Her face twisted up in horror as a gasp fell from her lips. “You’re going to have me watched, aren’t you?”
My grin widened. “See? You get it. I won’t do anything if you don’t. You won’t even know that they’re there. Bye, Jade.”
She clutched the paper against her chest before darting out the front door, her hurried steps disappearing down the sidewalk. When I turned to look back at my men, the confusion had turned to worry.
Samael’s brows were furrowed, concern creeping into his dark eyes. “You’re not even going to try and see your own child?”
I shrugged again, the movement pulling at my stitches, a fresh stab of pain shooting through me. I needed drugs. Good ones. “I don’t have to. HMD, what my mother had, is rare as fuck, but it’s not really hereditary. I was more at risk, sure, but DMD? It changes things. She’ll grow up with some latent issues that Jade won’t be able to handle. She’ll call me.”
Samael’s frown deepened, but a chuckle soon followed. “You’re very sure of this.”
“I got my first therapist when I wasfour.”
Samael shook his head, his chuckle growing. “And here, I thought I was patient.”
I pointed down the hall, gesturing for my men to follow. “I’m grabbing an hour or two before work. Ya’ll coming?” No one budged, a wariness in their expressions that I hoped to soon get rid of. “Would it help if I gave you Finn or Daemon to cuddle?”
Slash snorted. “No, it wouldn’t.”
“Meh, I tried,” I cackled as I disappeared down the hallway, Lucy appearing from under the couch to follow me. One day soon, my men won’t be able to resist the darkness that I brought. One day, they would relish it, fall apart in it,bathein it.
RUNO
I swirled around in my chair, the wheels squeaking against the worn floor of my little cubby at the back of The Revival. The seat across from me sat empty—no Nyla, no Gary, just silence, a void where their chatter used to grate on my nerves. The quiet gave me space to think, but it also let the bastards in my head slip out.
They all clawed their way up, their voices buzzing around in my head as I tried to shift through the chaos. I leaned back, groaning at the pain shooting through my side. Samael and Slash had both told me it was stupid to be moving around so much, and Aeron just shot me a pitiful look as I found clothes to change into, fed my cat, and then took a bus to the newspaper.
There was a part to play, and it didn’t involve wallowing in bed.
My phone pinged with a picture, Jade stepping into a small cottage house a few cities away. “Oh good,” I chuckled to myself. “Wasn’t sure if she had made it.” Samael’s men were already watching her but even if they hadn’t, I would have had my waysof tracking her. Now that she was taken care of, we could focus on Brent.
I had made it very clear that Samael was to let him stew until I got home. I’d let them in on my plan soon enough, therealone. For now, I had to calm down the alters I had created because they were getting annoying.
Especially Killian.
I found myself stolen away into my head, in the drab room Finn had created, Killian sitting across from me, his mismatched eyes smug as hell.
Killian: You can’t keep us locked down forever.
Dark: What do you mean?
Finn: DMD means there’s more of us. There will always be more of us, but we’re the most prominent. We’ve taken shape, and while it might’ve been a tactic at one point, we’ve taken on lives of our own.
Daemon: Do you mean we can take over?
Killian’s smugness thickened, like he’d been waiting for this.That’s exactly what I’m saying.
I gripped the arms of my chair as anger flared in my chest. I snapped back aloud, not wanting to get caught in my head. “You would all break if you took the driver’s seat. You don’t understand our men.”
Killian’s voice didn’t waver.What I do understand is that you’re pushing them away, just like you have everyone else. They’re terrified of you. A man with no soul.
I slammed my fist on the desk, the thud echoing in my cubby. “No, I just have to make them see,” I muttered, my voice almost a growl. My mind churned, the newsroom fading as I sank further into the argument in my head. Killian was waiting for his chance to take over but I wouldn’t let him. Finn was just as antsy but he would derail everything too, now that I knew he had created a piece of us.
Shut up, I snarled internally.
Finn: Dad’s not going to clean up after us forever.
Daemon: I’m surprised he hasn’t just turned you in at this point.
