Page 70 of The Devils Melody
Listening to mommy, I run back to my room, grab Mr. Teddy Bear, and hide in the closet like I’ve done since I was four, only this time daddy doesn’t come get me.
The door to the closet swings open and I hide my face in my knees, curling into myself like maybe that will protect me from him hurting me again.
“Wren!” The voice is loud and panicked, causing me to shrink into myself even more. Maybe if I’m really quiet hewon’t realize I’m in here.Was dinner not made? Is daddy going to take it out on me again?
Finally dredging up the courage to look, I slowly raise my head from my knees.
All I can see ishim. His large silhouette looming in the door frame, just waiting to take more from me. Iscream.
“Wren, baby, look at me. It’s me. Kage.”
That voice. Soft, familiar, and full of worry. It’s not my dad, but one of the two men I know would never hurt me. Looking past him, I glance at our surroundings. I’m in my bedroom? How did I get in here? One moment I’m following the blood in Chen’s apartment, the next I’m nine years old again, hiding in my small closet clutching Mr. Teddy Bear. Only now I’m not nine. It’s twenty years later and I’m in my apartment clutching a pillow. Where’s Mr. Teddy Bear?
“Fuck baby, I'm so sorry,” Kage whispers as he crouches down to my level on the floor, holding his arms out for me to crawl into.
My first instinct is to flinch away, the fear overpowering all rational thoughts, but I can see the pain in his eyes. The primal instinct to protect me from the monsters that plague every tragic memory that I can’t seem to bury.
I practically throw myself into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder and soaking his grey t-shirt. When I draw back, I notice the blood he's covered in. Splatters of red stain his shirt, dried blood painting his skin in several places.
I pull further away from him, crawling backwards into the closet again.
“What? What is it?” Kage asks in panic as his eyes trail mine, landing on the blood spattered across his shirt. Looking himself over, the panic on his face morphs into something else entirely.
“No little bird, this isn't what it looks like. Nox and I went hunting after dropping you off at work. We shot a large buck, it's just animal blood.” He's looking at me like he's willing me to believe him. Like there couldn't be any other possible explanation as to why he's covered in blood. Why do I feel like I should believe him? Why would he lie to me about that?
Deciding to believe him and get the fuck out of this apartment, I crawl back over to him and he picks me up, cradling me in his arms as he kisses the top of my head.
“Let's get you out of here.”
25
Lennox
THE ENFORCER
Someone was in here. In her space, touching her things. They could have hurt her. They could have fucking killed her.
Gritting my teeth, I force the image back to the recesses of my brain where it belongs. I heard Wren’s bonechilling scream shortly after we got here, and it took everything in me not to dart up the stairs and comfort her, but I knew Kage had her and I needed to let him see to her needs while I conducted a protective sweep around the perimeter.
Pulling the gun from my waistband, my grip on the pistol is firm as I lift it in front of me, slowly checking around every corner and behind every door. I’m really hoping that the dumb motherfucker that somehow had the balls to break into Wren's place is still around so I can be the one to end their miserable life. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to ensure her safety at this point, and putting a bullet in someone's skull isn't much of an inconvenience.
Upstairs, I can hear her muffled sobs and Kage’s hushed reassurances pulling her back from the edge. Moments later, he’s carrying Wren down the stairs, her face tuckedinto Kage’s chest as her arms are locked tightly around his neck. We lock eyes and I know I’m done for. Her honey brown gaze is glassy from the tears she’s shed, her face swollen and blotchy as she tries to calm her breathing.
The last few weeks with Wren have somehow managed to slowly stitch together the mangled pieces of my heart, but as soon as I see how broken my phoenix is, those threads start to unravel. The monster I try so hard to keep below the surface is starting to tear through the seams and all I can think about is ripping the limbs off whoever caused her to break like this.
“We’re taking her home. She doesn’t need to be here where anyone can just walk in whenever the fuck they want,” Kage snaps, the anger rippling through his whole body as he holds tight to Wren. I’ve never seen him like this. There’s Kage whenever he’s angry, and then there’s this.
It’s not just anger, it’s animalistic, unhinged rage that even has me taking a step back. Kage isn’t someone that needs to get loud in order to invoke fear. His murderous gaze and the way he carries himself is enough to make even the toughest men fall in line.
“Wait.” Wren picks her head up from where it rests on Kage’s chest. “We need to call the police or something, right? File a report?” She looks between the both of us, waiting for us to agree with her, but how do you tell the woman who knows nothing about who you really are that you can’t call the police?
“Don’t worry about that,” I insist, keeping my tone flat. “We’ll handle it.”
“Handle it how? We need to find Chen. The b-blood?—”
“I said we’ll handle it!” Kage’s head jerks in my direction and I know I’ve pissed him off with my outburst but Ican’t seem to care.Fuck.I really wasn't trying to lose my shit in front of her but I don’t have any answers that could bring her any peace in this situation and it’s fucking killing me.
Wren looks at me with wide eyes, but I don’t give her a chance to say anything else. There are no other words I could say to her right now without lying to her face or scaring her further, so instead I walk right past them and up the stairs to her apartment. I’m careful not to touch anything in Wren’s room, needing to make sure that any evidence left behind isn’t tampered with. Jimmy and his crew will be pissed off enough that I was in here without calling them in the first place.
