“Now that we’ve solved that problem…” Abi ran his claws down Mallor’s chest. “Let’s talk about my mate.”
Mallor shook his head in a frantic gesture.
Abi lost his smile and then wrapped his hand around Mallor’s throat, cutting off his air. “I want to know everything you did to him. Everything you did to his family.” Abi got inches from Mallor’s face. “Every. Single. Thing.”
Abi freed Mallor’s airway.
Mallor breathed in big gulps of air, coughing when he got greedy. He screamed when Abi ripped across his abdomen. “I’ll spill your guts for you. Would you like that?”
Mallor shook his head. “N-no. P-please.”
“Then you better do it yourself.” Abi’s gaze hardened. “Start talking. Now.”
And so Mallor did. Every word brought it all back until Nash felt raw, as if someone had peeled back his skin to get to his soul. As painful as it was, every word helped Nash shed the darkness of the past as though he were a snake shedding skin.
Mallor, speaking the truth, helped even when it hurt. Every word from Mallor’s mouth freed Nash. The rawness didn’t matter as much as the freedom did.
Surrounded by death, bodies lying around him, and a crime boss who was far more than he seemed, far more than just a criminal, and Abi, who forced the truth into the light, started mending wounds Nash had buried so deep they had gone clear to the bone. Abi had stitched Nash together with his brand of justice.
When there were no more stories left to tell, Abi slit Mallor’s throat with a claw that looked exactly like Nash’s.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Abi knew he’d laid Nash bare. He hadn’t meant to. He just wanted to know what had happened. He needed to live in the ugliness of what Mallor had done to Nash so Nash wouldn’t have to live in it alone.
Abi sat in Nash’s lap with his head on his shoulder and thought about the horror he had exposed.
He should apologize, but sorry seemed like a weak word. Every fucked-up, painful thing Mallor had done to Nash and his family was out there now. So he sat, silent and hopeful that Nash wouldn’t decide to leave him after all. If he did, Abi wouldn’t fight it.
Someone had found a guitar. The strum of the strings went perfectly with the crackle of the bonfire. Someone brought supplies, including marshmallows. Daruss helped carve a point at the end of a long stick with his pocketknife.
Their families meshed together under the stars. The Dragon Skulls were still giving Peter a wide berth, but they were warming up to him a bit at a time.
A Dragon Skull named Ronan played the guitar, and Eshan sang. Abi loved Eshan’s voice. He sang around the house all the time. The songhe chose that night, Abi had never heard before, though. It was about extraordinary love.
Nash rubbed Abi’s back and held him tighter. “Thank you, baby.”
Abi lifted his head off Nash’s shoulder and met his gaze. “For what?”
Nash let the tears form in his eyes. His emotion rose between them. “For giving me the truth.”
Abi pressed his forehead to Nash’s and shut his eyes. Emotion lodged in his throat, and for a moment, all he could do was breathe around it. Words escaped him. “I’m so sorry for making you relive it—”
Nash put a finger over Abi’s lips. “Don’t do that. Don’t apologize. You’ve given them back to me. My parents and Axel.”
Ronan stopped strumming the guitar. Eshan stopped singing.
Nash didn’t seem to notice.
“We used to build a fire here with my parents. My brother always wanted to do it. He thought he was good at everything, but he always seemed to take forever.” Nash took his finger away from Abi’s lips. “Dad would get impatient and end up helping. Dad would let Axel take the credit when Mom doled out the praise. We had s'mores and hot dogs a lot. Dad and Mom would shift and fly together. They left Axel in charge since he was the oldest, and that made him feel helpful.” Nash’s voice thickened with emotion. “That’s all Axel ever wanted to be.”
Daruss raised his bottle of beer. “To Axel. May we all be lucky enough to know him in the afterlife.” Daruss met Nash’s gaze from across the flames. “May we all get to know him in this life through you, brother.”
The dragon shifters roared as they raised their bottles. Abi’s family was a little more subdued, but they all joined in.
Abi hugged Nash. “Thanks for sharing that with me. With everyone.”
Ronan strummed the guitar again. He played a song about wanting one more day, and Eshan sang. He knew all the lyrics to every song, or so it seemed.
