Page 31 of Rising Storm

This time, he gave the man honesty. "I don't either." He could take what he wanted from the man. They were both willing. But it would never be anything more than sex.

Chapter 12

Sayer slept a long time and when he finally woke the next day, he sat up slowly and carefully. Helix sat beside the bed, wishing he’d gotten to his brother earlier, hating that it had taken him so long to find him. Sayer must have been cold because he pulled the blanket up as he settled against the headboard. His light brown hair stuck up all over his head and he looked small in the bed. His face looked worse today with bruises settling in.

“Thanks for letting me crash here,” he said as he tucked the blanket under his arms. “Barnette must be going nuts wondering where I am.”

Helix walked over to the air conditioner unit to turn it up. “Don’t give a shit about that asshole.”

“Yeah, I don’t really either. Not anymore.”

Helix could detect the lie in that statement and it burned through him. Some part of his brother still cared for the man—he could tell. He wondered if it had been good in the beginning, if Sayer had had any sort of love in his life after their parents. Not that Helix had either, but it hurt him more to think of Sayer with Hayrick, then after, with his abusive husband. “You must be hungry. What do you like and I’ll run and get you something.”

“I’m starving and I’ll eat anything. But you don’t have to.”

“Of course I do. I’m still your big brother and if Hayrick hadn’t taken you all those years ago, I would have been taking care of you this whole time.”

“You were fifteen when our parents were killed. Just fifteen. You couldn’t have taken care of me.”

His brother seemed in the mood to talk, so Helix put off getting food and settled in one of the chairs. “So you know Hayrick killed them?”

“He says he didn’t but I never believed him. Plus, he never let me see you. Used to taunt me about you. Then later, he used you to get me to stay in line. Said he’d kill you. I saw him kill a man, so I never doubted he would.”

“I’ve seen him kill, too. He liked to make examples of people and Sayer, he used you to keep me in line all these years, too. Where were you all that time?”

“Living with him. He kept me pretty much sequestered. I didn’t go to school, didn’t do any of the normal teenage things.” He looked down at the comforter and pulled on a thread. “I stayed in that damn house for years.”

“He didn’t teach you to steal?”

Sayer shook his head slightly. “No, he was grooming me for something bigger.”

“If I’d just come here earlier, I would have known. Could have gotten you away from him. Did he…did he hurt you?” Helix touched the burn scar on his throat.

Sayer stared at the scar with horror. “He did that to you?”

Helix nodded.

“No, he never physically hurt me, but I towed the line out of pure fear. Never made any waves whatsoever. I did everything he asked of me without question. His threat to take your life sat heavy on my shoulders and I couldn’t risk you.” His smile was crooked due to his split lip. “I know I was a pain in the ass as a kid to you, but I loved you.”

“I loved you, too. Still do.”

“Did you go to our parents’ funerals?”

Helix nodded. “I even tried to talk to the cops there about you. There was one who did try to find you, but the trail was just cold. The assholes gave up too fast. It’s why I’ve never trusted cops.”

“That guy you’re with? The one who got out of the car at the grocery store. I know of him—he’s a cop.”

“Not anymore and how do you know of him?”

“He’s the one who investigated the theft of Rising Storm. Barnette got such a kick out of thwarting him and the other cops looking for the statuette. So yeah, I recognized him immediately. It’s why I took off.”

“I thought as much.” Helix gave him a wry smile. “But Gareth isn’t a cop anymore. He’s on our side now.”

“Our side?”

“He lost his job because of Hayrick and he’s since joined us in Maine to help take back all the items Hayrick stole.”

“So that’s what you’re doing now? You said you’re living in his house. You’re stealing back things?”

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