Chapter Twenty-Eight
Helios
“FERALYN.” I slammed my fist against the locked door.
The wood shook, and the vibration hit my other hand as I gripped the top frame.
No response.
Leaning my forehead against my arm, I fought for patience I didn’t fucking have. “Goddamn it, Feralyn, open the door!” Fuck. “Or just fucking come out of your bedroom.” I pounded one more time, then I sank that goddamn low. I fucking begged. “PLEASE.”
Ares’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Helios.”
Pivoting, using the two inches I had on him, I got in his face. “Get her to open the goddamn door. Right fucking now.”
“Not here,” Ares warned, tipping his chin toward the living room.
Except it wasn’t a warning. The order, delivered quieter than how the motherfucker usually spoke, was a goddamn threat. The fact that my own brother, the only other person I gave a shit about besides Haven, was issuing the command should’ve been a red fucking flag.
It wasn’t.
Shoving past Ares, I headed to the living room of this bullshit oceanfront house and aimed for the sound system. Making sure every damn built-in speaker was live, I toggled to one of my playlists, turned up the volume to full fucking blast, and hit Play.
The opening guitar riff of “Crazy Train” rattled the fucking hurricane-impact windows.
“Helios,” Ares clipped, loud enough for me to hear.
Ignoring him, heading back to her bedroom that’d she fucking locked me out of—shit she only did when something was fucking wrong—I yelled at the top of my goddamn lungs as I pounded one more time. “FERALYN ALVA GRAYSON, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE.”
Ares stepped between me and the door. Suicidal, expression locked, he put his hand on my chest.
I didn’t fucking think or hesitate. I went at him. My own goddamn brother.
Elbow strike to the face, right hook, left kick, punch to the gut. He was doubled over but not down, and I was about to fucking crush him when I realized he wasn’t fighting back.
Ares never fought back.
But he also didn’t idly stand in the line of fire like a goddamn sacrifice.
I didn’t fucking care. In the next second, adrenaline primed, beast mode switched the fuck on, I was stepping over him and doing what I’d been trained to do.
I kicked her motherfucking door in.
Shit splintered. The heavy wood swung in, slamming against the wall. Ozzy yelled, and I was Oscar Mike.
Three paces in, scanning the giant suite, I found her.
Huddled on the floor, knees to chest, head down, she was rocking.
Mission intent, I aimed.
Picking up the folded mess of limbs and tangled hair, I didn’t bother sliding open the screen door. Barreling through it, keeping my target in sight, I hit the back lanai and crossed it.
Then I plunged us into the hot tub.
The in-ground spa attached to the pool wasn’t deep, but it was enough for me to hold her to my chest as I took us both under.
Not fighting me, still curled up tight, she held her breath as I held us below the surface for a count of three. Then I angled her head back and briefly stood to shake the water from my hair before sitting my ass down on a submerged bench with my Haven in my arms.
“Crazy Train” cut out, Ares appeared at the busted screen door, and Feralyn looked up at me. Her wet eyelashes framing her amber eyes that looked more gold in the direct sunlight, she stared.
Fucking Christ, she was so goddamn beautiful. “Haven,” I muttered, letting the old nickname slip before I re-upped and launched a full assault. “Why the fuck did you lock me out?”
“Your boots are on.”
All my clothes were on. “Don’t give a fuck.”
Her gaze dropped like it did every time I swore. Didn’t give a fuck about that either. All I cared about was who I had to kill.
“What happened today?” I demanded.
Her voice already a quiet storm of submissive trauma on a good day, it dipped to a new level of fuck-my-life-up hell when she looked back up at me and spoke. “You have to stop this, Helios.”