Cambria Chapter 14
Outside, the fall air was crisp and bracing.
Lucky for me, I had on a long-sleeved top tonight, and my cut offered some warmth.
I was enveloped in Shadow’s arms, as were the other ladies by their men.
We formed a large circle around the fire pit.
Dylan had jumped-started it. He clearly had added gasoline or a similar substance to fuel it.
Rather than being an orange flame, it was already turning yellow.
“You had to make me do this. I was having a great time, just relaxing with my old man and friends. Shadow officially presented Cambria with her property cut. She looks amazing. Our friends from out of town have graced us with their presence and are staying to help us with something. Tonight, all we wanted to do was have fun and decompress. But you had to come back and show your ass. You brought this on yourself,” Jalisa hissed.
Jalisa’s expression morphed into a slightly demonic one. I gasped. It seemed like I was seeing Lunatic for the first time. I’d heard the stories Shadow told about her, along with what Betty had shared. I guess I’d thought they were exaggerating.
“What are you doing?” Eliza cried as she tried to wiggle loose, but it wasn’t happening until Jalisa was ready.
“I’m about to teach you a valuable lesson about not coveting or touching things that don’t belong to you.
Be grateful that this is only a minor infraction.
I guess your first warning should’ve been more than words.
You should’ve been shown the fire and felt its heat.
That’s my fault. Since you dared to do it again and then argue about it, you’ve earned yourself a lick of the dragon’s tongue,” Jalisa explained.
“W-what do you mean, a dragon’s lick?” Eliza asked raggedly.
“Your hand will be placed in the fire so you can feel the flame. That’s the dragon’s lick,” Dylan answered her. I hadn’t known he’d followed us. As I scanned the crowd, I saw that Betty had Dora in her arms. The baby was fast asleep.
“No, no, you can’t,” Eliza screamed.
“Yes, I can,” Jalisa replied.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again. I promise. Let me go, and I’ll never come here again,” the hanger pleaded.
“Too late. This will be a hard lesson, but hopefully it’ll stick, and you won’t find yourself in situations like this again,” Jalisa explained calmly.
As Eliza sobbed, wiggled, and tried to fight her way free, Jalisa was slowly able to bend Eliza’s arm and bring it out in front of her.
Jalisa let go of her hair. Locking the arm between her hands, which were placed around the elbow of Eliza, Jalisa dragged her closer to the fire.
The flames had settled down, but they were burning a darker yellow, indicating a scorching temperature.
“Either let her get this over with, or I’ll stick your hand in there, and I might not be so kind as to pull it out right away. Your choice,” Wrath finally stated.
Utter defeat came over Eliza’s face. She sagged and let her head hang—and just like that, a quick dart, held for the count of two, and then withdrawn.
The sound of her screams hurt my ears. She cradled her hand to her chest. As she bawled, we all saw how red her hand was.
Blisters were forming before our eyes. Stitch walked up to Eliza.
“Come with me. I’ll bandage it and apply some burn cream. You’ll have to take care of it so it doesn’t get infected. I’ll show you how,” he said to her. He said it kindly, and as they left, he guided her back inside, almost carrying her.
Many of the others just broke away and headed inside.
There was a constant level of murmuring.
A few clustered together outside to talk.
I remained standing close to the fire, staring into the flames.
I jumped when Shadow’s arms encircled me.
He pulled me back to rest against his chest. His mouth nuzzled my neck.
“Talk to me. I can see that the bonfire disturbed you. It is rather medieval. But to be honest, it isn’t really used. Most of the time, the threat of it is enough to either make people behave, or they don’t return.”
“I won’t lie and say that it isn’t disturbing to know about the bunny bonfire.
But when Jalisa told me about it, I hadn’t pictured it this way, even though she had described it and explained why it was implemented.
What I’m finding more disturbing isn’t the fire itself.
It’s how I didn’t feel bad that Eliza’s hand was stuck in it.
I didn’t enjoy her pain, but I thought a hard lesson was the way to go.
She’s headed for terrible trouble if she can’t change her behavior.
