“You ok, Prez?” Jack asked solemnly. Jack had recently gone through something similar.
“Everyone out,” King ordered.
Chairs scraped against the floor as the officers stood. Jack stopped beside King. His words were quiet. I only heard them because of how close I was. “I’m here for you, brother. I know what you’re feeling. It’s ok to grieve.”
King nodded, unable to speak, and Jack slapped him on the back before leaving the room.
“Give me a minute with my son,” Sal whispered.
“He needs to know the rest.”
Fuck, what else is there?
“I’ll tell him,” Sal rasped, his voice filled with emotion. I looked to King. He nodded, and I walked out of the room.
Chapter Six
Kytten
TRIGGER WARNING:This chapter contains a graphic representation of self-harm and cutting. If you suffer from any triggers, PLEASE, PLEASE, take extreme caution before reading this chapter. Your mental health is more important to me than my fictional story.
I was still here.
Val asked me to stay, and I couldn’t tell her no. She asked me to watch over them all. Her daughter, her son, her granddaughter. And the other woman we placed here.
There was no explanation as to why Val put her here. We never put two survivors in the same area. There was too great a risk. But when it came to Amber, Val didn’t follow the rules she put in place.
No, Amber was special.
We all knew it. We all expected to be pushed aside once she was no longer in danger. Well, I did anyway. And now that time had come.
Jane was dead.
When Sin took Dante back to New York, all hell had broken loose. Jane had shot Sin. Dante had strangled Jane.
Amber was now safe.
So why was I still here?
I slipped off the bed in the motel. This shitbag was the only thing close enough to stay in. Well, there was that bed-and-breakfast, but that shit wasn’t me.
Maybe it would have been if things had been different. If I had grown up in a normal home. With a mom and a dad. And my brother.
Val tried to give me a normal life. As much as she was able. She hadn’t had a normal life either. Her story inspired us all to do what we did.
None of the girls in the Nyght Nymphs had grown up in what would be considered normal environments. We all had our demons. Monsters that screamed inside our heads.
Mine were screaming now. Begging to be let out. I would never get any sleep if I didn’t release them. So I reached over and grabbed the knife.
I studied it for a minute. It was a gift from Val, for my twelfthbirthday. My first birthday with her and the Nyght Nymphs. She’d gone all out with a cake, decorations and presents. All the girls spoiled me on that first birthday without my brother.
“Happy Birthday, Kytten!” Val and the girls shouted as I came down the stairs into the living room.
She remembered.
When I woke up, I immediately started crying, knowing what day it was. My first birthday without Thorne. I missed him so much.
But when I heard them call out ‘Happy Birthday,’ I cried for a different reason.
