Page 95 of The Devils Melody
“I hated that little girl, you know? Wrennie. That scared little girl who couldn’t fight back. Who hid in closets and hoped that maybe if she squeezed her eyes shut hard enough that she could magically make it all disappear.” Wren's gaze moves up, locking heavy on mine. “If I ever see him again, he won’t get another fucking chance. I’ll kill him myself.”
We stayedup all night talking about our pasts. Wren told us everything, about her dreams, how Olive was her only friend that was there for her during all of her trauma. She told us how Loretta, from the bar, took her under her wing and was the mother figure she needed after practically losing her mother to drugs and alcohol. Her mother is still alive as far as she knows, but she isn’t present, and I can tell that was something that really bothered Wren.
After Wren opened up to us, I felt more than comfortable to do the same for her. I told her all about Dan and the things he did to me. I told her how he put me in the hospital, which resulted in me being in a medically induced coma for weeks. The look on her face when she found out how broken I truly am only shattered my pieces even more. I don’t want her to pity me. I want her to see me for who I’ve become and want to burn the world down with me.
Our long conversation ended in the three of us cuddling in bed, Wren holding onto us like we were the only thing keeping her sane. Nox and Wren have long fallen asleep now, but I’ve been up staring at the ceiling for hours, imagining all the ways I’m going to hurt her father.
Edward Daniels.
His name has been replaying on a loop in my head from the moment she said it out loud. Wren said he went to prison when she was nine and hasn’t heard from him since. Tomorrow I plan to find out where exactly he’s being held and maybe pay him a little visit, because no one touches what belongs to me and gets away with it. Being in prison is just a slap on the wrist. What I plan to do is much, much more painful.
Whimpering noises come from beside me, soft at first, like the faint sounds of a wounded animal. My head snaps towards Wren instantly, my pulse spiking the moment I realize the noises are coming from her.
“Wren?” I whisper, trying not to wake Nox yet.
She’s tossing lightly, her fingers clutching the blanket as her face contorts in fear. Nudging her shoulder carefully in an effort to pull her from her nightmares, Wren’s whimpering grows louder. Broken, pleading sounds fall from her lips, slicing through my chest like a blade.
“No…stop, please,” she murmurs. “D-don’t touch me.”
Rage detonates inside my chest watching her toss around. I can’t fucking stand it. She’s not just dreaming, she’s fucking reliving it.
“Baby,” I whisper urgently, brushing my knuckles against her damp temple. “Wake up, little bird. It’s me. You’re safe.”
She’s not waking up. Wren begins to thrash around, kicking out violently and swinging her arms.
“NO!” she screams, her voice so sharp and broken it makes my blood run cold.
Nox jolts awake beside her, instantly alert. “Kage, what the fuck—” His voice cuts off the moment he sees her. “Wren!”
I grab her shoulders, careful but firm, and shake her.
“Wren! Wake up, baby, it’s over. Nobody’s touching you. You’re safe.”
Her entire body starts trembling, shaking so hard it feels like she’s seizing. Wren’s eyes fly open, wide and glassy with horror, and I already know she can’t see us. She only seeshim.
“No,” she sobs, scrambling backwards, but she’s tangled in the blankets and can’t get far.
My chest fucking caves in at the sound of her cries.
“Wren, it’s Kage,” I rasp, reaching for her again. Not wanting to scare her more than she already is, I keep my tone light. “Me and Nox. We’ve got you, baby. It’s just a nightmare. Nobody can hurt you while we’re here.”
She blinks, her breathing hitching as reality finally starts to bleed back in. When she looks at me, she collapses forward and buries her face in my chest, clinging to me like she’s drowning.
“We got you, baby,” I whisper, wrapping her tight in my arms and stroking her hair.
“Where’s Mr. Teddy Bear? I want my bear…please, find it.”
“We’ll find it, little bird. Don’t worry.”
I lock eyes with Nox, his face telling me the same message my eyes are telling him. The man who continues to haunt her, the one who left her this broken…
We’re going to burn him to the fucking ground.
The streetsof Chinatown are nearly empty as we drive through, the early morning fog laying low to the ground. Nox sits silently in the driver’s seat, his elbow propped on the door as he stares out at the road. Despite his silence, I could feel the storm brewing inside his mind.
“The way she was screaming last night,” I murmur. “I’ve heard her whimper before, but that…” My hand curls into a fist as the urge to hit something threatens to overwhelm my logical thinking. “That shit was different. It was like she was right back there in that fucking house with him.”
“She was shaking so bad, I thought she was seizing,” He growls, fist clenching the steering wheel. “I could tell it was taking everything in you to not lose your shit, but it’s what needed to be done. We can’t let our anger get the best of us when she’s going through that.”
