Page 19 of Mistress Mayhem

“You’re not going to like this. Are you sure you want to know?”

Austin glances at Fox and then Cooper before nodding. “I think we have to know.”

Looking between the three of them, I see the determination on their faces. Even if I told them to get the hell out, they’d just ignore me. I guess we’re doing this.

Chapter Eleven

Austin

Ileanbackintothe couch, waiting for Sage to tell us why she’s hunting these four particular men.

Something smells fishy to me. There’s no reason we should be hunting the same men she is. Not unless there’s more going on than we know about. Which seems highly likely at this point.

She chews on her bottom lip, and all I want to do is tell her to stop abusing it. But I can’t do that. I don’t really know the woman sitting in front of me. I don’t know how much of Avery is still inside of her. I’d love to pick up right where we all left off, but that’s just not possible. Not only is Charlotte not here, but we’re all vastly different people now.

At the thought of Charlotte, my eyes fall closed and pain crests through me. Even after ten years, I haven’t been able to get over the loss of my little sister—which was only exacerbated by Avery leaving. I hadn’t been able to keep them safe from whatever happened to them. I’d failed.

No. I didn’t fail,I remind myself.I didn’t have any way to know anything was wrong. I did everything I could to find them.

I hardly slept, didn’t go to school for weeks as I tried to find them. Fox and Cooper were by my side like always, but we hadn’t been able to find hide nor hair of them. I’d blamed myself for a long time before the guys had forced me to see a therapist—one that I still see today, albeit less frequently.

I know what happened to them isn’t my fault. I know there’s nothing I could’ve done to prevent it. I’d been little more than a child myself when they disappeared.

Knowing that doesn’t make it easier to accept.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly as my eyes open once more. Sage’s eyes are locked on me, a question in them as she refuses to break eye contact. I just shoot her a small smile to reassure her that I’m fine. Or at least as fine as I can be.

“I’m sure the three of you realized that something happened to me and Charlotte when we disappeared.”

Fox snorts. “Of course we did. The cops tried to feed yours and Austin’s parents some line about the two of you running away, but none of us believed it. Even before you showed up the morning after Mayhem.”

“We knew you’d never just leave us,” I tell her.

“Until you did.” Cooper’s words are cold. I turn to look at him, a disapproving frown on my face, but he just ignores me as usual.

“Yeah, well. We definitely didn’t run away. Someone drugged us when we were walking out of the movies.” She regales us with the whole tale, glossing over some of the details, but we’re not stupid. We get what she’s not saying. Finally, done with the story, she stares down at her hands. Talking about this is obviously hard on her. I wish I could comfort her, but I don’t know if that’s what she wants.

She’s given no indication that she wants us to touch her or help her. And knowing that she and my sister were raped repeatedly? Drugged and beaten? I’ll never force my touch on this woman. Not that I ever would’ve before, but knowing this? I’ll need to be extra careful. I don’t want to spook her, or worse, trigger her. I know I’m a big guy and I can be menacing. The last thing I want to do is cause her any pain.

“The four men who visited us were the four men I’m hunting tonight.”

Red fills my vision.

These assholes are the ones who killed my baby sister? The ones who raped her? Who beat her? Who drugged her?

The ones who did the same to Avery? The ones who broke my little one? It’s no wonder she ran away as soon as she could. All four of these cockroaches are friends with our families, or at least friendly. We ran in the same social circles with their kids. She never would’ve been able to avoid seeing them. And there’s no way they wouldn’t have killed her. She knew too much.

Rage unlike anything I’ve ever felt before rushes through me. I jump to my feet, needing to find a way to expel this anger. I scream, the sound sounding more animal than man as I launch across the room.

It’s like I don’t have control of my own limbs, of my own body. There’s some kind of disconnect as I yank down bookshelves, throwing books against the wall. I smash chairs against the wall, on the floor. Nothing in my path is safe from the destruction I must wrought. I’m so wrapped up in my anger and the pain ravaging me from the inside out that I forget about the three other people in the room, letting the darkness consume me as I lose my shit.

When I come to again, I’m on my knees on the floor, panting from exertion. I’m kneeling on a pile of wood and paper when two small hands cup my face.

“Hey, big guy. Are you back with us?”

Blinking, I lift my head to find Sage standing before me, staring down at me. Her eyes are red, and her makeup has been disturbed by what I can only guess were tears. She’s never looked more beautiful.

“I’m sorry.” My voice is hoarse, the words hurting my throat. I must have been yelling.

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