My little brother could pretend to be ‘normal’ all he wanted, but I knew better. I recognized that glint hidden deep in his eyes. And when that glint was thrust to the forefront of his mind…
My arm shot out, pushing Marnie out of danger before Parker snapped. Her chair screeched and then thudded backward on the floor as Parker’s hands gripped the bottom of the table. Our dad managed to jump back while Ava stayed where she was and watched the large oak slab flip through the air like she was at a goddamn movie.
“I’ll fucking kill him!” Parker picked up his chair and threw it against the wall.
Who he was going to kill didn’t matter right now, nor did the text that set him off.
I lunged. Shot forward and dug my shoulder into my baby brother’s chest while kicking his legs out from under him. Parker was a big boy, but this wasn’t the first time I took him out. Football taught him to take a hit, so he wasn’t winded when his back hit the ground, but he was down, and I wasn’t giving him a chance to get back up.
“Fuck you, Preston,” he snarled when I jumped on top of him. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
I hissed back, “Do it.”
His arm swung through the air, and I was reminded of when he was seven, and I caught him sneaking back into the house covered in blood. I didn’t ask what happened while I cleaned him up because I understood the look in his eyes. Just like I understood this day would come.
I ducked under his strike and jabbed my knee into his ribs.
Parker grunted and punched me in the side with so much force that I was almost pushed off him. I gritted my teeth against the ache crawling across my ribs and clocked him in the jaw.
“That’s all you got, fucking pussy.”
A fraction of a second passed, yet I saw the snap in my brother’s eyes. I sat on top of Parker and watched as the twinkle in his gray orbs twisted into something dark and hungry. One hand wrapped around my neck while the other landed in my gut.
“That’s it, Parker.” I choked through his grip, “Let it out.”
Every beast needed to feed, and my baby brother starved his for far too long.
I’d never been more disappointed than I was when the agony of his actions knit his brow.
“You don’t know what I just saw.”
His hand dropped from my neck, and I sighed. “So show me.”
Parker shook his head. “I can’t look at it again.”
My baby brother didn’t get it. This urge that dug into the pit of our stomachs couldn’t be held back. Eventually, that darkness inside of us broke out, and it didn’t give a shit who was around. Parker needed a release before the only thing he’d have to return to was blood and guilt. I wouldn’t let that happen, and luckily there was a time and place for everything.
I looked back to where my Bird should’ve been, only to see her sprinting for the door. Well, I couldn’t blame her for being an opportunist.
“Someone wanna handle that?”
Go figure it would be my sister that jumped at the opportunity. And I meant that in the literal sense.
She sang, “On it.” Then skip-hopped across the room like a kangaroo on steroids.
As unconventional as Ava was, her methods worked. She had Marnie back in the room in under a minute. That didn’t stop my Bird from struggling against the way Ava was wrapped around her.
“It’s okay,” Ava soothed while petting Marnie’s head. “We can play board games.”
Fuck that. I was opting out of that one.
I left them to their thing and walked across the room to find my brother’s phone. The video text he’d gotten was still open on the screen. One look at Lana’s drugged face, and I knew what set him off. Ned Callaghan recorded the rape. Parker didn’t get any justice, he was dead before Lana told him about it, and now he had to see it. Who the fuck sent this shit to him?
That question was answered when a large ace of spades appeared on the screen with the words: ‘Tell your brother I said Hi.’
This guy was starting to piss me off. I doubted Parker saw that part because he snapped seconds after receiving the text, and I can’t say I blamed him. There was a moment when I thought the good pastor had a thing for both of his daughters.
“I want your daughter.”
