Page 11 of Blade's Angel

She scurries out of the room, holding her arm to her chest. Stupid bitch. Shooting daggers at me and Blade before she goes. I don't think she's going to listen; I have a feeling in my gut that she's going to try something again in the future, and I think I’m now a target too.

“I’m sorry, Wrath, but I couldn’t just sit there and let her attack him. I don’t have a clue what it was all about, but I could see Blade going somewhere in his mind, and I just reacted.”

“Sera, you don’t need to apologize. If anything, I owe you a thank you for protecting him when none of us felt we could. We do not like getting physical with women.”

“I get it, Wrath. I’m just glad I was here to do something about it, and if you ever have another woman you need me to handle, just let me know.” I smile at him.

He just shakes his head and smiles back at me. He thinks I'm joking, but I'm really not. I'd happily handle any of the women they have issues with. It would be a pleasure.

“Now come on, Blade, you’re coming back to Dads with me.” I grab his hand, force him to stand up, and drag him from the room.

He needs time to get his head back on straight without an audience, and I'm going to make sure he gets it, whether he likes it or not. Yes, he's a big, bad Enforcer, but mental health is still a thing, even for him.

Once I get him back to my Dad's house, I force him to sit on the sofa and drink a whole bottle of water. I know how much havoc being triggered causes the body. I've been there more than once myself.

“Are you feeling better?” I ask softly as I sit down.

“Yeah, how did you know?” He asks while turning to look at me.

“Because I know what being triggered is like.” I tell him with a sad smile.

“I hate that you know.”

“Me too, Blade, me too.”

I may not know Blade’s story, but I heard enough from that confrontation to know we both have trauma in our past. I think that’s the reason I feel so comfortable with him and have been from the start. Like knows like. Trauma recognizes trauma. Pain understands pain.

I wish I knew the full story so I knew how to help him better. Being triggered and working through the aftermath alone is hard, I know from experience. I’ve always wished I had someone I could lean on during those times. Does he feel the same?

Until he wants or is ready to talk, I’m just going to sit here, providing silent support. Knowing he’s not alone has got to help, right?

Chapter Nine

Blade

I can't believe Sera defended me the way she did. She knows nothing about me—nothing substantial anyway—but she heard what Jasmine was saying, and for some reason she didn't believe her and defended me against her. I'm so fucking grateful. Any other person, man or woman in her position, would have believed what Jasmine was saying because of the way she was losing her ever-loving mind. Most people would assume that because of that, there must be something behind what was being said, but not Sera; she somehow saw the truth and acted accordingly.

She's definitely something else, and I'm so glad she's here with us. She's definitely going to make life interesting. I already feel drawn to her in a way I wasn't even with Jasmine. She’s a complete stranger, and there is no way I should trust her yet. That's not me. I don't go around trusting people easily, but with her, I somehow already know she's worthy of my trust.

“I never lied to her. I just thought you should know.” I say into the quiet room.

“I already knew that without you having to tell me, Blade. Don't think for a minute that I believed one word she said, because I didn't. I also don't expect you to tell me anything you're not comfortable with, but just know if you ever want to talk, I'm here.”

God, she really is a breath of fresh air; anyone else would want all the gory details.

“I'll tell you about Jasmine. You should know the story considering what you just witnessed.”

“That's fine with me; don't get me wrong. I'd love to know everything about you, Blade. You intrigue me, but I'd never force you to tell me anything. That's just not who I am.”

“You really are like no woman I’ve ever met before. So I don't know if you actually know this, but Jasmine is Cam's aunt. When everything was going down with Claire, we brought her here to find out what she knew and agreed to protect her after she disclosed what had taken place between her and Claire when Cam was younger. She told us she'd tried to protect Cam when he was younger, and Claire didn't take kindly to that; she actually had her own sister raped and beaten. So of course we all wanted to protect Jasmine after finding out that; who wouldn't? No one should ever have to go through that at the hands of their own family.”

I stop for a second and take a breath. I hate what happened to Jasmine in the past, but it doesn't excuse her behavior now.

“At first, she seemed so sweet and innocent. Not jaded like you'd expect after everything that happened to her. That sort of drew me to her. The women we have around here are nothing like that, but I'm sure you'll experience that yourself soon. The terrible things she told us that happened to her made me feel for her because they were similar to the things I'd been through. I knew the pain, and I wanted to help her. So I did something I don't normally do. I took a leap of faith and trusted her with some of the truth about my past.” I let out a humorless laugh before continuing, “What a fucking mistake that was. I told her about being raped as a child. I didn't give her any more details than that; she didn't need them. All she needed to know was that I understood her pain. At first, everything was fine. We were just getting to know each other. We were getting along so well. We were working towards a relationship.”

I stop and take some deep breaths again because I hate how all this makes me feel. I'm a fucking Enforcer; I should be stronger than this. I can torture and kill someone without a fucking issue, but talking about Jasmine and my past, yeah, I’m definitely struggling with that.

“I was spending every spare moment I had with her; it was great. Then one night I got called in to cover at Inferno's last minute, so I couldn’t hang out with her like I planned, but I thought nothing of it. I was doing my job. I got back here at something like four the next morning and went straight to bed alone. I was fucking shattered; it had been a crazy night. Then the next day, she fucking cornered me as soon as she saw me and accused me of lying to her, saying she knew I hadn’t been at work that night and I’d slept with a bunny. Which I really hadn't, and I told her that, but she wouldn't listen. I still don't fucking know who even said that shit. Then she told me that she also knew what I’d told her about my past was a lie. Hearing her say that, I felt part of me break, which is, I guess, the right way to describe it. I'd told her something so fucking personal, and she threw it back in my face. Flame actually witnessed the end of it and got me out of there. She was warned to stay away from me after that. She didn’t listen, though. Fuck, our next confrontation was worse.”

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