Cruel Intoxication (Underground Kings 4)

“Shut up, Heaven. For once in your immature fucking life, shut up and while you’re at it— grow up. Grow the fuck up!” I snag him by the shirt and lift him off the stool, slamming him against the glass door.

“Owen!” Sebastian and Jaxon yell my name, but I’m blinded by rage. All of my hate for the man who ruined my life is ready to shoot out of my fingertips, and Heaven is the unfortunate soul in my way.

“God, always with the jokes, always with the nonchalant attitude and the eating and the brushing shit off your shoulders like you can’t be bothered.” I lift him off the glass and slam him against it again, and it cracks.

“You’re hurting him!” Gabriella says, trying to pull me off him, but there is no use. I’m staring right into Heaven’s eyes, and it pisses me off me because he’s relaxed.

Relaxed without a care in the world.

“It’s okay, Gabriella. Let him work it out,” Heaven says.

“God, can’t you be angry! About anything? Jesus, I can’t fucking stand you.”

“That’s okay. Let it out.” His words of encouragement throw fuel on the fire.

There are hands on my shoulders to yank me away from Heaven, but I don’t see Heaven anymore. I see the guy who killed my wife. I see the guy who is trying to kill Jolie, who abused her, and I want to kill him.

No hands, no amount of strength can stop me from killing him. He’s finally right in front of me, and I can kill him for what he has done to me, Jolie, Annabeth, and my daughter. “I fucking hate you.” I slam Heaven against the door again, and the glass shatters, and he falls through.

But it isn’t Heaven.

It’s the man who’s haunted my dreams for twenty years.

There’s a flurry of chaos behind me, screaming and yelling, but it’s all just noise. There’s a touch that I recognize from all the others, softer, gentler, warmer like the wind on a hot day at the beach, and it yanks me to the present.

“Owen.” Jolie wraps her arms around my hips and looks up at me with fear in her eyes. She isn’t scared of me. She’s scared for me.

“Call 911!” Jaxon screams.

“This is Officer Howard. I need an ambulance at…” Howard speaks into the radio on his shoulder, and I’m confused. What’s happening?

“What did I do? Jolie, what did I do? What happened?” I remember being angry, blackout angry, but I don’t remember anything.

“It’s going to be okay. He’ll be fine,” Jolie tries to calm me down, but it isn’t working.

“Heaven. Heaven, you’re going to be okay,” Sebastian tells Heaven, and I gently push Jolie to the side to see what happened. “Stay away from him, Owen. You’ve done enough.”

My boots crunch on the broken pieces of glass, and Grayson stands up when the buzzer of the garage door sounds. I crumble to my knees when I see what I did. “Heaven,” I choke. “Oh god, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking. Fuck, you have to be okay. Please, be okay.” Yeah, that’s doubtful with how it’s looking. There’s a huge shard of glass slicing right between his chest. There’s blood in his mouth. “Fuck.” I rub my hand through my hair and press my hand against the wound. “I can’t pull it out. We can’t do that. We have to get you to a hospital where they can operate. It will take more than a set of hands. You just have to keep breathing.”

“If he dies, I’m arresting you for murder, Owen,” Howard warns.

“It was an accident. You can’t arrest him over an accident!” Jolie protests, but I shake my head at her, telling her to stop.

“I’ll let you arrest me if he dies, but Heaven, you can’t die. You’re my best friend. I’m so fucking sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Heaven lifts a shaky hand that’s dipped in blood and swipes his finger over my cheek. “Don’t cry for me. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not crying,” I grumble, knowing I am actually shedding tears. I take his hand in mine and squeeze. “You aren’t going to die. I can’t believe I did this. I did this.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” Heaven wheezes and spurts up more blood again. “Just … can you hand me that muffin?”

I snort with laughter, and my vision gets blurry from the water filling them. “You son-of-a-bitch. You survive, and I’ll give you all the muffins.”

“Deal.” His eyes close, and his head tilts to the side.

“Heaven? Heaven? Hey!” I grab his chin and turn it forward. “Open your eyes. Open them, you son-of-a-°bitch.”

But he doesn’t.