Page 127 of Kings Fear No One
I’m a fucking mess.
“Leave,” I choke out.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. Because fear has to do with punishment,” Teysha warbles out the bible verse, sniffling. She cautiously steps over the shattered glass and reaches for me. Her hand’s soft touching my blood-smeared arm.
I shrug her off at first, but she doesn’t give up. Her fingertips slide across the throbbing veins in my forearm in a soothing motion. The touch is gentle and considerate, like she’s aware she must go slow or else I’ll explode again.
But not because she’s scared of me—because she’s scared for me.
I realize this as she links my uninjured hand with hers. I look over at her. Pity’s nowhere to be found. Neither is judgment or disappointment.
Just concern. Just… love.
“Fuck,” I mutter as it hits me what I’ve done. The rage has been like alcohol that’s intoxicated me. Now I’ve sobered up and seen the situation for what it is. My eyes clench shut, and I hang my head back. “FUCK!”
“It’s okay,” she says softly. “It’s going to be okay, Logan. We just need to… we need to take you to the ER.”
I don’t put up a fight. I let Teysha hold my uninjured hand and walk me to the truck parked outside. She slides behind the steering wheel, adjusting the seat for our height difference. I’m in the passenger seat, weighed down by exhaustion. Still clammy and bloody.
The adrenaline that surged through me minutes ago is long gone. It’s left me depleted, feeling like the energy’s been zapped out of me.
I rest my head against the headrest of the seat. “Thanks. For putting up with me.”
“We took vows. This is as much my fight as it is yours.”
“But… I… the things I said… I was lashing out. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She glances at me before setting the car in reverse, a glimmer in her beautiful, expressive brown eyes. “Sometimes when you love each other, you hurt each other. Even when you don’t really mean to. But that doesn’t make me love you any less. We don’t quit on each other, Logan. Ever. That’s what marriage means.”
I fall silent at the gravity of the words she’s used. Words that ring as true for me as they are for her.
Love.
I need nineteen stitches to patch up the damage I’ve done to my right hand. The ER docs give me painkillers and release me on my way when it’s all said and done. Teysha waits for me like the patient, kind, loving woman she is. She doesn’t scold me, doesn’t rub it in, doesn’t say, “I told you so.”
More than anything, she’s relieved I’m alright.
We visit Cash in his hospital room, checking in on him before we head home. For the rest of the morning we’re like zombies. We call an emergency locksmith and clean up what we can around the apartment before we tap out. Exhaustion sets in as we curl up in bed and take the time to recover.
But as spent as my body is, my mind’s a nonstop machine. It churns out thought after thought that keeps me awake late into the morning, even as Teysha slips off.
I’ve checked and rechecked the last-minute locks that have been replaced on the doors and windows. I’ve strained my ears to pick up on the slightest sound, hyperaware of the possibility that Abraham could be out there at any moment.
At any time, he could be watching us. He could be waiting for the opportunity.
My gun’s in the drawer of my bedside table. I’ve got a hunting knife under my pillow. There’s a baseball bat in the far corner of the room, by the door.
The afternoon sun bursts through the curtains a couple hours later like a lifeline. It chases away the remaining shadows and unknown that looms around us. I convince Teysha to spend the rest of the day with Sydney, and Korine, driving her over to Mace’s house.
I’ve got business to handle.
At least if she’s with Mace and the others, I can be assured Abraham won’t come across her should he return to our apartment.
I slide on my shades and mount my Super Glide. The engine warms up with a thunderous rumble. The sleek body vibrates underneath me. My grip squeezes down on the throttle and I’m off in a cloud of dust.
I have the Pulsboro roads to myself.
Sunday afternoon, everybody’s either still at church or at home doing chores or spending time with family.
