Page 23 of Maddening Fixation

As the engine roared to life and Flynn Manor disappeared behind me, I realized I wasn’t just leaving my home.

I was leaving behind the last light I’d ever known.

Now, ten years had drifted past like a passing wind.

The memories were no less vivid than they had been that night.

Time hadn’t dulled them.

Every scream. Every accusation. Every blow. Every betrayal still lived inside me with the same merciless clarity, as though it had all happened yesterday.

But I was no longer nineteen.

The frightened, broken boy my family had framed never walked out of Ravencliff.

He died behind those walls.

The man who emerged in his place was forged by ten years of violence, betrayal, and survival.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze to the sea of men standing before me.

More than a hundred soldiers.

Every one of them stood ready to kill—or die—at a single command.

I curled my hand into a fist so tightly that my fingernails bit through my skin. Warm blood seeped between my fingers, but I welcomed the sting.

It was nothing compared to the fire burning inside me.

Revenge.

It burned hotter than any cigarette ever could.

For ten long years, it had been the only thing keeping me alive.

The only thing waiting for me beyond the prison walls.

Today...

The Flynn family would answer for everything they had done.

For Sarah.

For the childhood they stole from me.

For the ten years they stole behind steel bars.

Every lie. Every scar. Every tear. Every stolen year.

The debt would be paid.

Not tomorrow. Not someday.

Today.

The sound of approaching footsteps drew me from the memories threatening to drag me back into the past.

Two men emerged from the ranks, approaching from opposite directions before stopping a respectful distance away.