I huffed incredulously. “And for years, sister, we—you, Mae, Bella and I—were viewed as inherently evil because of our looks. We believed it. We never doubted the scripture that affirmed it was so. I think perhaps, if you are told something often enough, you end up believing it. But maybe, just maybe, someone comes into your life and makes you question yourself. Makes you believe you are worth something.”
Lilah glanced away, then sighed in defeat. “Like Ky did with me?”
I nodded and added, “Like Flame does with me.”
Lilah gasped at my confession, then said, “But you have barely spoken to him. How can you think that way?”
I smiled, remembering his wish to touch me on my face. Of his shaking hand hovering in the air, and replied, “What are words? Sometimes the flick of a pair of eyes or the flush of skin reveals everything you need to know. Words can wound. Silence can heal.”
A tear fell from Lilah’s eye. Her grip tightened. “Madd—”
“He needs me, Lilah. He saved me from Moses, from all of the men that had… had…”
“Shh…” Lilah soothed. Trying to rid our days in commune from my mind, I said, “I would no longer be alive without him. Now it is my turn to repay in kind.”
Acquiescing to my unwavering resolve, Lilah pulled me into her chest. When she released me, Ky was by our side. Lilah turned to Ky and placed her hand on his arm. Ky nodded without Lilah saying a word. “I’m going with her, baby. Don’t worry.”
As Lilah pressed a kiss to Ky’s lips, I left the house. Mae, Styx and an anxious Viking, were waiting for me outside. Ky then ran out of the door and joined our little party.
Viking looked at me. “You sure about this, Little One?”
A crippling nervousness suddenly possessed me, but I hid it as best I could. “Yes.”
Mae walked beside me, holding tight onto Styx’s hand. I could see the worry haunting her beautiful face. When Styx released her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest, I felt guilty.
“I will be fine, Mae,” I said, as we broke through the line of trees and descended the grassy embankment.
Mae was quiet, then she simply replied, “I know. You are you, Maddie. You are the bravest person I know.”
This unexpected compliment almost made me falter in my steps. I found myself staring up at Mae. She smiled. Her confidence in me made me feel ten feet tall.
Viking led us down the trail toward Flame, AK and Viking’s cluster of cabins. Agonized screams suddenly erupted. My blood ran cold at the pained cries and tortured bellows coming from the cabins at the bottom of the hill.
As soon as Viking heard the screams, he picked up speed and hurried ahead.
“Is that him?” Ky questioned in disbelief, as we tried to follow.
Viking ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah. Shit!” he replied. The closer we got, the louder the screams became. This time genuine fear seized my breath. I would have been sure, before this night, that mankind was not capable of sounding so feral. But I was in no doubt that the Flame that I knew was not the man uttering these sounds. This Flame was undone. This Flame was in agonized pain.
“My Lord,” I heard Mae murmur under her breath, but I kept my focus on the cabin. I forced my feet to move. If I stopped, I was unsure if I could muster the courage to continue.
We broke through into the clearing with the three small cabins. Outside the cabin at the back, sitting on its own, was AK. The man with long brown hair hunched over a table with his hands in his hair. His clothes were heavily soiled with blood.
“AK,” Viking called. AK lifted his head. His dark eyes were bloodshot and his face was deathly pale.
“He’s getting worse,” AK agonized, as he looked at his friend. “Every time I go in, he gets worse. Fuck, man. I think this is it. I think we’ve fucking lost him to his fucked up head.”
AK’s graveled voice betrayed the depth of his sadness and grief. When a chilling yell came slamming out of the front door of his cabin, AK got to his feet and put a hand on Viking’s huge arm. Viking stilled, and with glassy eyes, AK nodded resolutely at Viking. Viking’s head dropped in defeat.
Their exchange scared me more than anything had in my life. They had not spoken words. But something meaningful had passed between them. Something in their taut bodies and pained expressions was about to tear their worlds apart.
AK looked to Styx and Styx’s jaw clenched. He wrapped Mae into his chest tighter and kissed her on her head. His eyes were closed, and his breathing sounded labored as it blew into Mae’s hair.
I watched each man in great detail, and I could feel the shift in them, feel the thick tension fill this open clearing.
“I gotta see him,” Ky said, and stepped forward. Styx released Mae.
Reluctantly, Viking and AK stepped aside. Styx and Ky proceeded into the cabin. I flinched when the volume of Flame’s anguish reached a deafening level.
Suddenly, Mae’s hand slipped through mine. I raised my eyes to see Mae intently watching the cabin door.
Styx.
She was terrified for the wellbeing of her fiancé.
I wanted to say something. I wanted to reassure her that he would be okay. But the venomous cries of Flame rendered me devoid of speech.
“Why’s she here, Vike?” AK said. I saw him nudge his chin at me.
Viking sighed. “Thought he may respond to her. It was her idea. Not mine.”
AK’s focus drifted deep into the woods. He shook his head. “Won’t work, brother. Nothing will. The way he feels about the bitch ain’t gonna bring him back from this.”