Someone could take it very wrong, and she ends up with worse than a burn. ”
When I paused, Shadow didn’t say anything for several moments. I was deciding whether to elaborate or let it drop when he spoke again.
“Cambria, are you worried that your lack of pity for her makes you like Brooks? That the same sickness that is inside of him also lurks inside of you?”
My breath rushed out of me. As he said it, I gasped. Oh God, he knew. He recognized what I hadn’t been able to grasp and put into words just now. Was I a sociopath like Garen? My legs went weak. If Shadow hadn’t been holding me, I would’ve fallen to the ground. His arms tightened.
“Shh, it’s alright. You’re alright. I’ve got you, Twilight,” he murmured.
As he did, I heard the sounds coming out of me.
I was whimpering and almost sobbing. My hand went up to my face, where I found tears.
What was happening to me? Suddenly, I was twisted sideways, and then my legs were swept into the air.
Shadow had me cradled in his arms. Knowing others were nearby and witnessing this made me bury my face in his cut.
The cool air rushed over my skin as Shadow walked away from the fire.
As he did, I heard him telling someone that he was taking me home for the night.
He asked them to tell the others good night for us.
We’ll see them tomorrow. I was too into my head to pay attention to what was said back to him or by whom.
I kept running the bonfire scene through my head, analyzing it.
The truth was, I hadn’t felt sorry for her. I believed she needed a lesson that would have a lasting impact on her. The fact that afterward, Stitch rendered first aid had surprised me, but in a good way. I was glad he did it.
It was the temperature change that alerted me that we were no longer outside, followed by the sound of a door closing, which came right on the heels of the warmth.
I lifted my head. Yep, I was right. We were inside Shadow’s house.
Shoot, I mean our house. He’d been working on me, reminding me to say it that way.
It upset my man when I referred to it as his.
“Shaine, you can put me down,” I told him.
“Not yet,” he said.
He didn’t take off his boots or cut by the door as usual.
Instead, he kept them on and strolled straight to our bedroom.
In there, I was set on the edge of the mattress.
I watched Shadow sink to his knees before me.
Shadow went to work on removing my boots and socks.
I shrugged off my cut, but I didn’t put it down.
I crushed it to my chest. The thought of letting go of it frightened me.
Shadow rose to his feet, then turned, planting his ass next to mine. He leaned down and removed his boots and socks. He tucked both pairs between the bed and the nightstand. When his cut came off, he looked at me.
“Cambria, give me your cut. I’ll hang them up.”
My fingers flexed into the leather. It was as if I thought that if I let go, it would disappear.
“Twilight, look at me,” he said softly. I didn’t.
“I said, look at me,” he put a command in his tone this time. I wasn’t able to resist.
When our eyes met, he was frowning. “Cambria, this property cut is yours. It will never be taken from you. I’m hanging them up for the night. You know how they’re to be treated, respected. I do it with mine all the time,” he reminded me.
“What if I’m like him? What if there’s a seed of evil deep down? You won’t want someone like that as your old lady. Or the mother of your children. You can’t trust someone like that,” my words poured out of me.
Abruptly, Shadow grabbed my upper arms and pressed me back on the mattress. The suddenness of it made my grip on my cut lessen. He snatched it away. As I protested and tried to sit up, he put both of the cuts on the back of the chair by the bed. Then, he came back to hover over me.
“Listen very carefully to what I’m about to say.
You are not evil. You carry no fucking seed of darkness inside of you.
Your sperm donor’s evil doesn’t reside in you.
You aren’t a bad person. I trust you completely and want you to be the mother of my children.
And if you don’t feel sorry for Eliza or you believe she got what she deserved, that it makes you a monster, then the entire fucking chapters of the Pagan Souls, the Archangel’s Warriors, Ruthless Marauders, Horsemen of Wrath, Iron Punishers, and the Dark Patriots are monsters, too.
“What you have to understand is that people like us live with the motto of an eye for an eye. You wrong people, you’d better be prepared to pay.
Yes, we don’t go after everyone, or we’d never get anything done.
Sometimes, the law is the best course of action.
But when it’s not, and we’re brought into it, we take care of business.