Page 46 of Burning Truths

That name does something to her because her entire body starts to tremble. Oakley warns me from behind my back but I ignore her. Another foot forward. Dainty hands fly up to her head pulling at the strands.

“Stay away from me!” She wails.

West goes to move forward but I hold up my hand stopping him. My heart beats faster behind my ribs, it hurts to pull in oxygen, the pain of seeing her like this is too much. Memories of the scars I caused along the way flicker through my thoughts showing me the small fingerprints I’ve left along the way. Have they built up so much that I’ve caused too much damage for us? Was my affection the source of her pain? The look in her eyes when I move towards her is earth shattering.

“Killer, it’s okay. We’ve got you.” I try.

Shaking her head she starts to sway side to side in a manic-like episode so I do the only thing I can think of and I reach out to touch her.

“Ryker.” Oakley snaps when my hands make contact.

Kenna freezes in my hold for a split second before she starts to scratch, claw, and kick at me. Her touch soothes something deep inside me so I welcome the sting of her nails clawing down my arms.

“If you force her out of here without her consent you’ll break any trust she may have left for you.” Oakley snaps, her irritation spilling out.

“I’ll break every line of trust if I have to but I’m not leaving her here.” Looking into shallow hazel eyes, “Baby, I’ll burn everything we have to the ground as long as you’re breathing because without you there is nothing left for me.”

She blinks.

“We have company.” Someone shouts from across the building.

Shit. West moves to head towards the front when Havoc and Silas are heard shuffling around with someone between them. I can barely see through the dark hallway so I turn back to Kenna to see her starting to shake with her fingers pulling at the collar around her neck.

“This is your fault.” She says, but I can’t tell if it’s for me or herself.

She’s so focused on what her hands are doing that she doesn’t see the moment Oakley lunges forward out the room heading to meet Hank head on.

“No!” I yell after her.

Havoc and Silas come back into view now that they are closer to the bright bedroom light. Hank, who looks different than the last time that I saw him, is bleeding from his nose. A small amount of blood also drips from his lips when he smiles and it takes me a second too long to realize that he’s smiling at her. Pushing her behind me, my hand slides against the cold metal of the gun, pulling it from the loop I placed it in. Oakley slams her fist into his stomach forcing him to double over from the hit. Havoc and Silas grumble from his weight but they keep their hold on him. Havoc eyes Kenna and I can see the shock in his stare when he notices the condition she’s currently in.

“I see you found my little doll.” Hank grins.

West pulls out his phone looking at the lit up screen a dark look crosses his face before masking it. He jerks his head to the doorway and then he’s gone slipping down the hallway and through the door to the left that G went into. What the fuck is in that room? Kenna pulls against my hold trying to step around me so I shift to the right allowing her to move on her own hoping she decides she can trust us.

Oakley turns towards Kenna, “Kens.” She says.

“You did this to him.” Kenna says, her voice raspy.

Oakley looks to Hank and then back to my girl with a confused look, but a laugh spills from his lips.

“She isn’t yours anymore. I carved her into the perfect toy.” He says.

“I’ll break you.” I spit.

Looking at Kenna he licks his lips, “You’ll never get her back now. I’ll always own a piece of her.”

Leaning back I slam forward, throwing my forehead into his nose crushing the bone and shooting blood across my face. Pulling back I let the blood spill down my face smiling wide showing him how wild and volatile I am. Driving him backwards his back hits the wall and I pause the air in my lungs rushing out on an exhale. Photos are plastered across the walls showcasing the past few months. In some of them my face is carved out of them leaving only my body and the background. How did I not see this when we walked in? I was too focused on Kenna and the way her body has been beaten and bruised that I failed to look at our surroundings.

“You sick mother fucker.” I grit.

Striking out with my right hand I hit him again this time at the edge of his eye socket most likely fracturing the bone there. Another hit. I’m lost to the blinding rage that’s built up inside me since he took her. She’s no longer my killer instead she’s lost, broken, a shell of who she was. The fire and fight she had behind her eyes has been extinguished into smoke.

“Stop!” A soft voice screams.

She pierces through the fog pulling me back into the room where Hank is now slumped against the wall covered in blood. Heaving I straighten allowing myself to catch my breath before I turn to look into those broken eyes. She’s pulling against Oakley who is actively whispering in her ear saying God only knows. The way she’s looking at me right now makes me want to cut my own heart out and hand it to her because she owns it. It only beats for her.

“Stop.” She cries. Her entire body shaking with the sobs wracking her chest. Scratching at her skin she repeats the same word over and over.

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