Page 9 of King of Ruin

“Things are no different now. Though I suspect the Murphys will want to make an example out of her. Force her to sign over land, and concede, so our suppliers jump ship, and join them. They won’t have to strong arm anyone when they show Onyx on a bent knee.” Trigger runs shaky hands over his face, forcing a heavy breath out of his lungs.

We’re all tired, and near our wits’ end, but to imagine Onyx succumbing to Phineas erupts a horrific type of anguish in my soul. My body aches down to my bones. We stand in silence for a beat, the realization settling heavy in an already stifling room. But just as my mouth pops open, the soft sounds of birds chirping echo in the space.

All eyes flash to me, the mixture of the birds and the beat of the monitor amplifying as I slip a hand into my pocket, and draw out my phone. I stare at the screen for a moment too long, watching as the unknown number scrolls across the top. An array of thoughts soar into my mind, all of which are terrible. But before I can fully grab on to a singular guess as to who’s on the other end, Trick leans over and taps the green button for me.

Somehow, I find my voice. “H-hello?”

“Is this Maddy?” The feminine voice is new to me.

I nod my head, though I know she can’t see me. “Yes.”

“My name is Fiona Kane. My brother is Ezekiel and…” There’s a brief pause, before a shuffle of what seems to be her shifting in her chair. “He told me to call you about his father, Phineas. Do you have a moment?”

This time when I wake, I feel like a real captive. My arms are stretched painfully high above my head, held in place by the same pair of cuffs. Only now, a thick chain is securing the restraints to the overhead pipes, guaranteeing I won’t be escaping as easily as before.

My feet are on the ground but just barely. I’m suspended in a way that keeps me from being able to move without risking my wrists being sliced into from the sharp metal. They were smart this time, tying me high enough that I’m unable to get enough leverage to pick the lock.

My shoulder cracks as I adjust, careful not to pull against my already tender skin. Judging from the ache and the glistening wet blood on the cement, it’s only been a few minutes since my encounter with Phineas. But the quiet surrounding me indicates anyone that was here in the building before, is now long gone.

Like the girl from my brief loss of consciousness, I’m alone yet again. Alone and hurt. Something I haven’t felt in a long time winds around my heart, squeezing it slightly, and it makes me think of not only my family, but ofhim.Kane.

The man meant to protect me. To guard me with his life. The one I knew would ruin everything but whom I still let fuck me. He burrowed his way into a minuscule crack in my sternum I hadn’t been aware existed until now.

It’s my fault, really. Even though I was blissfully unaware of his parentage, I knew we were two feathers of the same bird. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty, and dwelling on what I should have done won’t alleviate the very real ache in my chest at what he did. Because even though he committed the deepest betrayal, I can’t ignore whatever we had twisting in between our tangled limbs.

It was small but powerful. Enough to give me a glimmer of a possible life after destroying Phineas.

Enough to give me hope.

I sigh, forcing my thoughts from the now irrelevant, and to my escape. There’s plenty of time to plan Kane’s death later.

The cuffs are tight, not leaving much space for me to do anything other than keep myself balanced. Long metal pipes run down the center of the room, but naturally the ones I’m attached to look brand new with not a touch of rust or a weak point visible. And with how little slack the chains give me, it would be fairly difficult to walk myself to the wall. Even if I could, joints block me from getting too close, preventing me from being able to get any type of leverage to try and break them.

Vexed, I draw in a shallow breath, rotating my head in a complete circle. That’s when I smell him. The deep woodsy scent, equivalent to a drug, sails into my chest, filling it up and coating my lungs. It’s as though any breath I’d taken before this one was enough to sustain consciousness, but now they’re overflowing with fresh air.

The notion stirs up more feelings than I can identify individually. All except one.

Hunger.

I know exactly where he is before I look over, the same overwhelming presence he always carries suddenly engulfing me. When my eyes find Kane, he’s leaning against the far wall, hidden in the shadows with his hands casually tucked in his dark pockets.

“Good morning.” His voice is low, rough, and stained with something dangerously close to caution.

An array of unwelcome emotions flutter through me. The relief I once felt when seeing him is now poisoned with everything that’s happened, clogging my throat with the urge to do things I haven’t done since my parents’ death. It yanks at my weak grasp on my control, tempting me to lose focus and lash out.

But viewing me without my shield is the one thing he will never get again. I quell my shaking voice though I’m sure if he looks hard enough, he’ll see my pulse thumping in my neck. “So, this is who you are. Ezekiel Murphy.”

Saying it tastes vile, and his brows furrow as if he himself is also disgusted.

“Kane,” he corrects, his voice one octave below lethal. “My name is Ezekiel Kane.”

“I find that rather interesting because I could have sworn Phineas called you his son.”

A combination of fury and sadness flashes over his eyes before he narrows them. He kicks off the wall, and eats the space up between us in seconds, stopping just under the overhead light. It washes over him, casting shadows over his face and painting the picture of an angry God.

“By blood, yes. He’s my father.”

Even though it’s a fact I’m already well acquainted with, having it explicitly confirmed by him makes my insides curdle. “So you lied when I asked about your parents.”

---