Page 58 of The Devil Takes

I’d never come back here.

That chapter in my life would close.

I was ready, but I was scared, too. Who was I without my father’s shadow looming over me? I’d never had potential before, and it should’ve felt freeing, but instead the world that opened up before me was so vast it felt claustrophobic. With a ragged breath, I forced myself out of the car.

I pushed through the front door, well aware of how agitated I probably looked. Just like I’d always been a shit liar, I was spectacularly bad at hiding my emotions. As I pushed through the front door the scent inside the building hit me like a hammer. Dirt, musk, mold, plastic. I inhaled again. Marv’s scent. Buck’s. A handful of omegas. It felt weird to be here without the scent-blindness, and I had no doubt that the longer I stayed off the suppressants, the stronger my nose would become.

Fuck. Maybe everyone else had been right all along. Alphas did stink.

Not Haden, my mind supplied treacherously.

The lost feeling that had plagued me as I sat in the driveway morphed as I caught the lingering scent of blood in the air. It was old. Stale. Coppery and brittle as paper. Even without my full senses, it was clear whose blood it was.

Mine.

From the last time I’d visited.

There was bleach too, like someone had tried to cover it up, but done a shit job cleaning.

And that was when the anger hit. Like a switch flipped inside my head. Off went my fear and on went fury. Bang. Like fire igniting my body with its heat, I shoved past the beat-up sectional where both my brothers sat and forced my way toward the back of the house. The walls were yellowed with cigarette smoke, and more anger bubbled up as I remembered just how relieved I’d been when Dad had stopped smoking.

“Hey!” Marv called from his spot on the couch. He paused his video game, more than a little confused as he and Buck both twisted around to greet me. It wasn’t their fault. None of this was. But I couldn’t help but let my anger bleed toward them as I shoved into my old shared bedroom and began throwing my childhood shit into an empty laundry basket I emptied of Marv’s dirty clothes.

I heard footsteps behind me, but I ignored them, emptying the closet of my few remaining belongings, pulling open drawers, my breathing heavy, my movements jerky.

“What are you doing?” Marv asked from the doorway. I could hear the TV again. Buck was out there, probably flipped it back on the moment he realized nothing was amiss. He’d always been a bit blind to emotions, which I’d found endearing usually, but at the moment I just felt…sad.

He probably wouldn’t get why I was leaving.

Leaving Dad meant leaving them too.

Maybe they weren’t the best brothers. Maybe they’d bullied me a bit too much when we were kids. But they were still mine, and I was still leaving them behind.

Marv’s brown eyes were big and sad, his massive body blocking the door frame as I swiped my old cleats into the laundry basket and turned back around. He was bigger than me, but only in height. We’d all gotten Dad’s build, though Dad’s body had withered with age and his gut had grown from the amount of beer he chugged. Marv and Buck both had Mom’s eyes, and the jealousy that thought aroused inside me made my palms slick with anger.

I didn’t say anything, just stepped forward, my nostrils flaring as I tried to shove past him.

“I’m talking to you, Percy.” Marv shifted to block the door, forcing me to duck the other way. Back and forth we went. We’d done this dance before, but it had never made me this irrationally pissed off. I glared at the ketchup stain on his shirt, the scent of corn dogs clinging to his skin. He hadn’t shaved. Or showered. He reeked.

My nose wrinkled.

When it was clear I wasn’t going to talk, he let me pass, clearly confused by my anger as I stormed my way into the kitchen. There were a few of Mom’s things here. Maybe it was selfish of me to collect the last of her tea set, or the two porcelain bowls she’d paid ten bucks for at the thrift store so she could dress up our pitiful fucking Christmas dinners, but I did it anyway. It’d started as a full set, and Dad’s tantrums had shattered piece by piece till this was all that was left.

Two fucking dishes.

Coated in dust and full of the husks of dead bugs that had burrowed inside where they lay forgotten at the back of the cupboard.

“Dad’s almost home if you want to see him,” Buck called from the couch, clearly oblivious. Marv was still watching me, he’d always been the smarter of the two. I could smell his confusion, and the overwhelming scent made my head spin. I wasn’t used to this. Any of it. It was so strong—so…fuck. The anger, too, felt unfamiliar.

Maybe I’d gotten something more than black eyes from my dad after all.

I needed to get out of here before Dad came home.

I didn’t know what he’d do to me if he found out what I was planning, and I wasn’t about to find out.

Dad’s almost home if you want to see him, Buck’s words echoed in my head. A warning.

“I don’t,” I grunted. That unsurprisingly got Buck’s attention. Everyone knew I was a complete fucking suck-up. It had been the only way to survive. And maybe in a way, I’d hoped it would make a difference. That my devotion would mean something to him.

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