Page 43 of Ramshackle
Aiden eyes me skeptically. I fist my hands to fight the urge to throttle him for withholding anything about her from me.
“I’d hoped to tell you and Jack after things had calmed down. I would like to at least keep Jackson in the dark for a bit longer if Dane didn’t just ruin that.” Considering how obvious he’d been about it, I’m sure Jack will be pinning Aiden to a wall later to get the information.
Not my fucking problem.
“What did Vera tell him?”
“She told Dane that Gordon had been…assaulting Raegan the last time they were together.”
No shit. Someone had to break her knee, and we witnessed her tied to that post for torture.
“Not just physically,” he adds. “Every way possible. Mentally. Emotionally…sexually. The day we left the island and thought it was an earthquake? It was her. Gordonrapedher.”
No…
Everything stops.
My breath.
My heart.
My mind.
All I’m left with is pure, unfiltered rage that scorches through my veins. My chest burns like it’s on fire, boiling my bloodand demanding action. Without realizing it, I’m moving, and suddenly, my fist slams into a door.
I’m going to kill him. Rip him limb from limb in the most painful way possible. I’ll feed him to rabid dogs so he becomes nothing more than dog shit.
“—lan! Kellan! Snap out of it!” Aiden’s voice is distant and faded. Like I’m underwater and he’s somewhere shouting in the sky.
But there’s nothing left of me other than the rage.
Boom! Boom! Thump! Crash!A girl’s scream.
“—going on?” a male voice I recognize, but can’t immediately place, demands to my face.
I blink, the red swimming in my vision clearing enough that I begin to make out shapes in front of me. And then a face. A scowl. My hand pinning them to the wall by their throat.
“Kellan, put Reid down!” Aiden snaps. “He has nothing to do with this.”
Reid.Reid.Right. I don’t want him dead. I want him to—
“Take me to Gordon.” My voice is deep and gruff. It startles me enough to take in more of my surroundings. The arm holding Reid up is covered in golden scales.
“If we knew where he was, do you think we’d be sitting around here?” Reid says with a stern face. He doesn’t appear afraid or angry. Either he doesn’t care I’m holding his life in my hands or else he’s damn good at controlling his emotions.
Aiden grips my arm and stares me down. “Don’t you think we all want that right now? Do you think you’re the only one who’s thought of going after him for everything he’s done?”
My body still needs an outlet for all that fury. There’s so much…
“But this isn’t about us. It’s abouther. And what’s most important right now is making sure she’s okay. When she wakes up, it’s not going to be to news that you left her when she mayneed you most. We have no idea what happened to her these last two months or what she needs. So, you’re going to put Reid down, and get your shit together before she wakes up. You’re going to be here. For her. You’re going to help us make sure that GE doesn’t somehow know where we are and portal in to take her again. You arenotleaving the bunker alone anymore now that I’m sure Gordon has ordered agents to kill us since we broke the deal.” Aiden pauses to let that sink in. “Do you understand?”
The adrenaline recedes like a tide going out to sea. It sucks all the energy I have with it, so my arm falls faster than I intend when releasing Reid. He mutters something about getting involved in family shit and pushes past us. Tinsley throws her arms around him and he holds her tight.
“Kellan,” Aiden prods when I’ve taken a few deep breaths and still haven’t answered him.
“Yeah. Got it.” My hand glides down the length of scales on the other arm. Scales which came out without an injury. I just have no clue how it happened. I’ve been angry before, but could it have been the degree of it that triggered it? Or something else? It’s a puzzle for another time, though.
Glancing at Aiden, I raise an unamused brow. “Pretty mighty of you, telling me what she needs, don’t you think? Considering the dick you’ve been to her.”
