Page 79 of Our Secrets and Scars

“You should never have lied to me, you know?” he snarls. “Telling me your name was Violet. Pretending to be that asshole’s girlfriend. You made a big fucking mistake,Kinsley,”he spits my name, “and you should see what happens to those who cross me.”

An incredible sense of dread fills me. And I’m hit with a kind of premonition that something terrible is going to happen.

Owen’s fingers fall to my thighs and start slithering their way up to my center. And though I know from Isla that Holden’s on his way to me, I’m still frozen in fear. My stomach churns violently, every part of my body that’s been assaulted by Owen’s touch burns like I’ve been drenched in acid.

And then everything changes.

Life as I know it is altered forever in the space of just a few diabolical minutes.

Fists fly. Bones crunch. Blood sprays, and my heart stops.

My eyes are fixed on Holden. On the look of total aggression that I find on his face and the violence that exudes from him with an intensity I never knew him to be capable of. He’s vicious in his attack and merciless in the blows he lands. Owen barely gets a punch in, and when he does, it doesn’t deter Holden at all.

I’m paralyzed in shock as I watch him, suddenly in fear of a man I never thought I would be. Even though I’ve always known about his criminal history, I never once thought of him in that way. Not until now.

In the blink of an eye, Owen is on the floor with Holden on top of him. A crowd has started to gather around us, cameras pointing toward the obscenity of the scene unfolding before us.

When Holden’s hands reach for Owen’s neck, my instincts finally kick into gear.He’s going to kill him.I’m rushing toward them before I can think twice, wrapping my arms around Holden from behind to try and stop him from throwing another hit.

“Holden, stop,”I beg, my voice calm though I’m feeling anything but.“You’ve gotta stop now. Please, please stop.”

Finally, I feel him relax. His fists uncurl, the mist slowly fading away. Only when I’m confident that he won’t start attacking Owen again, do I let him go.

Owen’s swollen eyes open, staring at the man atop him with poisonous hostility. And despite all the blood that pours from his face and the fact that his nose is almost certainly broken, he releases a wicked laugh.

“Oh, you stupid little boy,” he derides. “What’s your probation officer going to think about this?”

Holden’s face drains completely of color as understanding dawns on him. My heart falls with his, sinking as I realize just how severe the consequences of this could be for him.

He releases Owen, rolling to the side and tugging his legs into his chest the way children do when they’re afraid. His eyes look to mine, swimming with regret and something akin to fear. He begs me with his gaze to go to him, but I don’t.

Ican’t.

I can’t bring myself to comfort him right now. Not after what I’ve just seen.

“Wanna know something funny?” Owen says, wiping his hand across his mouth, only to make the smearing of his blood even worse. “Kinsley isn’t really a common name, is it? Yet I’ve known of two in the last few years.”

Holden tenses. I see it, the ice that freezes him completely. That feeling of dread I had earlier intensifies until I’m sure I’m going to throw up.

“Didn’t you have a sister?” he asks me. “She died, right?”

“How do you know that?” I stutter.

He laughs again and waves away my question. “How was it that she died, Kinsley? Car accident, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t understand,” I’m whispering, my voice shaking as harrowing tremors wrack through me.

Because this can’t possibly be going where I think it is. There’s no way. It’s not possible. It can’t be fucking possible.

“Isn’t that a coincidence, Holden?” Owen says, his bloody face alight with cruel victory. “Weren’t you locked up for killing some bitch in a car accident? What was her name again?” He taps his finger mockingly on his chin in feigned thought. “Bexley. That was it. Don’t you remember, Holden?”

“No,”I gasp, and my legs give out.

Isla, by the grace of God, catches me and lowers me gently to the ground.

Holden scrambles onto his feet and staggers toward me. One look at his face, and I know it’s all true.

“Don’t. Don’t fucking come near me.”

---