Page 19 of Hostile Saint

My stomach started to turn and made my mouth water for a totally different reason than the hunger I had felt earlier. Now I was ill from a past that was presently trying to choke me.

Moving my arms to wrap around my waist, I laid my forehead where my hands just were. The cool glass of the table touching my flushing skin helped settle my sinking stomach. Through the clear table, I stared at the wood planks under my feet as I begged my closing lungs to let in the fresh evening air that was starting to smell like oncoming rain—

“I lost a girl once.”

Ever so slowly, I lifted my head to see Lynx, shocked by his words.

He nodded through a sadness that screamed he knew of my anguish, all too well. “Yeah… It makes me sick to even think about it.”

I wanted to nod, scream, Yes! That is how I feel right now! but I couldn’t move.

Lost in thought, Lynx spun his beer bottle in its own condensation. “I still carry guilt for it. Only shitty VPs allow their sister to be taken by the enemy.”

His sister? Ah, man.

“Lynx,” growled Dagger in a fatherly manner that didn’t exactly surprise me. “That wasn’t on you—”

Lynx lifted a hand. “If I’m askin’ Nine Lives to speak the truth, it’s only right I do the same.” Lynx’s eyes met mine. “She doesn’t blame me for the kidnapping, even though she should.”

My mouth fell open. “You got her back? She-She’s safe now?”

As if witnessing me gaining more hope, right in front of him, he gently nodded again. “Yeah. We,” he gestured to Vice and Dagger, “got her back.”

I looked at them as it all sunk in. Lynx was trying to inform me the present men had the power I needed to get my Lacey back. Now I needed to find the courage to give them any intel they were asking for.

Easier said than done.

My stomach soured again.

Letting my jaw tick away some of the nerves owning my scarred body, I tried to open my mouth, but it refused. So, we all sat there in silence.

With compassion, Dagger finally said, “It’s hard to speak of the Devil and all his power. We understand that, too.”

My eyes welled for a few reasons. One? Fear. I was petrified to speak of what had been drilled into me to never talk about. That was a tough hurdle to jump. Two: reliving any of my past was even tougher. Who wanted to constantly think of such cruelty? Three: I was also suddenly angry. I was angry at the brothers, our mothers, and myself for not being smart enough to see their betrayal.

As tears shook in my eyes, I groaned, “Why are you so willing to help a complete stranger?” My own family had abandoned me. I couldn’t afford any mistakes. The price was far too high.

Lynx replied, “My sister taught me about ‘signs’. She swears they will lead you right if you only take the time to see them and listen to them.”

I blinked in confusion. “What does that have to do with me?”

His eyes slid shut. “When your girl cried out in those woods, she sounded like a heartbroken wolf. Her dreadful howl made my blood run cold.”

The other two men rubbed their arms as if experiencing goosebumps.

“It was like she was calling out to me.” Lynx’s eyes opened to show intimidating protector instincts. “I felt I had to answer.” His jaw tightened, then released. “When we found you… I saw a haunting rendition of a howling wolf in the tree trunk at your head.” As if not sure he believed what he saw, he ran fingers through his longer hair. “Maybe it’s only me who saw the shape in the bark, but my sister would’ve called it a ‘sign’.”

Crackle-pop! Lightning suddenly exploded in the distance but close enough to have us all jump in shock, now staring into the night. The following rumble of thunder echoed in the sky, sounding just like the dragons I heard that fateful night. It was as if God, or whatever you believe in, was confirming Lynx’s message. That he hadn’t imagined shit. He was recognizing a mystical arrow pointing straight at me.

My body trembled at the thought of there being a force in the sky that was actually on my side, trying to help me and Lace escape violence.

Lynx almost smirked, but it was twisted as if linked to pain. “You believe me.”

In a surrender, because it felt wrong to not believe him, I exhaled a shaky breath. “We are worth helping. I swear it. You may not believe me because our moms aren’t even searching for us, but…” I had to swallow. That had hurt so much to say. “Lace and I, even though we’ve experienced so much viciousness, we don’t want to hurt anyone. We’re good people.”

Dagger nodded. “I believe that, one-hundred-percent.”

I stared into the dark distance where other houses sat, lightning lighting up the sky as a storm rolled in, but that’s not what I was truly seeing. I was picturing a future with Lace that we never thought possible. “I’ve already told you guys that I will go to Austin with you. I’m trying to leave all I’ve ever known behind since it is a cruel place,” I whispered tragic truth. “And they don’t want us,” I tried to explain, “but… I’m scared that what I learn from being around you will teach me I could have saved her sooner.” I wiped away a tear that had finally dripped… “What if you teach me that ignorance isn’t bliss?”