Page 78 of Devour

I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling. “Fine. Thank you for getting me out of the mansion today. I needed it.” I’m a fucking idiot for what I thought happened back on the trail.

“Anytime.” He pushes off the wall. “I mean that.”

I turn toward the door and start to press the code into the keypad. The sound I hear makes my entire body run cold.

There’s a moan. It’s muffled but unmistakable. “Axl.” A familiar woman’s voice cries out. “Oh my fucking God, Axl.”

My hand freezes on the handle. My whole body freezes. Justin storms up beside me, and I know he hears it too because his fists are clenched at his side.

I punch in the rest of the numbers and shove the door open, making it slam into the wall.

The lights are off and the curtains are drawn, but I can see that Tracy is bent over the edge of our bed, gripping the sheets. A man is behind her, fucking her hard. He’s wearing Axl’s mask. His hands are on her hips, and his body is angled away from the door.

Tracy’s head snaps up. Her eyes go wide when she sees me standing in the doorway.

My ears are ringing, and my chest is caving in. I’m staring at the red mask and the clothed body behind it, and none of what I’m seeing makes any fucking sense.

“Axl,” Tracy moans, smirking at me and pushing herself into him harder. “Told you I was better than her.”

He notices me and stops, shoving her away from him on the bed, as if that’s going to change what I just saw. He tucks his dick into his pants and takes a couple steps toward me. I back away from him, backing right into my brother.

“Stay the fuck away from me, Axl.”

Justin steps in front of me, putting himself between Axl and me. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He sounds like he’s ready to rip Axl apart. Justin shoves him hard in the chest, sending him back a step. “You fucking piece of shit.”

Axl doesn’t say anything. He just stands there while Tracy steps forward. “If it makes you feel any better, his father is making him be with me. But you might as well accept it like he has.”

“Sayl, let’s go.” Justin turns to me. His hands are on my shoulders, and he steers me toward the door. “Come on. You’re not staying here.”

I let him. I don’t fight it. I don’t scream at Tracy or demand an explanation. Or beat the shit out of Axl like I want to. I just let my brother walk me out of the room because my entire body is shaking and if I open my mouth, I’m going to throw up.

The door shuts behind us, and the sound of it echoes down the hallway. Justin’s arm is around my shoulders and I’m walking. I don’t know where we’re going and I don’t care.

The hallway is a blur. Justin guides me, and I let him because I can hardly feel my legs.

The fucker used me being out of the house to make his daddy happy by fucking his future wife. The one he told me he wasn’t going to marry. I should have suspected something was off when he told me to take my time. He normally wants me where he can see me at all times.

I press my hand against my mouth. The piercings throb and my nipples hurt under Axl’s hoodie. His name is tattooed on my body, because I’m the stupid whore who believed his lies.

My eyes burn, but I refuse to cry. I won’t do it here. I won’t let anyone see me fall apart over a man who was never mine to begin with.

Justin tightens his arm around my shoulders. “I’ve got you, Sayl. I’m not going to let him do this to you. We’re getting out of here.”

Wherever we’re going, there had better be a lot of alcohol. But I know I can’t drink enough to forget that I ever let myself love Axl Hollister.

CHAPTER 32

SAYLOR

My bedroom looks exactly how I left it, but it feels foreign now, even though I haven’t been gone for an entire month. It’s fucked up how much can change in a short amount of time. I’d grown used to life with Axl at the Talon mansion.

So far, I have thrown a bunch of shit around and cried into my pillow. At least I’ve managed to avoid seeing my mother, because I don’t think I could handle that without clawing her eyes out for saying something shitty to me.

Justin appears in my room and sets a glass of wine on my nightstand. “Here you go. I’ll bring you more if you want it.”

“Thank you. This is much needed.” I glance over at him to see the sympathy on his face. “I’m right down the hall if you need me.” He pulls the door shut behind him. He’s given me my space since we’ve been back at our parents’ house, which I appreciate. I already know how much he hates Axl, and this just proved him right.

I sit on the edge of my bed and stare at the wine. I want to scream. I want to break something. I want to drive back to the mansion and put Axl’s own knife through his chest for making me feel this fucking stupid. Part of me can’t help but question if that was actually Axl. I didn’t see his face, but after the shit he did to me, the coward couldn’t even face me like a fucking man.