Page 34 of Revenge of the Blood Pack

“You found another one of us, before me? Before the Blood Mages with the berserkers?” Her voice cracks a little, and she wraps her arms around herself.

I nod, not sure if I’m making a terrible mistake. “She was… young. Just a child. A little thing with brown hair and big browneyes. She couldn’t remember her name, or the name of her parents, but I tried to connect with her. I tried to get her to remember what life was like before she was taken.” Fuck. I don’t want to remember that day, because the days when children are hurt are always the worse. “She was collecting seashells on a beach, but the water was drawing further and further away as she walked straight out in the water. A massive wave was forming and people were panicking. It was the kind of wave that would take out the whole town. And on the beach? She’d sucked three humans dry. I approached her. I tried to talk with her. I got her to slowly let the wave go down and the beach returned to normal, and I thought maybe then I could help her. But… but she attacked another Enforcer, and the others reacted.”

There were gunshots. Blood. Screaming. And then just me, holding the little girl. Shouting for help. But I was the only one on that beach who cared that a young life was draining away in my arms. She was gone. She probably couldn’t have been saved, but I wanted people towantto save her.

“I don’t blame the others for what they did. The child was dangerous. She was hurting another person and might have killed him. But I wondered a lot afterward, if they hadn’t been so scared, would they have hesitated? Would it have been enough for me to save her?”

Asha has tears in her eyes. “That was Gillian. She was one of the few kids who survived. Her cage was kept away from mine, but I could hear her crying at night. I could hear her after the tests, but I couldn’t reach her. I couldn’t even see her.”

I reach out my hand and run it down her arm without thinking. She tenses, then relaxes. My hand is almost on her elbow. It’s not much. Not the hug I want to give her. I’ve thought about it a million times and wondered how much of our pain I could take away just by pulling her into my arms. Just bypretending for a little while that we have someone in this world, someone to weather the storm with.

She steps back from me and wipes at her face, even though there aren’t any tears. My hand falls away, but she doesn’t seem to notice. “So, what’s my punishment for that? What will you do to me? Lashes? Imprisonment?”

Every hair on my body stands on end. I’m pretty sure she’s already been through all of that, and worse, if her nightmares are any indication. “A reminder. Don’t do it again.”

She looks surprised, and I head to the driver’s seat because I don’t want to look at her any longer. I should have logically punished her. In the military. As an Enforcer. Based on everything I’ve ever learned, Asha needs to be punished. The fact that I hadn’t probably indicates that I’m not in my right mind, that the woman has created a soft spot within me, and I can’t think about that right now. Not when I have a mission to complete.

Asha stays outside the car. After a few minutes, Braxton and his dog appear from around the side of the house, and they all climb in. I don’t say anything. I don’t say that these two people are driving me crazy and are perfect signs that I’m not as matter-of-fact as I was led to believe. Because my brother has a damn mutt slowing us down, a mutt who he seems to need, and a mutt I want him to have. And Asha is beside me, a disaster of a person who is causing a hell of a lot of trouble on this mission, and yet, I want her with me.

Carl was wrong to believe I’d be better with a team because this is exactly the shit I wanted to avoid. Which I’m sure will only get worse when the other members of our team arrive. I need to get myself in check before then and learn how to lead two people I care about, before the consequences make me regret my weakness.

TWELVE

Braxton

Well,this is one awkward trip. I’m not sure exactly how Max handled Asha’s mistake, but it doesn’t exactly feel peaceful, nor does it feel like an all-out war. Trouble sleeps next to me in the back of the SUV, head in my lap, and I stroke his head, letting my eyes close as I relax. It’s been a long few days. Not as long as ones in my past, but long enough. It feels like I’m still figuring out who Max is in this role, which is weird. I know who he is as a brother… someone who sees himself more as a father figure than my twin, a man who would give the shirt off his back for me, but I don’t know who he is as a commander. He’s hard to figure out. His emotions are locked up, even his humor, to the point where he feels empty inside.

Which is so different than how I feel.

I don’t feel empty. I feel like the devil has placed a million awful demons inside of me and that if I ever let down my guard, they’ll come bursting out, ruining my “second chance.” Sometimes I forget, just for a few minutes, that I have to actively keep them at bay. Like when I’m around Asha. When her bigeyes filled with ghosts look up at me, something inside of me just screams to protect her, to save her from the demons I know she’s fighting too, and my own demons silence, if only for a short time.

It’s an odd realization. Almost like when I realized Trouble had a way of bringing me back from the edge.

“Okay.” Max’s voice is soft in the silence. “We’ll be staying here for the night.” He turns into another random motel parking lot and finds a spot.

We all get out, more or less looking exhausted. But the second I’m outside and all the smells of the town hit me, I instinctually move closer to Asha. I know Enforcers don’t get five-star resorts or anything, but this part of town is definitely not where I’d choose to go with people I care about. And as my gaze sweeps around us, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There are homeless people in every alley around us. Women of the night hang out on the street corner. And everything distinctly smells like urine.

“Max…” I say as Trouble gives a soft growl beside me, and I pet his head to reassure him.

“I know,” he tells me simply.

We flank Asha, even Trouble, as we head around to where the lobby is. Right out front, two guys are sleeping on the ground and another is standing in a dark hoodie, leaning against the wall. My skin crawls. I don’t mind homeless people. I feel sorry for them. But something about them, or this situation, has me on edge.

I sense the man who’s standing shift a little, but I don’t look in his direction, just keep close to Asha. Wanting like hell to get our keys and get out of here as soon as possible.

“You guys got any change?” the man slurs from beside the door.

“No, sorry,” Max answers automatically.

“Please, listen, man, I just need… Braxton?”

My spine stiffens, and I turn to the man. He pulls back his hoodie, and I honestly don’t recognize the man in front of me. He’s so skeletal that the sight of him turns my stomach. This isn’t a man who’s missed too many meals, this is a man who’s gotten mixed up with drugs. As if to confirm my suspicions, he opens his mouth a little, and I see blackened, broken teeth in front. His skin is yellow, and his beard spreads wildly across his chest like it hasn’t been cut in months.

“Braxton,” he says again, moving closer to us.

I move forward, keeping him away from the people behind me. “I don’t know you.” I inhale, trying to pick up his scent just in case I’m wrong. But all I can smell is filth… like smelling a truck stop bathroom. It’s enough that I have to hold back a gag.

“It’s me,” he says, so sincerely and desperately that I go back to his face. To his brown eyes. To his slightly tilted nose.

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