Page 45 of Savage Hunter

I inhale long and hard. I should have killed her mother that night. I wasn’t thinking about anything but racing to her rescue like a fucking idiot. I should have killed her mother and then tore about the fucking Society with my bare hands until I found her.

My phone vibrates with an incoming message. I pull it out and thumb through the security to find a message from my sister.

I thought I felt you digging yourself a hole.

Fuck you, Nyx.

You would think we are twins with how much she picks up on.

Ahh… sometimes I think it was a mistake to convince you to stop smoking.

Me too.

I go to put my phone away when a video call comes in.

I slowly stand up and walk to the edge of the house before I swipe on the green button.

I keep my voice low. “Are your husbands not around to keep you occupied?”

My sister’s gentle smile is a gift that I cherish more than she will ever know. I don’t plan on arming her with the knowledge that she can convince me to do just about anything with that one simple gesture. Her life has been in my hands from the time our mother gave birth and then placed her tiny newborn form in my arms with the words:watch her. She walked out of the hospital after that and I never saw her again.

We went through the foster care system together and the day I turned eighteen I did anything it took to get enough money to show I could support her and myself outside the system. It took a couple of years. I learned quickly how fast crime pays. I worked for anyone and did just about anything that put money in my hand—except harm the innocent. I don’t do shit to people who don’t deserve it and I never touch a woman or kids. I don’t care who the fuck they are or what they did.

I adopted Nyx just after her fifteenth birthday and she’s been under my care ever since.

Nyx’s laugh is gentle. “Your bosses are here and send a message to stay alive. I second that. Do they know something I don’t know?”

I grunt. “Thanks. Nothing new.” I still can’t believe my sister hooked up with the Lords of Chaos. I tried everything to keep her out of my line of work. When the queenpin kidnapped her and used my sister to gain control over me, I knew keeping her out of my lifestyle was not a good idea. But I didn’t mean for her to go out and find herself mafia bosses to shack up with. But at least capable men who love her and her growing baby bump surrounded her.

“How is Harmonia?”

Loaded fucking question.

I swallow past the tight knot wrapping around my vocal cord at the mention of Harmonia.

“I keep thinking she’s suffered because of me and I can’t get past the fucking idea she should hate me, but I want her to love me so damn bad I’m ready to kidnap her to have her all to myself.” Saying the words that have clogged my brain for so long is easier than I thought. “I should ride out and never come back before I do something I know I will regret.”

“Running isn’t like you.” Nyx pauses. “Have you said anything to her? Have you talked about your feelings? Has she told you anything about… her time with the Society?”

The way my sister whispers the Society’s name doesn’t make the mention of Harmonia’s time with them easier to hear. I can’t imagine the horrors my princess survived.

“I can’t get five minutes alone with her to say anything, Doctor Carter,” I tease but feeling anything but humorous. When Harmonia and I have those five minutes, I don’t know if I can voice my emotions. Hell, no. I know I won't be able to. I look at the shadows under her eyes and sense the silent sorrow stifling her beautiful energy and I want to kill everyone who hurt her.

“You know what happened to her isn’t your fault.”

“So you’ve said.”

My fingers itch for a smoke. I make a mental note to bum some off Rage until I can get to a store. With nothing else to do with my free hand, I shove it into my pocket and lean a shoulder against the porch railing. My eyes track the subtle movement Harmonia makes in her sleep as night settles in around us. She curls into my Savage cut and some primal possessive part of my brain clicks on.

“Then if it is your fault, it’s mine too.”

“Don’t go down that road.”

“Ditto, Wolfe. Now go to her. Talk. It’s the only way forward.”

There’s a rustling of foliage and a snap of a twig behind me and my blood jacks full of adrenaline.

I reach for my weapons as a face comes out of the darkness.

---