Xavier
I’m almost asleep when I hear footsteps. In the last few weeks, I’ve grabbed a handful of actual peaceful hours of rest, and part of me is jealous that Zayden has been out cold for most of it. He’s still sleeping against the wall, his breathing labored, cheeks pale.
Ryker appears, looking smug. I rest my head back. “You’re like a kid with a magnifying glass looking for ants.”
“And I’ve found a nest.”
“It’s an ant hill, dickhead.”
He takes out his phone and crouches to show me the screen. It’s footage of Silence and Yale, curled up together in bed. Silence is asleep, but Yale’s eyes are open, his fingers running through her hair.
“Amazing. All I did was give the guy a shower, a hot meal, and some pussy, and he forgot all about you.”
I chuckle, closing my eyes again. “If you think this is going to work, you’re wrong.
I hope he does stay up there. I hope he stays as close to Silence as he can get.
You know why? Because I’d tear my fucking heart out for them if I needed to.
If you told me to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger to guarantee they’d get out, my brains would be all over the goddamn wall.
They’re my family. That’s a concept you might not get, given that your only brother is dead.
” He lunges at the bars, and now I laugh.
“I enjoyed kicking the shit out of him. Watching him bleed out, naked on a shower floor, crying and begging for his pathetic life. I’d do it again if I could. Over and fucking over.”
Ryker screams at me, spittle flying from his mouth. “You forget where you fucking are, Xavier. You forget that your lives are in my hands!”
I wave him off. “Go throw a tantrum somewhere else.”
He storms out, and a few seconds later, the door slams closed. I slump against the wall, the stone cold through my T-shirt, my heart thumping.
It’s clear what Ryker is trying to do. We took his brother from him, so he’s going to do the same to us, but he won’t kill us yet. He’ll try to turn us against one another, but he doesn’t get it.
Thirty years we’ve been inseparable. Things have come up between us, arguments and petty squabbles, but no matter what, we got through it.
“You … really … really pissed him off.”
I open my eyes. Zayden is grinning sleepily at me, and I move as close to his cell as I can. “You’re awake.”
Zayden nods slightly. “I … I think so.”
“Don’t talk. You need to sleep.” He winces and shifts closer, until there’s only bars between us.
I rest my forehead against his, his fever burning through to me.
It was so much easier to hold myself together when he was asleep, but now he’s conscious, I want him to take charge.
I can do this if I have no choice, but if I could hand it over, I would.
“I failed you, Z. The one time …” My breathing shakes, and tears fill my eyes.
“The one time I was in charge, and I fucked it all up.”
Zayden’s breathing is shallow, and he reaches through the bars and takes my hand. His palm is clammy, hot, covered in dirt.
“Proud … proud of you,” he whispers. “Always.”
When I close my eyes, a tear falls free.
We lean against the bars, our heads and hands together, and we fall asleep.