CHAPTER 25 - Bryan Trevor #2
It’s the certainty that, even at her age, she carries a weight no child should have to bear.
Just imagining everything she went through at Gavin and Sarah’s hands makes my chest feel like it’s being ripped open.
Guilt wraps around me again.
If I had come back sooner…
If I had been smart enough to suspect…
I failed Noah.
I failed Sadie.
I failed myself.
But that failure belonged to a guy who was completely unprepared.
The Bryan of today has no intention of making mistakes.
In fact, it’s not even a possibility.
What happened today was just a detour, a stumble caused by that reckless idiot Travis.
If it weren’t for him, I would have gotten both of them out of that fortress and only then gone after Gavin, just like I’d always planned.
It was unexpected, and unexpected obstacles are meant to be eliminated.
“Hunter.” The cheerful voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I really look at her, pushing the turmoil aside.
Sadie runs toward me with a huge smile.
I crouch down to her level the moment she stops in front of me.
“Hi, little one,” I say, a knot tearing at my throat, and her eyes widen.
“You have a boo-boo.” She points to my injured shoulder and the blood-stained shirt. “Was it that hard to catch the monster and the witch?” she asks curiously, then looks toward the door. “Where’s Noah? Aunt Greta said she was with you.” She fires off the questions one after another.
“Noah had to take care of some things, but I promise she’ll be here soon.” I force a smile, hating that I have to lie, but she’s still a child, so there’s no other option. “And don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s just a little scratch.”
“He didn’t let her leave. I know. You don’t have to lie,” she mumbles, lowering her head, and I wonder what she had to go through to have so much maturity.
So much awareness.
I lift her chin gently.
“I’m going to bring her back. I promise you.” She tries to smile and my heart skips a beat. “But until she gets here, you can make yourself at home, okay?”
“They’re going to hurt her.” Her eyes fill with tears, and before I know it, her little body crashes into mine. “They always leave her with some little bruise.”
“That’s going to end,” I say firmly, and when I look up, I find my brother and Greta watching us. “You and her won’t have to live with monsters and witches anymore.”
“You swear, cross your heart?” she asks, looking at me again.
“I swear on anything you want!”
“Then I believe you.” She smiles, running her arm across her forehead, and the scar on her face becomes visible.
I open my mouth to ask what happened.
What gave her that scar.
But she turns and runs back to the rug.
“You got shot?” Luke practically shouts, and I glare at him, a reminder of the little one in the room. “I knew I should have gone in with you to finish off that vermin,” he grumbles as he approaches.
“You did your part.” I point at her—she’s turned her attention back to the drawing. “Thank you for bringing her.”
“She’s a very smart little girl.” He looks at her, smiling.
“And she’s also your niece,” I reveal, and his eyes nearly pop out.
I almost smile at the idiotic way he keeps looking back and forth between me and Sadie.
“Are you telling me that…” He doesn’t finish, but I nod. “Holy shit!”
“Uncle, you can’t say bad words,” the little one scolds, and Luke scratches his head, embarrassed by the reprimand.
“I need to find Noah, Luke. These two need to get away from that bastard. They need to really live,” I whisper so she won’t hear us.
“We’ll figure this out.” He looks at the wound. “Do I need to call someone to take out a bullet?”
“No. It just grazed me. I already stopped the bleeding—now I just need to clean it up and I’ll be fine.” I look over his shoulder. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“I have some things to show you.”
“Then come with me.”
“Hey…” The cute little voice calls out to us. “You said you were going to show me how that thing flies.” Sadie points at the drones, and I raise an eyebrow at my brother.
“I promise as soon as I finish up with the hunter, I’ll come back and show you, okay?” She nods excitedly.
“Greta, if you need anything, just let me know, okay?” I say, speaking to her for the first time.
“You’ve already done everything I needed most,” she responds, and I see her love for the girls shining in her eyes.
I nod and walk toward the hallway that leads to my room.
“Dominic is already on his way to the fortress to help Lauren, and Travis left to try to find more clues about his sister, but he said he’ll be back soon.”
“If he pulls one more stupid stunt, I’m going to send him to hell,” I hiss, entering the room. “What do you have to show me?”
“Travis kept searching through the folders and found a spreadsheet with dates,” he says, picking up the notebook from the bed. He brings it over to me and opens the folders we were checking. “There are a bunch of names I don’t recognize, but I spotted Noah’s and Sadie’s.”
He clicks and the spreadsheet opens.
Noah Black Gaspary:
Birth: September 12, 2000
Initiation rite: September 12, 2005
Rite of passage: September 12, 2018
Sadie Black Gaspary:
Birth: June 10, 2019
Initiation rite: June 10, 2024
Rite of passage: June 10, 2037
“September twelfth, two thousand eighteen was the night you disappeared,” Luke says, his voice barely a whisper.
“Noah’s birthday night.”
“Bryan…”
“The initiation rite and rite of passage are rapes!” I finish, stepping away from the notebook. “Noah wasn’t just abused at eighteen—she was abused at five years old too.”
My chest contracts so hard that I can’t breathe.
My stomach twists and my fists clench until my knuckles turn white.
Rage burns through my veins, setting me ablaze.
The image of her—my Noah, the love of my life—being marked since she was five years old by monsters who should have been destroyed before they were even born hurts more than anything that’s ever torn me apart.
My vision darkens, my breathing quickens, and for an instant I feel the ground disappear beneath my feet.
I try to believe this isn’t possible.
That it’s not true.
But I know it is because I’ve seen enough to be certain that vermin is a sick son of a bitch!
I want to break everything.
Scream to release the horror clawing at me, but I control myself.
I control myself because just a few feet away, there’s a little girl who doesn’t need to witness this side of me.
The side that will tear apart and destroy everyone responsible.
That will make blood spill.
That will have throats begging for mercy.
That will rip heads off with a smile.
The side that will only be satisfied when I’ve witnessed the worst, most painful torture.
“Bryan…” Luke calls me and I stare at him. “Sadie’s would be in a few months.” I nod because the next date is her fifth birthday.
Our eyes burn with the same fire.
I recognize the hatred pulsing through him because it’s boiling inside me too.
“We're going to find Gavin and everyone who's part of this demonic sect, because this shit isn't from God.” The words come out ice-cold.
“And no one touches Gavin. Only me. I'll be the one to end him, and it won't be pretty—or quick.” Luke nods.
“I want him intact so I can have the pleasure of breaking him piece by piece.”
I spin on my heels and walk to the bathroom.
I need a quick shower.
Then I'll deliver Sadie's things, and only then go hunting.
Hunting the monsters and witches who have no idea what's coming for them!