to ask the same thing. You didn’t listen. The first time, I took it easy on you.” My eyes drag from his mangled face to his crotch. “Apparently, I didn’t make you afraid of me well enough.”
“Let me go, and you’ll never see me again.”
I click my tongue and crouch. Looking at Trinte, my smile broadens. His gaze burns with so many unspoken words as he watches me play with Huracio. When the Forest Sprite squirms again, Trinte tightens his jaws. I hear bones snap. Huracio screams and I slap a hand over his mouth.
“Shut the fuck up, you dirty girl,” I snarl into his ear.
Looking at Huracio’s shattered kneecaps, I walk two fingers from his bloody knees up to his shredded thighs. Each scalding touch of a fingertip burns a hole through his clothes and crisping skin.
Snot pours out of his large nose as he viciously whips his head back and forth, in denial of my upcoming punishment.
“Huracio, Huracio,” I sing-song, grinning. “There were days, weeks, and entire back-to-back months where I wish I’d been brave enough to do this.”
My fingers stop at his hip, adjacent to his crotch. It’s wet. “Huracio,” I shake my head with patronizing disbelief. “Did you piss yourself?” He whimpers; I grin. “So nasty. Let’s clean that up.”
Raising my hand, I cover it in blue flames and slap it down on his dick. Incinerating the entire thing.