I shoved them down deep and slammed that mental door shut, their whispers fading to nothing. I didn’t need their warnings, not now, not when I was finally here, sitting with my men, claiming what was mine.
Aeron’s voice broke the silence, his tone softer now. “You loved me… back then?”
I nodded. “You were everything. I sent that ring because I couldn’t say it out loud. Dad had me conditioned that I was too fucked up to be loved. Killian got to love you instead, then Dark, Daemon, Finn. They took you, Slash, Samael—all of it.”
Samael’s frown deepened, his hands dropping to his sides. “So, this whole game, it’s about taking back what they had?”
“It’s aboutliving,” I snapped, the pain in my back spiking as I leaned forward. “They locked me away, built lives I couldn’t touch. They were pieces of me, but they got to have you. I’m here now, and I’m not going back.”
Samael hummed as he took up a seat beside me. “Explain to me this,” he demanded as he pointed to the healing scar on my arm.Remember, it said. “Did Finn do this or was this shit another one of your parts, trying to dig it out? Because Runo, we’re all really fucking confused right now.”
Better late than never to explain the truth, right?
“I was so close to the edge but Killian kept trying to take over. He’s not innocent, you know. He’s me but with a different face, a different objective. His only job was to fool the world that we weren’t dangerous. He’s got you all fooled. I can see it. I needed to get out. To be me. That’s the only thing I could think of. Killian doesn’t like pain but I thrive in it. I can’t explain it.” I dabbled over, trying to find the right words and failing. There was no way to explain the chaos in my head because no one truly understood my diagnosis, not even me.
Needing to change the subject, I glanced at my phone and realized there was only a few hours before I had to clock in at The Revival, if I even still had a job. “Okay, we only have a little more time before I have to get to work.”
Samael snorted as he shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere after I just stitched you up.”
I rolled my eyes. “They aren’t eventhatdeep. Besides, we still have Brent and Jade.”
Aeron cut in. “Runo, Samael has never had to stitch up Slash or himself after one of those nights. And the one night he used Daemon, I’m guessing? Maybe Finn. There were no stitches required. Slash lost control and while I’m not blaming him, your game of pushing him too far is going to get you killed because one day he’s not going to see you as anything other than prey.”
I shrugged it off, trying not to let that thought in my head. Slash wouldn’t kill me. I wouldn’t let him. I would never push him that far. Right?
Finn: I’ve got something to tell you. You need to listen.
I gritted my teeth, my lip ring clicking against them. “How do you keep getting out?” I muttered, low enough that I hoped the others didn’t hear. Finn was supposed to be locked away, stuffed deep with Daemon and Killian, but they all kept clawing their way out.
Samael’s eyes narrowed at me, catching my mumble. “They’re still in your head, aren’t they?”
I shot him a glare, my fingers digging into the chair’s armrest. “Don’t talk to them.”
Slash let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders finally falling as the manic high dissipated completely. He leaned back in his chair, musing for several seconds before speaking. It seemed like he was warring with the decision to hate me or ask me to drag him deeper into the hell I had just reintroduced him to. “So, we got to the part where Runo’s been in love with us. Excellent.Fantastic. He knows all the buttons to push because I somehow went manic on Niles. He’s just a flesh pit of blood and guts at this point. Don’t fucking ask.” He glared at Samael before running a hand down his face, his knuckles still flecked with dried blood. “I want to know how we’re cleaning that shit up and why you’re so fucking calm, Runo.”
“Oh! My dad will get it.”
Samael’s frown deepened. “The chief of police has been searching for The Skinner for years. You think he’s just going to…”
I nodded, my grin widening. “Yes, yes, I do. You see, I’ve been doing this maybe just as long as you have, but I haven’t had you, Samael, to clean up my shit. I had my dad.”
Aeron tensed. “There’s no fucking way that the chief…”
I cut him off, my voice taking on an almost playful tone. “He’s more of a crooked soldier than you’d think. He was all about his image, which is why no one ever really knew about my mom. Or me. Not until I became Killian, anyway. He’d clean up whatever I did. Thought he could tame me. It didn’t work. So now, I’m using it against him.”
The kitchen went quiet, my words sinking in.
Well, everything was quietexceptmy fucking head.
Finn: Runo, you’re going too far. Listen to me.
Daemon: You’re going to fuck this up for all of us.
Dark: I will say that last night and this morning were just a bit too—
I clenched my fists, shoving them back down into that mental void. What did Finn want to tell me? Something about Dad, maybe, or the others? But I couldn’t deal with that now, not with my men watching me, not with the thrill of the game pulsing through me.
Aeron’s voice broke the silence. “So, whatever you were doing before us… your dad’s been cleaning them up since you were a kid?”
