Dark Trio

“Chase, have you got her?”

“Yes, go,” he said through gritted teeth.

I ran out of the room in time to see Leah chasing Andrew towards the back of the house. I took off after them, my long legs allowing me to catch up easily. I grabbed him by the arm with a roar.

“Come here, you son of a bitch!”

I cocked my fist, ready to launch it at his face when a wicked right cross laid him out cold.

Leah.

“Fuck me,” I chuckled, “Remind me to never piss you off.”

“Something about him seems to bring the violence out in people. That was fucking fun,” she grinned.

Chase came up beside me, his arm wrapped around Raven. I gave her a gentle hug and kissed the top of her head.

“Are you okay, little bird?”

“I will be. I knew you guys would come for me. Seb, tell me you at least enjoyed knocking him out.”

“I wish I could take credit, but you have your girl, Leah, to thank for that.”

Her eyes widened as she launched herself at Leah, crying as they wrapped their arms around each other. After a couple of minutes, she broke away, turned to where Andrew laid on the floor, spat in his face, and kicked him in the ribs for good measure.

“Fuck you,” she hissed.

“We need to call the police,” I said quietly, “He needs to be in jail so I don’t fucking kill him.”

“As tempting as that thought is,” Chase agreed, “death would be too good for him.”

The police arrived about an hour later, each of us giving our statements. Andrew had wakened just in time to be cuffed and thrown in the back of a cruiser. The four of us piled into my car, Chase in the front with Leah and me in the back with Raven curled up in my arms. I pulled a blanket around her, trying to sooth her trembling. I breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be away from Andrew, the fucking psychopath.

“Leah, do you want to come to our place?” I offered.

“As much as I’d love that, I think our girl needs you guys more than she needs me tonight. Maybe another time when there’s a little less drama.”

“Thank you, Leah,” Raven said quietly.

We drove her back to her car and headed home. We climbed out of the car, Raven still in my arms, as Chase jogged ahead of us to run a bath for her. I carried her into the bathroom, setting her gently on the counter.

“Little bird, I’m so sorry you went through hell tonight. You must have been terrified.”

“I’m just glad to be back with you guys. Everything hurts, though.”

“You were tied up far too tight for far too long. Between that and the fighting you obviously did, your muscles have been abused for hours. The bath will help.”

She nodded, leaning forward to lean her head on my shoulder. I let her rest for a couple of minutes before gently sitting her up and stripping her clothes off. Once she was naked, I carried her over to the tub and Chase and I eased her in. She hissed as the water hit her wounds. I tipped her head back and wet her hair, massaging shampoo into her locks. Chase lathered bodywash onto a loofah, gently washing her, the two of us banishing what we could of her ordeal.

Chase stayed with her while she soaked as I went looking for something to treat her wounds. By the time I came back with the supplies, he’d helped her out of the tub and was wrapping her in a fluffy towel.

“Bring her to the bedroom, I need to get this salve on her wrists and ankles. I might put some around your mouth, too, Raven.”

She simply nodded and let Chase lead her into his room. I spent the next few minutes gently applying the salve to her fiery red abrasions. I loosely wrapped them in gauze and tucked her under the covers. We stripped down to our boxer briefs and climbed in on either side of her, each of us wrapping an arm around her.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?” asked Chase.

“It was a really, really long night. Andrew was spouting off more of his bullshit.”

“Such as?”

“He told me again that you guys had deceived me. That he was willing to forgive me for my transgressions.”

“Little bird, we don’t care about what others say. The only thing that matters is what you think and how you feel.”

“I know, it’s just hard not to get tangled up over it.”

“You’ve been through hell. Just know that we’re here for you, whatever you need.”

“I think I just need to be held while I sleep.”

“You’ve got it.”

We kissed her forehead and held her tight as exhaustion took over and we all surrendered to sleep.