Page 34 of Ravaged
“She’s fine,” I said. “Her father?” Clara looked away, unable to answer. “Where are they?”
“They went to the family doctor.” Her lips trembled. “They’ll call when they know something about his injury.”
Good. I needed time alone with Teagen.
“What makes a man do something like that?” she whispered. “I don’t understand. He seemed fine. Normal.”
“I imagine he was trying to protect his daughter.”
“Protect her from what?”
I studied Clara. She had to know what went on in the family business. Teagen was dispensable. So was Oliver. We both needed to realize that.
But perhaps I had overstepped some boundary by speaking about Oliver and Teagen that way.
I cut two slices of bread from the loaf on the counter and wrapped them in a towel. Food first, then punishment.
But punishment for what? For running away, because her life depended on it? Because she didn’t want to be killed for her dad’s mistakes?
When I found her, she was covered in snot, tears streaming down her cheeks. A weight settled on my chest, making me keep my distance. My throat ached, but I swallowed the feeling down, then stepped closer. She flinched, and when her eyes flicked to mine, she looked away, as if she couldn’t bear to look at me.
I did this to her.
“You think this is funny,” she said. Her chest quivered through the wheezing, sniffly breaths. “You think this is funny.” They were the only words she could manage to say.
I crouched on the ground and untied her wrists, leaving her feet tied to the log. I sat at the edge of the wood, leaning next to her. I took the towel-wrapped bread and set it on my lap. I had planned to torture her and feed her while she was exposed like that, but I couldn’t do that now.
“What do you need?” I asked. Her sobbing was constant, breaking her in two. Perhaps she hadn’t heard me. “What do you need?” I said again, louder this time.
“What?” The question was barely audible.
“What do you need?”
The tears streamed down the sides of her cheeks, and she held her arms around herself, because she had no one else.
What had I done?
“Come here,” I said. I motioned for her to sit up. She looked away, scowling the entire time, still shuddering through her sobs. “Sit up, Teagen.”
“No,” she said.
I reached for her hands and pulled her up. She glared at me, and I made her stretch her hands out, wrapping them around me. She jerked away.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She screeched, the sound full of anger and hatred, and she beat her hands into my chest. Smacking into me as hard as she could.
I felt nothing. I didn’t fight back.
There were times when I needed to do everything in my power to improve my station in life. To move across the country and be with my criminal family, if it meant escaping jail. If it meant gaining more power.
And there were other times that I needed to protect those that needed it more than I did.
“You’re a monster,” she cried. “You’ll never feel anything. Not for me. Not for anyone.”
I tilted her chin to look at me and she wrenched her face out of my hands. “Teagen,” I said. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Teagen.”
“Don’t act like you know me.”
