Page 105 of Saviors

Time had run out. It was too late. Violet knew. She knew who we were now. And she’d abandoned us.

My throat felt tight, as if it refused to swallow the truth. Unable to realize what this meant for me. For all of us.

His fingers wrapped tighter on the bottle as he brought it to his mouth. His casual attitude lit a spark of anger in my blood. I grabbed the glass from his grasp and threw it across the room like the other one. “Did you try to stop her?”

“No.” His jaw clenched as he lunged for me. The air shot from my lungs as he snatched me around the middle. Pain pierced my spine as my back slammed into the wall. “I let her walk out the door with my goddamn heart in her hands. Of course, I fucking tried! But…” The rage in him seemed to disappear. He released me as he slumped to the ground. He was way worse than I thought. “She looked at me like…”

He gripped his skull, staring into the empty space by the bathroom door. It was as if he could still see her standing there. It had been years since I had seen him like this. Not since we created this place. Since we got away from the people who tried to hurt him.

“Like what?” I grasped his shoulder. He tipped his head back to stare at me. His eyes were darker. Haunted by his demons.

“Like everyone else does. As if I were a monster.”

“You know she didn’t mean it, Mav.” I attempted to console him even as my body itched to run. To find her. Make sure she was safe. Make her understand. “Think about everything she’s been through. It must have been hard for her to walk down there and see all those people like that. She was probably just scared.”

His fingers ran over the split in his knuckles that he got from hurting another person. The long dried blood flaked off as he did it over and over. “Maybe she should be.”

“That’s insane.” Shoving his shoulder, I moved away. I didn’t have time to placate his guilt. I had my own to worry about. And our girl to find. “You’d never hurt her.”

My mind raced with all the places she could be. She didn’t know the area. I’d check the community center and have Charlie go to the house. She’d freak out when she saw him, but she’d get over it.

My stomach rolled as I pictured her walking into Ares, seeing the fights. The crowd dense with testosterone and rage. All the things she’d run from.

Maverick popped up next to me, grabbing my elbow as I tried to move towards the door. “Haven’t we already? We lied to her every day!”

My fist curled. I was done with this defeatist attitude. Done with him wallowing in the pity. He could do that later. After we found Violet. After we made sure she was okay.

I raised my arm, ready to punch him, but Reid’s voice stilled the motion. “What’s wrong?”

With a heavy exhale, I lowered my hand. Maverick glared as he shoved me away. “Violet’s gone.”

I summarized the situation for Reid. My body hummed, waiting for him to jump into action. To form a plan.

That was who he was. The older brother. The one in charge.

But instead, he crossed the room and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Picking up where Maverick had left off. The glasses clinked together as he poured some for himself. He seemed indifferent as he took a sip. “I knew she would, eventually.”

The rage inside me turned into an inferno. What the fuck was wrong with my brothers? “That’s all you have to say?”

My teeth ground against each other as he raised a brow at me. In his suit, he looked even more like an arrogant asshole when he did that. “Are you mad that I knew this would happen?”

Maverick moved before I could, taking Reid by surprise. He jerked the drink from his hand. It smashed to the floor, joining the other pieces of shattered glass. “No, I’m pissed because you’re acting like you don’t care.”

It happened in a flash. Reid, usually so calm, pressed a forearm to Maverick’s neck. Pictures on the wall rattled as he shoved him against it. Mav’s smile was manic as he allowed himself to be choked.

“Don’t get angry at me because you fell in love.” Only the rage in Reid’s gaze gave away his fury. His voice was utterly unaffected as he tried to kill Maverick. “And she didn’t want you.”

“Me?” He looked insane as he glared back at him. “Don’t you mean you? This is your fault. You’re the one who told us to lie to her. You’re the one who controlled her. Just like he did.”

“Bullshit!” His restrained snapped. His face turned as red as Maverick’s as he cut off more of his air.

I wanted to defend Reid, but I couldn’t deny the truth. “He’s not wrong. You told her what to eat. How to dress. Who to fuck! Tell me how that’s not controlling her?”

His rage filled glare shot to me, but he didn’t release Maverick. “Because I knew she couldn’t handle it and look what fucking happened.” Abruptly, he let go, stepping back. Maverick’s greedy breaths echoed in the room. “She made her choice.”

Maverick’s chest heaved, but he stayed still. Reid smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit as if nothing had happened. Like we weren’t falling apart without her.

“We didn’t give her a choice by lying.” I fought to instill calm into my voice. But my worry had it coming out harsher than I intended. “We need to go find her before she ends up back with her brothers.”

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