Page 12 of Outlawed

“No. We won’t. I can’t. You don’t understand.”

“Opie…I know. Baby, I know,” Riggs emphasizes because he does know. He knows Hannah is my sister and that it’s my fault Dawn is dead. If I had just killed my dad to begin with, Dawn would be safe, and Hannah wouldn’t be all alone.

“She’s not alone, baby, she has you. She has us,” Riggs murmurs.

I didn’t realize I said all that out loud. I look at Shepard, who stares at me in shock. I sense people heading our way now that the shooting has stopped. People cry out and point, but I try to shut them out.

“You need to get everyone out of here. Please. I can’t stop.”

I feel my nose start to bleed, but ignore it as lightning flashes again and again, making people shout in shock and fear. There’s no hiding what I am anymore.

I bow my head in shame only to hear Riggs curse. “What the fuck are you doing here? Get away from her.”

I whip my head up and see Austin right in front of me, his eyes locked on mine.

“You’re going to hurt a lot of people and yourself unless you let me help you.”

More tears slip down my cheeks. At Shepard’s cry of alarm, I reach up and realize I’m crying blood.

“Let me help you. Please.”

“You’re a monster.”

“I know. But I’m your monster.”

“I hate you,” I scream at him.

He takes another step closer, immune to my powers. “You can hate me all you want. It will never stop me from loving you.”

Before I can protest, he wraps his arms around me as my power detonates.

Idon’t wake quietly. There is no confusion, in which time is suspended between consciousness and slumber. The second I open my eyes, I remember everything, and all the pain and all the anger rush back to me.

My back bows under the pressure to scream before strong arms wrap around me, and my body collapses in on itself.

“I’ve got you, Cece. Let it all out.”

I want to fight him, to turn all my pain and anguish into fire so I can burn the bastard right out of him. But I’m not sure I’d be able to stop before I burned the whole town to ash. Instead, I do what I swore I’d never do when this damn man was around. I break. I shatter into a million tiny pieces, screaming into his shoulder as he rocks me. I failed Dawn. She was supposed to be safe. I promised her she would be, and now she’s gone because my need for vengeance outweighed my need to keep her from harm.

“God baby, you’re killing me.”

I cry for what feels like days. I cry until I have no tears left inside me. It takes even longer for me to get my breathing under control. And through it all, Austin holds me like I’m precious cargo.

I lie there, weak and lethargic, as rain falls heavily outside, finally finding my voice. “It’s my fault. She’s dead because of me.”

“Bullshit. None of this is your fault.”

A loud, smashing noise stops me from replying. I jump, afraid my fingertips will spark, but Austin doesn’t react beyond tightening his grip. His fingers soothe over my hair as the door slams open, revealing a pissed-off Shepard pointing a gun our way.

“You fire that gun anywhere near Calliope, and I’ll peel the skin from your bones,” Austin snarls a second before Shepard is shoved aside and Riggs comes barreling into the room.

Riggs takes in the scene without a word before he climbs up on the bed beside me and buries his face in my hair, halting Austin’s movements. I lean into him, soaking in his warmth as I listen to the thundering of his heart.

“You’re okay,” he murmurs, his hand sliding to my hip. I don’t respond because I’m not okay. I don’t know what I am right now.

“Poppy?”

I turn my head at the sound of Shepard’s voice, a voice that sounds unsure in a way I’ve never heard before. I reach for him, even though there isn’t space with Austin and Riggs on either side of me. Shepard surprises me by crawling up the center of the bed. He pushes my legs open and crawls between them, resting his head on my stomach as one of his large hands wraps around my thigh. I take a deep, shuddering breath, feeling tears slip free.