Page 146 of Spark

“One day, yes,” I said confidently. “I just have to bring his entire empire down first.”

“How the hell are you going to do that?”

“One little domino at a time,” I answered.

She smiled. “I knew, after all this, you’d still be tough as nails.”

“What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, right? We’re still alive. I’m not going to stop fighting until I’m dead if that’s what it takes.”

“I wish there was something I could do to help you,” Kayla muttered.

“You can,” I answered. “You can stay strong for me. I’ll get us out of this, Kayla. It might take a few years, but I won’t give up. Just don’t let that fuck face allow you to forget who you are.”

Kayla smiled at me, hopeful and alive. “I won’t let you down,” she said.

“Goddamn right,” I affirmed.

Kayla and I continued to talk about our lives since we’d been sold, and it was surprising to find she was pretty much in the same position as I was. Though she didn’t battle with Matt like I did Darren, she still kept up a good defiant attitude for as long as she could take it. Eventually, she had given in to Matt, which was understandable. I didn’t blame her for that. Even I had given in to Darren in some aspects.

When I told her about our fight in Darren’s training room, she laughed and clapped her hands together in obvious amusement. She was proud of me for standing up to him the way I had, even though I lost in the end. She was excited to know I was still training, making my body better than ever before. I didn’t tell her about the island or how I’d gotten there, but I did let her in on the adventure in Alaska and the wolf pack that almost ate me. She’d nearly lost her shit when I showed her the scars.

She was beyond envious when I told her about Camaro, but she had said she was the only pet in the house as far as Rainer was concerned. It felt good to hear from her; it felt good to hear anything from her. Even if it wasn’t the best news, even if she was obviously uncomfortable with the amount of talking we were engaging in, I was just glad she was all right. I was happy to finally be interacting with another person other than Darren, and it was a woman no less. My subconscious was practically singing itself back to health. Genuine laughter did wonders for my mental state.

“Do you ever think about them?” Kayla finally asked me. I knew exactly who she was talking about but didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“I try not to,” I said. “But I’ll see them again. I’m just not sure when.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“It’s going to be okay, Kayla. One way or another, I’m going to fix this. Somehow…”

“Don’t get yourself killed, Jaden,” she warned. “If something happens to you…”

I scoffed. “There are other things worse than death, Kayla. Besides, don’t you know who you’re talking to? I’m indestructible.” I gave her a smile hoping to ease her nerves, but even she could see I was talking out of my ass. Now that I knew of Kayla and where she was, I felt more fragile than ever. Darren had officially added a new toy to the box that he could easily take away from me.

Some few minutes later, I felt a chill rise up my back as the door behind us opened, and I could feel Darren’s eyes on me before I even turned around. He and Matt were standing right behind us.

“Time to go,” Darren said.

I nodded and stood with Kayla. We gave each other a quick hug, eyes locking for one final moment as if this could be our last moment together—and for all I knew, it very well could be. Matt could kill her tomorrow if he wanted, and Darren could refuse to allow me to see her again. Pain erupted in my chest as I walked away from her to Darren’s side. His large hand pressed into the small of my back, leading me out of the house and back to the car.

Something was off about his demeanor. He seemed tense, cold, and frankly, pissed off. I wondered if something had gone wrong between him and Matt? When we were on the road, my warning flags were in full mast as the little hairs on my arm stood on edge. Darren’s knuckles were white as his gripped the steering wheel, his jaw clenched shut, while his breathing remained slow and even. He was definitely pissed about something but was holding it back. It was freaking me out, and I had no idea how to dissolve the anger coming off his body like steam.

To be honest, I was pretty pissed myself. He knew all this time where Kayla was and who she was with, and he never told me. Of course, he would feel that information was privileged, but he had to have known how important she was to me. I wanted to berate him for withholding her from me, but instead, I bit back my pride and did something else that made me shake with rage.

“Thank you for letting me see Kayla,” I said softly through gritted teeth.

Darren didn’t say a word, just clutched the steering wheel tighter. Fuck, something was up, and it was making me panic inside. Had I done something to upset him? I was a perfect fucking angel in there, eating out of his hand like a little fucking bird, and he thought he could be the one to be pissed off? With his brooding and my own, the tension in the car was so palpable I swore it fogged the car.

When we finally pulled up in front of the house, I tore out of the vehicle before he even shut the damn thing off and headed toward the house. I didn’t get very far when I felt my arm gripped way too tightly in his hand and yanking me back.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” I shouted at him.

His response was to slap his hand against my mouth and lower jaw and squeeze. Pain buzzed in my jaw where he had first cracked it so long ago, and I couldn’t help but release a muffled scream, not wanting to go back there. My eyes pled with him to stop, my free hand gripping and pulling at his wrist, but the scowl on his face showed no signs of concern.

“This fucking mouth of yours,” he growled. “That is my goddamn problem.”

Darren then released my face and practically dragged me to the house, nearly flinging me through the front door. I whirled around to face him, and immediately kicked my heels off, lowering myself another few inches, but at least, I would be more stable. We were going to fight. I could feel it.

---