Page 104 of I Am Salvation

“And Tully…”

“Dead. Fucking dead at my hand.”

Dragon’s tone lacks remorse. To the contrary, it’s full of rage, as if he’s reliving the thing inside his mind.

But I know this man. He wouldn’t have attacked—tried to kill—someone without a good reason. He’s not a sociopath.

“What did you tell the staff?” I ask.

“I told them Tully attacked me with the knife. That he’d had it out for me since day one, and somehow I got the knife away from him.”

“And you just happened to have a pillow with you?”

“I told them I’d been reading in the lounge with a pillow from my room.”

I gulp. “Dragon…”

“I’m not sorry, Diana. I killed him, and I’m not sorry.”

“So you told them it was self-defense.”

“Yup. And I didn’t expect them to believe me, but they did.”

“Did they call the police?”

“Yeah. They had to. But I was a good kid who studied hard and got good grades. They believed my story. Tully was a troublemaker who didn’t have any family.”

“Did they notify your parents?”

“Diana, don’t you get it? I didn’t have parents. They gave me up. Relinquished their rights as parents. I was a ward of the state.”

I nod. Of course, that’s true. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.

Except I do know why. Because to me, my parents will always be my parents. I can’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t be. Even when they’re no longer with me, they’ll still be my parents.

“So you were never charged.”

“No. Because no one cared about Tully.” He crosses his arms, casts his gaze to the floor. “I sure as hell didn’t.”

I place my quivering hand on his shoulder. “Dragon…”

“So you see, Diana?” He jumps to his feet. “I am evil. I am sin. My parents knew before I ever did. That’s why they got rid of me.”

“Dragon, you know that’s not true. I’m sure you must’ve had a good reason for what you did to Tully.”

He turns around, leers over me. “Are you making excuses for me? Would you make excuses for your own sister—your own brothers—if they did something so heinous?”

I bite my lip. “If any of my siblings took someone’s life, I would know they had a good reason for it. Because I know my siblings, and I know they’re good people.”

“Well, I’m not your siblings.” He turns his back to me and takes a step toward the door to his room.

He’s right, of course. He’s not. He didn’t grow up like Brianna and I did. Wanting for nothing.

But Dale and Donny? They had a rough start in life, and it could’ve easily led to where Dragon ended up. But they weren’t left in some group home. They were adopted by my parents and raised with love and affection and discipline.

And they grew into good upstanding men.

Dragon wasn’t raised with that kind of love.

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