Page 61 of Ensnared By Silence
“Skid found this in his car. I’m guessing it’s his stash,” James explained and I walk to him, reaching my hand out. “Sick fuck must carry it with him for when his urges strike.”
He placed the vile in my hand and I turned to Devlin, who was still standing over Tucker. He stepped back as I approached. Tucker, through nearly swollen shut eyes, saw me and began begging again.
“Please, Hayden, help me.” Tears flowed down his cheek, and I observed all the bruises covering his body.
I grasped him by the cheeks, prying his mouth open, and poured the entire vile into his mouth. Pinching his nose closed, I covered his mouth, forcing him to swallow. He thrashed his head around and I lowered my face to his.
“I hope you remember everything they do to you before you die,” I whispered and turned my back to him.
His begging and crying slurred, and I looked over my shoulder to see three Death Hounds circling the table. Devlin looked at Aubrey, whose eyes were locked with mine, and he asked, “Do you have anything else you want or need from him?”
“Make it hurt,” she replied and extended her hand to me without a backward glance.
Walking with her, we saw Needles waiting near the staircase, and as we descended the steps with him, Tucker’s cries echoed around us.
Devlin yelled, his voice deep and angry.“You better hope you’re not lying to me.”
Aubrey’s steps faltered, and she glanced over her shoulder but kept walking. As the night sky came into view, I looked over to see a single tear fall from her eye.
“I’ll be inside if you need anything. Keys are in the truck and we can get them back home if you want to leave,” he explained and walked away.
His skin had more tattoos than blank skin and his broad shoulders filled the doorway as we walked back through the warehouse, the sounds of Tucker’s cries growing fainter.
I walked Aubrey to Devlin’s SUV and opened the door, helping her to sit down. I leaned over with my forearm propped against the doorframe and watched as she listened to Tucker’s last wails of pain. She exhaled and closed her eyes briefly.
I asked, “Are you okay?”
Her face turned to me, and she smiled. “I am. Knowing he can’t hurt anyone else . . .” Her words faded as the door to the warehouse opened.
Devlin and James exited first, followed by the four Death Hounds in attendance. Skid was the last out of the building, and most of the men had blood on themselves or their clothes. Aubrey swallowed deeply as her brother approached.
James came to the back door and said softly, “It’s over.”
“Is it wrong to thank you?” she asked, and Devlin laughed.
He poked his head over James’s shoulder and smiled. “One down, two to go.”
Aubrey
Hayden kept his hand in mine on the drive away from the warehouse and there was a lingering silence in the SUV. Devlin drove through the dark roads, his blue eyes glancing in the rearview mirror to check on me often. James typed away on his phone before turning and breaking the silence.
“Do you want to stay at the condo tonight? Amaya offered the spare room if you need it.”
I looked up at Hayden and responded, “Can you take us to my house?”
Needing to be alone with Hayden, I leaned against his shoulder as Devlin turned into my neighborhood. Pulling up outside my small rental house, I saw my car was sitting in its spot and didn’t question how it got here. I looked up at Devlin and James, who both turned to face the backseat.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve any of you in my life, but I’m grateful for you,” I whispered, and Hayden lifted my hand to his lips, placing a kiss on the back.
Something from the evening was scrapping against one of the healed scabs from my early youth, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t stop the feeling there was more to it than a painful memory resurfacing from the trauma of the evening. I heard something that was making an old wound seep again, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
“Will you make it to the festival tomorrow?” James asked, and I smiled.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I replied.
My brothers smiled at me and Hayden kept his hand in mine as we walked to the side door. He unlocked the house and Devlin pulled away, leaving us in the light from the security system shining onto the porch.
We walked into the quiet house, and I turned to Hayden, finding him watching me. Closing the distance between us, I wrapped my arms around his waist, and he pulled me tightly against his chest. His strong heartbeat under my cheek was comforting, and I tried to exhale the events of the past few hours.
