Page 9 of Healing Souls

He whimpers but remains silent.

Slice. “Tell me now!” I watch the blood pool and drip down his thigh.

I move up to his arms that are restrained in the chair, making long, straight slices in each one. He cries out, begging me to stop. As much as I try to keep my mind blank, I can’t.

His cries sound so familiar. It forces me to freeze up.

Whack. The crop Father is holding hits me square on the back. “Focus, you piece of shit!” he screams at me.

I get back to work slicing him up. One agonizing cut after another.

The man never confessed to whatever my father wanted to know. He died that day. In that room. By my hands.

It didn’t stop after that. For years. Men, women, teens—anyone my father brought would fall victim to my blade. I became his weapon. He trained me to torture and kill. The one thing that kept my mind clear was Noah. He never stopped visiting. He risked his life to come and keep me from getting lost in the darkness every night.

The day he turned eighteen, he saved me. I don’t think I will ever be able to tell him what that meant to me. He let me heal myself by not speaking. For two years, I didn’t say a single word.

But at some point during that time, I gained two more brothers, and they helped pull me further out of my own despair. I couldn’t be more thankful.

A sharp crack echoes through the room when Noah slaps me where he straddles my chest with me pinned to the ground. “Snap the fuck out of it! This isn’t the past. This is different, and you fucking know that,” he growls.

Jumping up to his feet, he sticks out his hand, and I accept it, letting him pull me up only for him to shove me hard in the chest, getting in my face. Even though I have a solid three inches on Noah, he still finds it in him to be big brother.

He shouts, “You never let me get even close enough to take you down when we spar. Don’t ever let it happen again. Wherever your mind went? You aren’t fucking there. We are past it. So, figure out your shit or ask someone to help you.”

The worst part is Noah doesn’t know I was there. In the shadows. That night, my father broke him. The night Noah got away. Seeing Harley, someone I’ve found myself wanting to protect, but knowing I can’t? It pulls at those memories in my mind. Noah doesn’t talk about what happened, and he never will. He claims that the past is wasted energy and there is no point in dwelling on it.

After we rest for a few minutes, we start heading upstairs, and Noah opens his big mouth again. “Look. I know this shit isn’t easy, and I know you have feelings for Harley but—”

Before he can say more, I cut him off with a scoff. “I don’t have feelings for her,” I say, making sure to show no emotion on my face. The words taste sour on my tongue, like lies, but I have no choice. Hurting my brothers is not an option.

Noah rolls his eyes. “Shut the fuck up. I am not stupid. Don’t make me seem like a blind idiot by lying to me. It’s insulting. I get that your head may not be on straight right now, but for the love of God, don’t cause fucking fights with random ass people. Ask any of us here to spar with you. Got it?”

I nod. I don’t bother responding because he doesn’t want me to lie. By the look on his face, he knows that too. He nods back at me anyway, and we head upstairs.

We find Axe sitting at a table in the main room with the two strangers across from him. The one I fought is holding a bag of frozen peas to the side of his head.

Sugar and Presley—who is Axe’s Ol’ lady, come out from the kitchen, and Presley tsks at me with a disapproving scowl even as she hands me a bag of frozen peas and points to my cheek, so I put it on my face to make her happy. She smiles at me, knowing she won this one, and goes and sits on Axe’s lap.

Presley is the mother hen around here, and she has come into her own after going through shit in her life. She is sweet but tough and takes care of everyone in the club. She has grown on me over time, and I’ve come to enjoy her company.

It helps that she never questions or pities me. She has never asked why I don’t want to talk or been upset about it. She just… loves.

Noah, Sugar, and I follow suit and take seats at the table as well.

“I called Rage. He’s on his way up, and Nerds is comin’ from the tech room. He’s just runnin’ checks on these guys first,” Sugar says, nodding towards our company.

I glance at them. “Who the fuck are you anyway?”

Presley chuckles, and I look over to find her shaking her head. “What’s with men and boys throwing punches first and talking second? I swear to God you guys would kill each other without a woman around.”

I roll my eyes at her as Axe laughs and the other two guys each give small smiles. It’s been almost two years since she came into our lives, and she has grown into a very strong woman. She has more control and say in this club than I think even she realizes. Everyone has come to love her and listens to every word she has to say because Presley is the breath of fresh air we all need from time to time. Even me.

Rage comes storming in, his anger pulsing throughout the room. At the same time, Nerds comes around the corner from the hall where the offices are, but he pauses when he spots Rage with his fists clenched and jaw set tight.

This should be interesting.

Chapter Three

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