A stake of light cut across his face right at that moment, that face illuminated in a blast of red.
He looked like a man on fire.
Consumed alive.
Or maybe it was him who was consuming me.
“There are some scars that can’t be undone,” I whispered. “And there’s nothing he could say or do that would change what he left inside of me. I needed him, Royce. Needed him more than anything, and he wasn’t there.”
“You’re not doing that great of a job convincing me not to end this asshole.” A charge of violence streaked just under the surface of his skin. The ghastly faces on his arms coming to life.
Screaming out for vengeance.
But this wasn’t his debt or due.
“No . . . though you could hog-tie him for me while I’m there. Might make my stay a little easier. He is a pig, after all.” With a tiny smile, I shrugged a single shoulder, thinking maybe I should go for light before Royce really lost control.
Royce managed to grin around the hostility vibrating his big body.
God, it was pretty.
Punching me with a shot of affection so big I felt it like a chemical explosion.
He took the phone from my hand, watching me as he did.
Carefully.
As if he were asking me for his trust.
I trembled. Quivers of excitement and unease.
“What are you doin’?” I asked, all breathy as I sat forward.
Royce smirked. “You won’t let me take him out in the traditional sense, I have to get creative.”
He stretched out his arm and snapped a picture, typed a bunch of words before he pressed send and tossed the phone to the other end of the couch without letting me see what he’d said.
Then he stood, taking me with him, shocking me by wrapping me in his arms.
What in the world?
With Royce, I never knew if I was coming or going.
Warmth raced. Flames and need. A combustion sparking right in the middle of me.
Royce hugged me tighter, rocking me into a slow sway. Then he began to hum. Humming that song that had somehow become ours.
I got lost in it, in the rough scrape of the melody that reverberated up his throat.
I exhaled a shaky sound, falling into his embrace as he hugged me tighter. He pressed his mouth to my temple and murmured, “Finish the song, Emily Ramsey. Write it and live it. Find someone who’s good enough to live it with you.”
Then he turned and left me standing there as he disappeared out into the main cabin. Taking another piece of me with him.
If I’d really managed to steal a piece of his heart, then I was pretty sure he’d stolen all of mine.
Chewing my bottom lip, I glanced at where the door had slid closed behind him before I rushed back for where he’d tossed my phone.
The image was still there, glowing on the screen, vague and brilliant. He was glaring at the camera, ominous and dark, and I was looking at him from the side as if he were the light.
You thought you could hold her back.Dim her light.Belittle her existence.She’s a star that can’t be extinguished.Soulshine.Her flame is too bright.Look too close? I’ll personally see to it that you get burned.And suddenly, that’s where it felt like I was. Flying. In the stars. Soaring above the earth. Wishing there was some way that I could take this beautiful man with me.SeventeenRoyce“He’s here, Royce. Oh God, he’s here.” Whimpering echoed from the other end of the line.
I pressed my phone harder to my ear, trying to make out the secreted words that were laced with hysteria. So quiet I could barely hear them. Only thing I could process was the hiccupped terror that was coming out of my baby sister’s mouth as she pleaded with me from across the fucking country.
Rage pulsed beneath my ribs, and I gritted my teeth as I started to pace along the alleyway behind the club where the band had just played.
Music throbbed through the dingy walls and rippled in shockwaves across the muddy puddles gathered in the pitted pavement. A siren wailed as it sped down the street, car engines accelerating, the sounds of the filthy city crawling through the muggy atmosphere.
I dropped my head, gritting the words, trying to sound rational when I was two seconds from hopping on a plane so I could go on a rampage. “Calm down, Maggie. Tell me what’s happening.”
“Cory Douglas is here. Downstairs.”
Motherfucker.
Was that bastard serious?
That goddamn callous and cold?
I tried to keep my voice calm when I was a beat from coming unhinged. “Take a deep breath, sweetheart, take a deep breath. I’m right here with you. I’m right here. Do you hear me?”
She sucked for air. “Yes,” she whispered, sniffling, trying to contain her sobs.
Hatred clutched my heart. So tight, I was pretty sure all the blood was being squeezed out. What was left was nothing but a hollowed, thudding pulp of destruction.