Page 40 of Magnetic Temptations

“Here!” Myles shouts, and just hearing his voice has my shoulders deflating and I begin to relax.

Master turns around to look at us, saying, “It’s a small space, we won’t all fit so some of you need to step back until we unhook him and bring him up.”

In the end, both Hydro and Gunner refuse to stay up top. There’s no way in hell Maverick nor I are willing to sit back and wait so it’s the four of us as well as Rock and Master who make our way to the pit.

Myles’ eyes are skeptical as he takes in our four friends, he squints at them until they step aside and let him see us. His shoulders slump before he squares them and keeps his eyes trained on Mav and me. “Get me out of these cuffs. The key is on the hanger, over there,” he directs, tilting his head in the direction of the nail driven into the sheetrock with one, singular key hanging on it.

Rock heads to grab it while I crouch in front of Myles. “How bad is it?”

“Not too bad, Mase,” he answers. “He took a few swipes at me, but I’ve had worse injuries working in the fields. Other than a couple of scrapes and bruises, I’m good. No physical damage that won’t heal in a few weeks with rest. Hungry and thirsty, though. The asshole barely came down to bring me anything.”

As the key slides into the locking mechanism of the alloy shackles, I hear them give as they slide off his wrists and hit the floor with a resounding clank. They look more medieval than modern like the steel bracelets used a few years ago before they replaced them and started using the plastic zip ties.

When Myles stands, he wobbles and Maverick and I rush to his side so he can use us as crutches. The one thing I know about my youngest brother is that there’s no way in hell he won’t be walking out that door on his own two feet.

“Gotcha, man,” Maverick tells him.

“Appreciate it,” Myles states. “It’s been a bit since I’ve been up on my feet. He cuffed me to that chair and left me there.”

“How’d you take a piss?” Maverick asks, teasing him.

“He released one hand and gave me a metal can. One of those old coffee ones that he must’ve found lying around upstairs in the break room. Very archaic,” Myles laughs before stating, “I’ve been squeezing my asscheeks together though, so a toilet is the first place I’m going to visit now that I’m free.”

“Good idea, you can wash up while you're there,” Gunner pipes in and tells him. “I’m Gunner, this one’s soon to be father-in-law.” When he points at me he also shoots me a look that states loud and clear that he expects a wedding soon.

“Noted,” I verbally respond, nodding my head.

Mane and I may not have physically spent more than a handful of times together before I came back, but we talked on the phone regularly. Every morning, during our lunch breaks, and at night as we crawled into our beds. I fell in love with her during those conversations and vice versa. So some may say it’s too soon for us to tie the knot, but to me and her, it’s been a long time in the making.

A round of introductions are made as we assist an unsteady Myles up the staircase. Maverick and I, not wanting to let him leave our sides, followed him to the restroom. After he takes care of his bowels and washes up, he looks at us through the mirror with his jaw clenched and teeth gritted.

“I’m going to kill that piece of shit,” Myles declares.

I’ve seen my brother pissed before, but the anger inside of him is at an entirely new level than I’ve ever witnessed coming from him.

“You’ll get your pound of flesh,” I promise him. We take the next fifteen minutes to give him the cliff notes version of what’s happened and how we located him. By the time we wrap up, he has two targets to direct his rage at.

Laura and Benji. May the Man above have mercy on their souls because they’re going to need it when they answer Him for their sins.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

MANE

Myles came in and I was officially introduced to him. While I started cleaning his wounds and came to discover they weren’t serious and he wouldn’t need to go to the hospital for any stitches, the men started hustling around the kitchen making him a sandwich and pouring him a large mug of coffee. I slid him a bottle of water since he needed to be hydrated. Apparently, I was the only one thinking with a clear head.

Now, his belly is full and he’s in the shower, cleaning the grime from his skin. When he stood up he was steadier on his feet than he was when he first walked through the door so I didn’t let his brothers hover over him. Bruiser was definitely right. He needs some time to decompress because he’s definitely a bit jumpy, especially with the number of people around. Still, the overriding emotion I see in his expression is rage. Pure, unadulterated, someone-is-going-to-get-hurt rage. Yes, he’s angry but he wasn’t tortured so it won’t take him long to bounce back. My opinion is that if he gets a chance to face his abductor and partner in crime, a lot of the weight he’s carrying will be lifted.

“What do you think?” Mason asks me as he and Maverick take the seat beside me. “Mentally and emotionally, is he going to recover from this ordeal?”

“He’s stronger than you give him credit for,” I tell the duo. “I think if you let him face his demons and confront Benji and Laura he’ll move on quicker and deal faster.”

“I like quicker and faster,” Maverick mumbles.

“So what I’m hearing,” Dad interjects as he pulls out a stool and climbs up the rung before plopping his ass on it. “Is that we need to hold off on ridding the world of dumb and dumber until Myles is ready to face them?”

Before I get a chance to answer, Myles announces, “I’m ready now.”

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