There was something there, hidden in the confession, something I was sure was an intrinsic, concealed part of him. One that was likely another blight.
But those things seemed to matter none in the moment. When I could feel the fractures segmenting Silas in two.
Like he didn’t know if he wanted to weep or rave.
His head dropped lower between his shoulders, and regret gushed from him like a ruptured well. “Kid clearly neglected and abused.”
Weeping sounded really good right about then. A clog of it balled at the base of my throat.
That time, I did reach for him, my fingertips tracing over the sharp edges of the creatures warring on his back.
Silas shivered, his spine curving as he wrapped both arms around the back of his neck.
“I should have ended that bastard years ago when I had the chance. When he stamped out every beautiful thing I’d ever known in my life. Nothing but a pathetic alcoholic who doesn’t deserve to breathe.”
He croaked over every syllable.
“Silas…”
He gave a harsh shake of his head. “And after all of that, there’s no question I should have ended him the night I went to save Kai from his grips, but I didn’t, thinking I’d lose the last shred of humanity that I possessed. And now that fucker and junkie bitch think they’re actually going to get him back.”
I gasped when Silas suddenly whirled, and in a blurry instant, he was on his feet and standing at the end of the bed.
Wearing only his underwear. Chest bare. Scars littered his body, and the morbid, grotesque faces on his throat wound down with the rest of the ink that covered the entirety of his chest and abdomen.
That similar depiction of the crows on the grave all of his motorcycle club wore was painted across his chest, though the scene was embellished. Crows flying through the air and carrying corpses.
Stamped right in the middle of it wasIt’s Your Heart, the letters dripping blood over a date from fifteen years ago onto the grave below it.
He clearly believed his was hopeless.
But after what he had just told me? Did I believe that?
He gripped the sheets on either side of me, and he dove in close, our noses bumping as he did. “I won’t let it happen, Brinley. I won’t let anyone hurt that little boy. Won’t let anyone hurt Elena. Won’t let anyone hurtyou. I’ll lose every last shred of humanity that I have to see it through. Good thing since there’s not much of it left, anyway.”
Then he whipped away, snatching his jeans from the floor and shoving into them, doing the same with his shirt, before he snagged his boots from the floor and stomped out without looking back.
The door slammed shut behind him right as gutting pain slashed through my middle.
Pain for Kai.
Pain for Elena.
Pain forthe man.
Crap.
I was in so much trouble.
I inched down the stairs, freshly showered and ready for the day.
Unsure that I could face the people I could feel rustling around on the bottom floor, their laughter and voices carrying from the kitchen.
Not with everything that had been revealed, even though I was fully aware there were a thousand more concealed secrets lingering in the corners.
I kept easing down, my footsteps quieted on the wooden planks.
A television droned quietly from the living room, and as I stepped onto the bottom landing, I paused, caught by the news story playing out on the screen.
