AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There’s plenty of time to die. You can’t avoid death. Why be in a rush?”
Why? The corners of my world had darkened as if a match had touched the foundation of it, leaving me in the murky middle. I felt raw, exposed, and so damn alone. There was no one there who had my back anymore. Why was it that good people seemed to die first? Why did shitty people get to keep on living their merry lives? Realization set in that I was an orphan now. I’d never known my father. All I had was a grainy picture of him which barely showed his features. And all because of Ted.
I blurted, “I wish he were dead.”
Kristoff simply nodded. This was so sick and twisted, but in a way, oh so empowering. He would do it. I saw it on his face. It wasn’t just an idle threat.
When he was about to leave, I cried out, “Wait!” I felt sick to my stomach. What was wrong with me? How could I think about having someone killed? My mother would be so ashamed. “Forget I said that. I can’t…I didn’t mean it.”
Another silence, as if he waited for me to make up my mind. When I shook my head he said, “Okay.”
“I’m all alone now.” A hysterical laugh bubbled up from deep inside me.
“You will never be alone.”
Furiously, I swept my tears away. “Promise?”
“I vow it.”
Right now I was willing to believe anything, even though my mind was screaming that words were cheap. He didn’t owe me anything. My mom had left me at a stranger’s doorstep. And what a stranger it was. I knew practically nothing about him or this place other than that it could be dangerous. Something everyone but me seemed to know. Once again, I would be the oddball.
“How could I ever fit into your life?” I whispered my greatest fear.
In a surprise move, he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the window. It overlooked the courtyard. Three men, among whom was Angel, were standing there in a circle, talking.
He chin-jerked toward them. “The one on the left, that’s Yuri. I found him hiding in a leaking boat when he was only sixteen. I sent him back to his foster family, but the ornery bastard kept coming back.” He looked over at Angel. “You haven’t seen his twin brother Damon yet, but I met them when a pimp tried to sell Angel to a cop. They wouldn’t leave after Viking and I freed them. As for Viking, that’s the big guy standing in the middle, he still has his mother, but he’d rather cut off his right arm than be anywhere near her. We’re a bunch of misfits without blood ties, but we belong together. I promised your mother to take care of you should something happen to her. And I never break my promise.”
I heard what he was trying to tell me, but all I could feel was an endless, dark void. How could he possibly know what I was going through?
I pulled away and crashed back onto the bed. Feeling numb, I curled up into a ball and stared into the distance.
“My mother died as well.”
His declaration shocked me out of my stupor. “What?”
“I came home to find her lying in the kitchen.”
I swallowed. “What happened to her?”
“Someone killed her.”
Oh, God. “Why?” I blurted.
His jaw set, but he didn’t answer my question. I could see this wasn’t a topic he discussed lightly, if at all. It did take my mind off my own pain for a moment though.
“What did you do after her death?” I tried again.
“I grieved.”
“How long...did that take?”
He looked me right in the eyes. “Forever.”
I nodded, strangely elated that he hadn’t said something hollow like I would learn to live with it.
“Did you find the man who killed her?”
For a second his gaze was empty. As if a certain spark of humanity was missing from it. Then he nodded.
