Page 81 of Healed

And then she looked at me. Really looked at me, her eyes assessing everything, drinking in my appearance.

“Not tonight, Rachel,” I said, bringing the pint to my lips.

“Not tonight.” She paused then, biting her lower lip. “Please go steady, Vienna,” she whispered, standing up on her tiptoes and leaning over the bar, placing a gentle kiss to my cheek before turning around and leaving me with my thoughts once again.

I appreciated that.

“Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth,” I muttered, topping the shot glass in the direction she had left.

It wasn’t like Rachel to leave without giving her opinion, so I’d take the win where I could get it.

But that still didn’t help ease the restlessness inside me.

My body wasn’t used to simply doing nothing—even stood still in the trees surrounding Gabriella’s house, I’d still have something to distract myself with. Had she turned the light on? Was there only one shadow walking behind her curtains? Was she happy and safe? Did the guards keep their distance?

Here, I had nothing. Even knowing Gabriella was safe in my clubhouse, behind my walls… it wasn’t enough. Because Nico was still out there. He was still breathing, still inflicting pain.

Still polluting the earth with every bit of oxygen wasted on him.

I felt caged, trapped. My skin burned with awareness of having her so near, and also shame for all I had let her go through.

Every inch of me was raging for vengeance. I wanted Nico’s blood so bad I could practically taste it. Every time I tried to calm myself, to get some composure, I remembered Gabriella all over again and the rage built once more.

She hadn’t deserved this. Any of it.

I brought the pint glass to my lips, staring absently into the dark club when a shadow fell over the doorframe.

“Vienna?” Gabriella said softly. It was as though her presence had been summoned, my thoughts strong enough to call to her, our minds linked as they always had been.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’ve had better nights, princess,” I muttered, drinking some more of my pint.

She hesitated a moment, looking uneasy.

I know how she felt.

“What are you doing sitting in the dark?” she asked. Her hand reached out for the lightbulb.

“Don’t,” I snapped, rising from my seat. “Trust me, Gabriella,” I said, softer this time. “You don’t want to turn the light on.”

I heard her swallow heavily. “What happened tonight, Vienna?”

I laughed, even though there was nothing funny about this situation.

She knew what had happened. She knew what I was. There was no other outcome for Sam. She’d known that the second we’d been informed he’d been captured.

I brought the glass back to my lips, and as I did, I saw a flash of Sam being dragged around the compound, tied to the back of my bike. I heard my brothers whooping and hollering as they drove near him, terrifying him as their tyres brushed against his body. At one point Monster had even thrown his head back and howled like a wolf before jumping his bike over Sam’s body.

It hadn’t taken more than a few turns for the skin to be completely ripped from Sam’s torso.

My head swam as the sounds of the dogs barking filled my ears. They’d snapped and snarled at him, biting through his cut like it was butter.

It had all come to an end when Dante called us over, sending the dogs back to their pens, and then poured petrol over Sam. I’d been the one to light the match over his limp body. His final few minutes on this earth had been one of extreme pain and torture, and I didn’t regret a fucking thing.

“Vienna?”