Page 82 of Justyce
The selfish part of me wants Justyce to find me down here, to be my shining dark knight and save the day. However the empath part of me, the kind part of me, wishes that he never steps foot in this hell that was once his.
I close my lids, allowing a set of dark stormy ones to take form along with that cocky and sexy smirk. The last sound that echoes through my mind before the sandman steals me away is his voice saying,Dance for me, Dark One.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Justyce
I’m strung out, nursing the whiskey in my hand and I can’t stop my fucking knee from bumping up and down. I haven’t slept a wink since Kenzi was taken. It’s been less than eighteen hours but it feels like a fucking lifetime. A dark, lonely, fearful and fucked up one at that.What is he doing to her?
I’ve watched the security feed on repeat for hours at a time, seeing Kenzi’s wild midnight blue hair wave behind her recklessly as she kept looking behind her. My girl isn’t stupid. She knew someone was after her. She was so close, almost home. She was coming back tome.
The image flickers in my mind like I’m watching the feed again. Kenzi’s feet falter as she nears the top of the steps leading to my house. Suddenly a hand wraps a rag over her mouth and she goes limp.
Due to the angle of the camera, there’s no way to identify the fucker who stole her. The one thing I’m certain is it was a male. His stocky form and strength eludes as much. His black balaclava and clothes blanketed his entire form when he threw Kenzi over his shoulder and ran in the opposite direction. I grow cold again, my body shivering and mourning her.
The only thing keeping me rooted to the spot and not blazing into my childhood home without a plan is the fact that my mother is there as well, and my dad likes to play with his toys first. He’s the cheesy trap and the girls are his meek, little mice. Not my Dark One though, and that frightens me more than I care to admit.
The leather lounge squeaks in protest when I move, the material sticking to my skin. I’m sitting at Acheron’s, he’s refusing me being alone, watching me like a hawk because he knows I’m teetering on the brink of insanity. I put my drink down on his black coffee table and place my hands in my hair then lean forward, elbows on my knees. I need to find her; I can’t let him hurt her or do something I can’t reverse.
My body shudders involuntarily when I remember some of the women and what they looked like when my father finished with them. They were nowhere near as damaged as Acheron’s dad Avernus left them, but they weren’t far off.
My thoughts drift off for a moment and I remember a documentary I watched about children being subjected to sexual acts or pornography at a young age. Stealing a glance at Acheron, my heart cracks. Another fissure to add to the never-ending breaks within this useless organ.
Deep down to my marrow I know Acheron is fucked in the head for what his dad made him witness. How he was with Kenzi and me isn’t how he usually is with women he plays with.
Shutting my lids, I lean back into the couch trying to formulate a plan. I jolt up, my eyes flaring open and dispersing my ruminations when I hear Arrow’s snarling voice.
“What the fuck, Justyce!” he bellows down the hallway, the door slamming in its wake as his shitkickers stomp against the floor.
Rounding the corner with Raine, I peer into angry cognac eyes and swear I see flames flicker within them.
“You should have told us! What if something went wrong, you selfish fuck?”
Staying silent and risking a glance at Raine, my guts takes a nosedive. Her cobalt eyes don’t seem angry, not even close. What I see reflecting in those is disappointment, and I think I’d prefer her to be angry with me than disappointed.
Heaving a deep sigh, I push up off the couch and walk to the black bar in the corner and pour another drink. I shouldn’t have another but I fucking need it. Some people take drugs or fuck away their demons. Me, I drink those cunts into oblivion.
“Put the drink down, brother.” Acheron demands, his voice sounding sad rather than dripping with fury like earlier.
Obeying his command because I don’t have it in me to argue, I place my drink down on the bar and turn to face three of the people I care about the most in this shitty world. Lapis, cobalt and cognac hues peer back at me, holding my gaze. It’s then I realize they’re waiting for me.
Guilt and shame swarms me from head to toe but slowly the relief and pride takes over. They’re still here. Even though they’re pissed at me, they’re still waiting for me to voice our next move.
Swinging into motion, I look to Arrow. “What did Carlos find?”
Carlos is one of the younger members from the Charmed Brothers and man is he a computer guru. I’m relieved we didn’t annihilate each other in our standoff not so long ago.
Arrow flinches, a knowing tell of his. I’m not going to like what he has to say to me.
“Purge that shit, Arrow, I’m not in the mood for stalling.”
He walks over and plonks his ass on the lounge. “Carlos found some things, things you’re not going to like.” He pauses. “Dereke is in fact Georgie’s brother. It’d been years since they’d communicated, until about six months or so ago. Raine said Brandy mentioned something about that when you questioned her about Georgie’s estranged brother.”
Arrow stopped talking and I feel the rage climbing to the forefront of my cerebrum. His lip twitches and humor flickers in those cognac hues. How the fuck can this asshole be smirking right now? I’m about to blow a gasket and his skull in the process, but when he clears his throat I calm down, marginally.
“That’s not the worst of it.”
“Arrow, I swear to fucking Hades if you don’t spew that shit out of your mouth I won’t be held accountable for what I do to that pretty face of yours.”
He chuckles and Raine shakes beside him, holding in her silent laugh. My eyes find Acheron’s and I stare at him in bewilderment.What the fuck are these two on?
