Page 29 of Soul

“Yeah. I think he was great at one point because Lila said she adored him before Mom passed. Dad got nasty. He treated us like lepers but did his duty. Dad was involved in some bad shit. Scamming people and Ponzi schemes, nobody knew until a party Dad held. He had all his investors and friends over and was bragging, as usual. There was a boy, Miles, he was a bully to me, and Lila warned Dad that if Miles hurt me, she wouldn’t be a good girl.

“Miles shoved me off the slide and broke my arm, and Lila opened her mouth. By the time she’d finished, all hell had broken loose, and she took me next door to get me to hospital. Dad refused to take us back and put us into foster care. Honestly, he didn’t have much choice because he was arrested soon after.

“Dad, in the end, was sent to prison for twenty years. Lila and I were held in various homes, which never lasted more than a few weeks. Lila wouldn’t have any bullshit and called people out on their lies. And some thought they could use us when they discovered we had abilities. They would use me to control Lila or vice versa as I got older.

“Lila’s beautiful. As she hit her teens, men looked at her, and more than one member of foster families tried forcing themselves on her. She fought them off and became pretty handy with a knife. But there was one family, they were the worst. First, the father attempted, then the blood-related sons. The mother turned a blind eye and said Lila was asking for it.

“It was only when Lila stabbed the oldest son that anything was done. Lila was arrested, as everyone believed the mother’s story until other victims came out of the woodwork. The charges were dropped, and Lila hit eighteen.

“Lila applied for custody of me and got it, and at nineteen, she joined the Royal Harlots and found us both a family,” I explained and paused. I took a swallow of my beer as I tried not to let the memories wash over me.

“There’s more,” Bryony said astutely.

“Yeah. But you don’t need to hear about the guy who made me sit in interviews with his employees to sense if they were lying. Or the man who used Lila to check his drug dealers weren’t skimming. He was okay, actually; he bought us food and gave Lila money, but he still forced her. Then there was the woman who beat us black and blue for having the devil inside us.

“Kids called us freaks and spat or hit us during school. Lila quickly got a reputation as a brawler. If someone doesn’t give a shit if they get hurt while beating on you, you soon learn to avoid them. Even when we lived in a shitty apartment, and Lila served at a bar, nobody messed with her. The Harlots were the turning point. They taught us how to handle living with abilities, and they’re all around the same age.

“Saph, the President, is a fuckin’ amazing woman, but I wouldn’t mess with her. And the Royal Harlots have as bad a reputation for not taking bullshit as the Royal Bastards. The chapter my sister is in is based in New Hampshire, so we see quite a bit of each other, and we talk several times a week. Lila’s my damn hero, and if she needs anything, I’ll drop and go,” I admitted.

“That’s the kind of relationship I want for Ham and Maci,” Bryony admitted.

“Yeah, but ours was born out of need. Ham and Maci have different circumstances to Lila and me. For one, they have a loving parent and a stable home, and if their mother stops running, they’ve got a chance we never had. Being surrounded by people who understand their abilities,” I replied.

Bryony chewed on her bottom lip. “How do I know you won’t use them?”

Blue laughed. “For what? We don’t need a healer; we’ve got Slasher, and you’ve seen him at work. And we don’t need a walking lie detector, we’ve got Soul. And it seems Maci sees auras. Sorry, we already have someone. No offence, we don’t need your kids, especially untrained ones.”

“That stings a little, as I think my children are so special, but I understand your point,” Bryony admitted.

“I speak to animals. I can understand and communicate and ask them to do things for me. Kids were awful to me growing up. And worse, they hurt animals to make them come to me for help. There was a kid I’d known since birth; he knew about my abilities, having seen me use them. From a very young age, that prick went out of his way to ensure everyone was told I was a freak.

“From the moment we started kindergarten and upwards, Dean needed to be popular and destroyed me in his endeavours. He was a vile, petty bastard, and it showed. Some of what Dean did was disgusting. His dad was sheriff, too, so there was no recourse. Or there wasn’t until my mom married a powerful man, and we got revenge, but my life remained shit, and I was shunned. There’s more to it, but I totally understand what your kids might and have experienced,” Priest said.

Priest was sugarcoating things. We shot the shit a lot and had exchanged horror stories. I knew Priest had suffered. Even when his stepdad got involved, it still happened. Bryony had no idea how lucky Ham and Maci were.

“What about the rest of your club?” Bryony questioned.

“What about them?” Blue asked.

“They have abilities?”

“Only some of us do. Not all. But we can’t discuss them with you because we gotta protect them like they do us. Of course, if you meet them and they tell you, that’s fine. You got your kids to watch over. My brothers are the same,” I replied.

“Except you’re adults,” Bryony retorted.

“You believe grown-ups can’t be treated worse than kids?” I inquired, thinking of Dynamo.

“You went sad. Something horrible happened to one of you,” Bryony announced after a few moments.

“Something horrendous did to two of our people, and it took a while for us to find and save them. The damage was already done. Now, we try to help them heal. Consider yourself lucky,” Priest replied.

“That’s awful. I feel bad for them,” Bryony said.

“Never pity a Royal Bastard. We’re strong, and they have family. Together we’ll get them through this shit,” I promised, and Bryony nodded.

“I can see that and envy it a little. I need some time to consider what you’ve told me,” she mused.

“Take all the time you want. But don’t run, Bryony. Because all you’ll teach the kids is how to flee! With their abilities, they also need to learn when to push back. Just pause moving for now, consider what we’ve discussed. Hell, come and meet some of the other brothers and sisters. The Camden Chapter is a rare one where we have male and female members. But don’t mistake the females for being weakest. They’re some of the strongest ones we have,” Blue said.

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