AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And the door slams shut.
Twenty-Eight
Rowan
They came out of nowhere. One second, Atlas was in my arms, the taste of our victory sweet on our lips. The future played out so clearly in my mind, one in which everything I wanted finally, finally fucking came true. In which Ed finally got what he fucking deserved.
The pain of my childhood had led up to this. Every time he beat me, used me, morphed me into the perfect killer that he needed to end his enemies, every fucking scar I endured, every time I did his bidding had led to this moment in time.
Our future was on the horizon, all because of the papers I had in my hands and the pictures on my phone.
Tires throw rocks against me, and her screams are a sound that lives on repeat in the back of my mind.
I thrash against them. I’m on the ground, fighting to stand. The blood pounds through my system, and I can hear my heart beating in my ears like a drum. Darkness tunnels through me, a rage and anxiety like I’ve never known before crashing against my system, and it’s Atlas’s voice that’s the light at the end of that dark. The strength and determination I need to stand up and fight.
Yet that strength is also my weakness, because in my need to get to her, I become clumsy. Little more than a snarling beast. My punches are thrown far too wide, and every single skill I’ve accumulated over the years diminishes down to nothing but my worry for my woman.
A blow to the head has me seeing stars. Something hits the backs of my knees with such force, I cry out without meaning to. A bat? A pipe? I’m not sure, but it nearly shatters my legs, and I don’t feel the impact on my knees as I fall to the ground.
Agony ripples up my spine as the weapon connects to my back. I fall face first to the ground, tasting dirt and my own blood as I gasp for breaths that won’t come.
I blink away at the encroaching darkness, willing myself to stay awake. Atlas needs me. Atlas was taken. I have to save her. I have to–
Shining shoes step into my vision, and my eyes flick up to glare at the man before me. The man who made me. And by the gleam in his eyes, I know he means to unmake me just as easily.
“You should have just fucking listened,” Ed spits, glaring down at me like I’ve ruined his carefully placed plans before they could even begin. He looks away, a jagged cut healing against his temple from when I saw him last. “You, pick up all those papers and give them to me,” he commands to one of the guys who’s still wiping the blood from his hands.
I groan and push myself up. I can’t let him take those. That’s our ticket to–
Pain explodes as a weapon comes crashing down against my body once again. I wheeze, feeling a rib crack.
“Fuck!” My cry is muffled into the grass, and I hate giving Ed the satisfaction of seeing me hurt. Too many dark memories swirl in my mind, bringing me back to a childhood I’ve mostly blocked out.
“You did this, boy. You underestimated me, and now both you and that whore of yours are going to pay.”
“That ‘whore’ is your daughter.” The words taste vile on my own tongue, but I force the words out from between each wheeze. I look up at him. Even though I’m on the ground, I won’t let him see me break.
I can’t.
Because it would make all this for nothing.
Ed’s lip twists in disgust. “She is no daughter of mine.” Then he’s turning, walking back towards his little party, something that seems so far away now. Nothing but dots of lights and music in the distance.
“Take care of him,” Ed orders. “Once and for all.”
The bat comes crashing down across my eyes.
And then there’s nothing but darkness.
* * *
“Wake up.”
I groan my discomfort aloud and it feels like gravel scraping across my throat. My eyes feel crusted over, and there’s a tangy taste in my mouth I recognize as blood.
“Rowan, wake up!”
I recognize the voice from somewhere, but my head is a muddled mess. What the fuckhappenedto me? Why is my body screaming? Why is every breath coming out a wet wheeze?
