Page 6 of Bones
“You still haven’t given us a good reason why you didn’t take her out,” Blaze comments, ignoring that Sloan is only a few feet away and can hear every word. It takes everything in me to not breathe in, to scent the air to find her reactions.
I grit my teeth and glare at Blaze. His mate, Kennedy, is the reason why Sloan is here in the first place. Kennedy had married into the mafia and ran when she thought she took out the mob boss--who happened to be her husband. Shitty for her and us, Enzo Santi Pastori had familial connections with the Light Justicars. An order of religious zealots created centuries ago by an Archangel, bent on eradicating every demon fleeing to earthfrom the celestial wars. A war still raging when Reaper lead our escape. A war we’d all been conscripted and forced into.
Blaze is right, though. I don’t even know why I hadn’t killed her, not really. I’d told Reaper and Cinder that something had stopped me when I’d heard Sloan’s pleading for death.
“Stubs is following some leads,” Cinder speaks up, preventing me from responding to Blaze’s inquiry. The wooden chair, massive to accommodate our larger frames, creaks as he leans forward. Resting his forearms on the table and bringing his hands together, he looks directly down the table to Sloan. “Sloan Davis. I’d like you to answer some questions for us.”
We all look at her and an ache builds in my throat at the terror in her eyes. A terror she quickly stamps down, wiping her expression clean until she’s got her head bowed submissively. A subservient posture that comes too easily for her. Cinder and I share a quick look. Of all of us, he and I share the experience of abuse at the hands of our rulers.
Blonde hair falls forward, shielding some of her face from us. She’s quick to tuck it back and settle her hands below the table. She’s practically vibrating, she’s so tense. Her food is completely forgotten in front of her.
Cinder frowns at her, not that she’d notice. “What can you tell us of your being a Light Justiciar?”
She rolls her lower lip, nervously chewing on it. I curl my fingers against my thigh, fighting the urge to tug the abused flesh from her and soothe it.
“What would you like to know?” she asks after a long moment, her raspy voice wavering.
We’d yet to ask her anything, hoping that she may open up on her own. Either because she’d grown comfortable with us or because she’s so obsessed with her doctrine that she’d yell and rage at us. Instead, she’d been silent, retreated inside of herself.
Chainz grinds out, “Everything, girl. Why or how you joined them? Did you volunteer your abilities for them to use? Are you planning to slit Bones’ throat in his sleep?”
I suffocate the reaction to growl at Chainz’s scathing tone and Sloan’s defensive flinch.
Sloan’s head snaps up, enough to glare at Chainz with a shocking level of emotion in her eyes. “I didn’t volunteer anything. I didn’t even know about what I could do until Father Xavius.”
“Explain,” comes Cinder’s sharp command.
The spark is snuffed from Sloan’s eyes, her head bowing again. When she speaks again, her voice is monotone. “I was brought to them when I was seventeen. Once you’re in their grasp they never let you go, no matter what. I don’t know anything about them. I learned quickly I was good for two things.Hemade sure I knew and accepted my place.”
“Who was he?”
When her blue-green eyes meet mine, surprised, I realize I’d made the demand. Sloan steals a glance at Cinder before returning to me. “Father Xavius.”
The urge to see vengeance dealt out spikes through me. I crush the side of my tongue between my gritting teeth, focusing on the sharp pain and metallic taste until I feel in control again.
“Tell me about him.”
The air around the table is thick with tension as Sloan visibly struggles to compose herself. The bitter scent of long held fear reaches us demons and we share a knowing look. With the evidence of her fear and the little we’ve learned since that night at the clubhouse, there can be no doubt. Sloan had wanted to die to escape Xavius and the Light Justicars.
I’m out of my chair and kneeling beside her, her chair squeaking against the floor as I turn it until she is facing me. I grip the back of it, my forearms resting on the arms and caging her in. She meets my gaze, and my chest aches because I know exactly how much bravery it takes for her to lift her eyes to mine. Eyes brimming with tears.
“He will never touch you again, this I vow.” My voice is darkened by my rage and a need to protect her. “None of them will. I’ll kill them before they ever get close enough to.”
Something I don’t recognize is forming between us as Sloan’s watery eyes stay on mine, her lips press together and her chin quivering as she fights to hold back the emotional storm I can scent on her. I don’t move, willing her to trust me. To trust that I’m sincere.
Sloan lunges forward, wrapping her arms around my neck. She buries her face in my neck, burning me with her falling tears. I wrap her in my arms, holding her to me as she shatters at last. I don’t give a fuck if Cinder has more questions for her. They can wait.
I shift until I’m carrying her against my chest, one arm around her shoulders and the other under her knees. When I rise, I’m ready to challenge Cinder and the others if they demand I keep her there. Chainz looks pissed and ready to say something but Blaze throws a bottle cap at him, smacking him in the foreheadbefore he can open his mouth. I look at Cinder, who is watching me with an expression I can’t read. At his subtle nod, I leave.
Sitting on my bike with Sloan still breaking apart in my arms, I know one thing.
If Father Xavius really survived the attack on our clubhouse, I’m going to enjoy hunting him down and killing him myself.
4
SLOAN
My eyes are puffy and ache while my cheeks burn like I’ve scrubbed them raw and then rubbed salt on them. Both of those are nothing to the pounding in my head. It’s like my skull is about to be split in half. With a groan, I lift a lead filled hand to my temple.
