Page 33 of From the Darkness

“I am standing in front of all you guys and Amelia’s dad and stating this. Amelia Mackenzie is going to be my old lady.” I state.

Eagle pipes up, “Our old lady, there is no way I am walking away from the one woman who calms my racing heart.”

“Amelia Mackenzie will be patched and property of Steven “Drills” Roberts and Lucas “Eagles” Marten until the road takes us higher,” Gears states and then turns to Mr. Mackenzie and says, “I am truly sorry for the way we reacted about your daughters, sir.”

During the whole argument, no one saw Nets leave the room.

Chapter Thirty

Amelia

Watching Rosey lying in bed sleeping makes me realize how fragile life can be, with my rape and beating and now Rosey’s accident. It’s making my mom look lost. Her whole entire face is sunken, and her eyes look like she hasn’t slept for days.

“Mom, why don’t you go home and sleep for a little.” I whisper to her.

She shakes her head, and I am just about to tell her to just go, when the door flies open and I jerk my head ready to drop kick whoever just barged in.

“My Rosey girl, what did she do to you?” Net says and slowly walks towards her bed.

“TREVOR! You came.” The kids yell and run towards him.

When the hell did that happen, when have Nets and Rosey started talking or hell by the sounds of it, they are more than talking.

“Nets what are you doing here?” I asked the obvious question.

“I promised my girl and her precious cargo that I would always be there for them,” he whispers, it almost like he didn’t want anyone else to know that he just claimed Rosey.

I walk over to my mom, and I take her hand and guide her from the room, leaving Nets with my sister and her kids. He is sitting in the chair beside Rosey’s bed and her hand gripped in his and the kids are snuggled into his chest. They look like a content, happy family.

“I think we may be seeing Trevor around more, maybe even Lucas and Steven,” my mom says, and I smile as set of arms wrap around me. I am getting ready to elbow whoever just grabbed me when, “Easy baby, I’ve got you, you're safe. It’s me Eagle.” Is whispered into my ear and my body relaxes, and the tears start to flow.

I’m sobbing hard and Drills is in front of me now “Please don’t sneak up on my like that, don’t grab me. I’m afraid that they will come back for me, that they weren’t finished the first time.” I release one of my biggest fears standing just outside Rosey’s hospital room.

“Precious girl, we have you. You are safe in our arms. We will make sure that nobody, and I mean nobody, steps foot near you,” Eagle states and Drills nods.

“You guys can’t make a promise that deep,” I whisper again and wipe at the tears falling down my cheeks.

“Just believe me when I say that we are your protectors and we take that honor with pride,” Drills states.

I just smile at them through my tears and nod. I’ll agree with them for now, but I know that they won’t be able to protect me from the demons or the monsters. If it were up to me, I’d gladly give my demons to my slayers, but the worst part of the demons being in my head is that they shift to show the ones I love standing there watching while I am being raped and beaten.

Drills

I have never seen her look so scared since I met her. She is a firefighter that runs into burning buildings, yet sneaking up on her in a hospital has reduced her to tears.

“Hey baby, you’re safe,” I whisper and use my thumb to push away the hurt and pain that’s falling from her eyes.

They did a number on this chick, and I think we are seriously going to have to stop and talk to her about seeing a therapist.

I wrap my arms around her waist and lower my face so that I can look into her eyes and tell her, “You, me, and Lucas are going to have to sit down and agree to get you help.”

“I don’t need help.” She is trying to sound like she has some determination behind her words, but her voice cracking and her eyes downcast, telling me a different story.

“Amelia, I know you think you can handle what you are dealing with on your own. I know that those demons that are buried deep inside that gorgeous brain of yours are also playing tricks on you, making you think that those you trust are the one that set this up, but you are a shell of the woman we met. Your eyes are sunken and black from lack of sleep. The curves that caught my eye are starting to thin out, and you are skittish that the smallest of touches send you cowering on the floor. You deserve to have your life back. You deserve to stand and look at the world in your eyes and state. I won. I beat back my demons and didn’t let my rapists win. So please let me and Lucas help. Let’s go to therapy as one cohesive unit. Let’s stand out in public looking healthy and showing whomever did this, that you will not be held down. That you are winning,” I finish and place a gentle kiss on her lips.

She doesn’t say anything, she doesn’t even raise her eyes. I know that this will be the biggest fight of her life and I plan on standing by her side and showing her that we are together as one. We fight as one and love as if our ending is never in sight.

We stand there for a few minutes, me hugging Amelia’s front and Lucas who is at her back and has his face buried in her neck, standing here and now I vowed to myself that she will never have to standalone, that she will know that I am always here for her and that she is my life.

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