I continue past him, ignoring him, because I just want to leave this place.
Ikeep up with Charley's rapid stride as she rushes toward my car in the dark, empty parking lot. When she stops near the passenger side door with her head lowered and her back to me.
I can hear Chaos following behind me and as soon as she is close enough, I grab the top of Charley's arm, spinning her around to face me.
Tears stream down her pretty face, and she looks everywhere except my eyes. Empathy, fury, and possessiveness sweep over me—feelings I have never felt for a woman. My jaw tightens and I hold her upper arms before lowering to her height, attempting to get her to look at me.
“Tell me what the fuck happened, Charley.”
She remains silent with no emotion on her face, which frustrates me to no end, and I shake her firmly while raising my voice.
“Charley, fucking tell me!”
“Reign—”
I snap at Chaos when he tries to give a warning tone behind me.
“Shut the fuck up, Chaos.”
Charley's eyes have widened since she has never seen this side of me, especially toward her. I release her arms and grab the neckline of her sweater before dragging it down, causing her to hiss and turn her face away, her eyes clamped shut. My stomach twists when I notice the small but severe stab wound in her chest, blood trickling out of it, and I let go, turning my back to her.
I run my palm across my mouth, and I can feel both of their stares searing into me. I glance over towards the dark carnival, where all the lights have been switched off, before closing my eyes and drawing a deep breath, attempting to calm myself from the immense rage bubbling inside me.
“Get her in the fucking car and take her back to our place.”
“And what about you?”
Chaos' voice is full of irritation, and I understand why. He is equally pissed as I am and undoubtedly wants to go with me to fuck that little cunt up, but someone needs to stay with her. I toss him my keys after pulling them from my pocket and start walking away, but Charley's panicked voice stops me.
“No!”
I halt and give her the side eye over my shoulder, and she continues.
“I just slipped and fell onto something sharp, nothing major.”
My gaze is drawn to Chaos, who is looking at me since we both know she is fucking lying.
“I just want to go fix this mess and go to bed. Do you guys know how to stitch?”
As I see her closing the gap, Chaos and I continue to stare at one another other.
“Hey, please don't worry; I'm a lot stronger than you both think I am.”
My jaw clenches once again, and I turn aside, her little shaking fingers wrapping around my wrist.
“Please just take me back, Reign.”
I feel stuck. I know I am obligated to follow orders, not just from Charley but from everyone else involved, but I also don’t want anyone to ever fucking harm her like that again, yet I know that's not going to happen and I'll be the cause of that hurt too. Guilt is progressively killing me, just as it is Chaos, but neither of us can do anything to stop it.
She tugs on me once more, and I turn around to face her. When my gaze meets hers, she gives me a small, phony smile, but I can instantly see she is just playing brave. Charley is a frail little thing, like a baby bird without wings, and it breaks me knowing she will be forced to grow those wings quickly, whether she likes it or not. She holds my wrist tightly until we proceed all the way back to the car and Chaos hands me my keys before getting into the back with her.
When we return to home, I turn to Charley as Chaos closes the door behind us and I make a head motion toward the stairs.
“Go to my room, I'll be up in a minute.”
She glances warily between Chaos and me before finally turning around, and we both watch her until she is no longer visible. My gaze darts to Chaos's before I pass him on my way to the kitchen.
“Bro, we can't do this anymore; he knows and now he is hurting her.”
