Page 35 of Monster's Obsession

Sometimes, it was really hard to like my brother when all I wanted to do was choke him to death.

“To hell with that. Shouldn’t we be with Blake, fucking her brains out and helping provide more food to everyone in need?”

“Yeah, well, I still think we should have lopped Steele’s head off, then I bet we’d suddenly have the food resources flowing easily to everyone.” He sounded more bitter than usual and wasn’t whining about being with Blake, which was unlike him. “And I don’t mind being out here, just getting my hands dirty, doing something other than feeling completely useless.”

“What's up your ass, brother?” I asked, furrowing my brow. “You’ve been acting strange. Since when did you want to be anywhere but near Blake?”

Silence swept between us, and I tightened my hold on the reins.

“Are you going to say something, or is this like the time we had to travel into the Hunting Lands to search for escaped prisoners and you were giving me the silent treatment?”

He sighed loudly. “We were only fourteen at the time. Shoot me for being scared and blaming you for getting us into that situation afteryouaccidentally released them. How about you focus on our trip and stop talking about shit.”

Frustrating the hell out of me, I threw my fist out, catching him hard in the arm and sending him lurching sideways.

“You’re in a pissy mood,” I growled. “What’s wrong? Are you stressing about the city starving? We’ll find a solution for it, but–”

“Fuck, can you shut up? I just want silence. I feel like absolute shit over what I did to Blake.” His breath hitched with the indication that he hadn’t meant to blurt that out.

I stiffened and twisted in his direction. Even if I couldn’t see him, I wanted him in front of me so I could strangle him if he didn’t speak fast. “What did you do?” I snarled.

“Calm the hell down,” he snapped, his voice more sorrowful than rageful. “I didn’t mean to, but sometimes I can’t control which one of my personalities comes forward, and it washimwho finally met Blake.”

My blood ran cold. “Are you kidding me?” My brother had seven personalities. He was twisted in the head, and, well, most personas we could handle, except for the darkest one who enjoyed torturing everyone. There’d been times when we locked him in the dungeon until that asshole returned because we’d find him hurting the staff in the castle.

I gripped the leather reins in my hand tighter, thinking about how Blake had to face him.

I sucked in the bitter, hot air as Seven spoke.

“I tried really hard to hold him back.” He licked his lips. “I can tell he’s as obsessed with her as I am, but he tried to show her he didn’t care about her.”

My breaths were picking up, and I wanted to body slam him over my knees from just hearing his words.

“He pinned her to the window and brought her to a forced orgasm. When I saw the tears in her eyes, the asshole slipped back into me, leaving me to face the mess he’d created. Fuck, I haven’t been able to talk to her since. I feel like a piece of shit. I want to make it up to her, to make her understand I’d never hurt her. But I fucking did.” His voice broke, and he swallowed hard.

My muscles tightened, my hands forming into fists. Every inch of me demanded I hurt him exactly as he’d hurt my Blake. With sheer strength I stopped myself because I knew my brother and how much he’d suffered with his multiple personalities, how deep inside the real Seven would never harm Blake.

And yet I struggled to sit next to him when I wanted to destroy something. I longed to swing the carriage around and race back to the city to collect Blake into my arms. To kiss her all over and remind her that I’d walk on fire for her.

“I don’t know how to make this right,” he murmured, grief lacing his words.

“You have no idea how much I want to smash your face right now,” I grumbled. “But I’m guessing nothing I do could hurt you as much as you torturing yourself. You need to go talk to her and set this straight. Get on your fucking knees and grovel for forgiveness.”

He huffed a breath. “And if she doesn’t forgive me?” he asked gruffly.

“Then…” I paused for a moment, feeling the sting of his anguish. “Then we’ll deal with that when we get to it. But you need to make this right, and fast.”

“I know,” was all he said, as we continued on, my mind in meltdown at the fury I couldn’t do anything with.

“Promise me this stays between us until I fix it?” He spat the words, and I felt the spittle on my face. Fuck. I wiped it away with my sleeve.

I ground my teeth, hissing my response, “I give you my word, I won’t say anything, but if you do nothing about it, I’ll come after you and fuck you up. You got it?” A growl rumbled in my chest, fury beating into me.

“That’s fair,” he conceded under his breath.

The carriage gave an abrupt shudder, then another, rocking about too much to be just the uneven ground. My pulse kicked up, and I stiffened, the stench of the cockheads following us flaring heavily in the air. They were furious about their lack of food and wanted to make us pay for their suffering, no doubt.

“They’re on the carriage, aren’t they?” I rasped.

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