Fractured Hearts (Shattered Lives, Book Three) (57 page)

Exposed, Elaina’s breasts instantly perked in the cold air.

“Sweet Jesus… Let me look at you.” He stepped back, giving her a good view of his tented pants. “You are stunning.” Another rush of saliva made Elaina gag. “I’ll give you something to gag on, whore.”

Roger touched her breasts, then dug his hands down into her pants, working his disgusting fingers around her apex. Not believing what was happening, she kept telling him no, pleaded for him to stop, and sobbed, hoping he would end his attack.

“Shut up! Or I will fill your mouth with this.” Unzipping his black and gray camos, he forced her hand in. He groaned as frantic fingers fought to get away.

Elaina shook in fear, knowing he was going to rape her, but she found the strength to give him a warning. “I’d bite your dick off!”

“You are one feisty bird! Nice try.” He chuckled.

Roger pulled off her pants. She worked to cover her body with her arms, while his sinister eyes danced around her from head to toe. He knelt on the tops of her feet, then pinned her wrists to the wall so she couldn’t fight back. He licked and nipped, leaving a trail of bite marks down to her most personal of places. She whimpered, then screamed as he latched onto the thin lace edge of her panties with his teeth.

A gunshot rang out close by the cabin door, and Elaina began to sob.

Roger jumped up. “Hold that thought, sweetheart.”

After zipping his pants, he grabbed a gun from the desktop—Elaina’s gun. Just before he made it to the door, it was kicked in.

Roger’s sadistic laugh reverberated through the cabin when Henry stepped into his quarters.

“Henry!” Elaina screamed.

I glanced at her. When I saw that she was cut and almost naked, the rage boiled over.
Motherfucker tried to rape my wife!
The craving to brutally gut him for all that he had done grew tenfold. One hand gripped my knife; the other had a death grip on my Sig.

We stood eye-to-eye.

Our guns were pointed at one another’s head, fingers hovering over the triggers.

“Well, hullo, Liam.” Roger smiled. “I knew you would come. I was about to have my way with your bird. I commend you. She is a rather fantastic specimen. Care to watch how a real man does it?”

I growled through a clenched jaw, “You stay away from her.”

Roger barked out a laugh right in my face. “Stand down, soldier,” he said with an eerie calm.

“Fuck you. I have been waiting for this day for years.”

“Have you now?” I didn’t move as Roger grinned. Instead, I studied his muscle movement, just as I was trained. “You know what’s funny? Within minutes of meeting me, your little bird figured out the biggest secret of all. It makes me wonder how intelligent you really are. You must take after your daft whore of a mother.”

Any reference to my mother would always be a mental drain for me, but I kept it tight for Elaina. The muscles twitched in my face. Shouts and gunshots rang out on the deck above, but Roger’s eyes never left mine. I was ready to kill him. I was just waiting for the right cue.

“Luke…” Roger paused, a depraved grin on his face. “Oh, Luke. I remember the day you were born. It was a rainy day. Wet and muddy. Your useless whore of a mother–”

“Henry, don’t let him get to you!” Elaina yelled, trying to cover herself up with her tattered clothing.

“Shut up, you whore! I’m tired of your fucking mouth!” he spat.

“Don’t you dare talk to my wife that way, you insignificant fuck!”

“Did I upset you? Poor Luke. Always the tough life. Anyway,” he said in a bothered tone, “I watched your undeserving, treacherous mother give birth to you, a bastard child, on her living room floor. Then I kicked her arse for giving birth to such a whiny lad! I didn’t want a child, let alone one like you.”

I was shaking. “Henry, stay in check,” Elaina begged me. I swallowed hard.

He continued to prod, egging me on. “I enjoyed beating her. It shut her vile trap. Then I would fuck her until she bled from every opening of her body. You remember that day?”

“I don’t give a fuck about her,” I growled.

I tried to shut her out of my mind, but remembering my fifth birthday made me ache. I remembered the cake and that toy truck she squirreled pennies away to buy me. I worked hard to swallow the lump that swelled in my throat.

“I can see that.” Roger smirked. “Would you care to know she’s still alive?”

“I already know what happened. Kellan told me shortly before I made him turn.”

Roger laughed. “Kellan is full of shit.” My face went flat. “I’ve had her locked up for ages. Great fun. But I decided that she’s getting boring. Now this beautiful bird will do.”

“I will kill you before I allow you touch her again,” I warned.

“Will you? You will kill your own father?”

“You are
not
my father.”

“Oh Luke, Luke, Luke… I knew you were too fucking stupid to understand.”

“I don’t have a father,” I growled and saw my moment when his eyes shifted to focus behind me.

I pulled the trigger.

At the same moment, chaos ensued. Screams pierced the air, and Roger’s gun discharged as he fell to the ground. In depraved satisfaction, I watched the blood seep from the hole in his head, not worrying about the sounds behind me. To make sure he wasn’t going anywhere, I plowed my knife into his chest. A twist, then I pulled it out, smearing his own retched blood across his face.

The deed was done and I was beyond pleased with myself. Although I did regret not gutting him.

Screams and cries continued behind me. I didn’t give a fuck what was happening. All I needed to do was take care of my Elaina.

I ran over to her and took off my hoodie. “Here, put this on. You okay?” I asked, running my thumb over the scratch on her face. Still terrified, she nodded. Then I helped her pull on her pants.

Now I could focus on the situation developing behind me.

Josiah was on the floor, gasping for air. He touched his chest, then lifted his hand to his face, fingers dripping with his life. Blood pumped out of his chest at an alarming rate. Panic showed on his face when he realized his end was near.

“Josiah… Shit.” I dropped down to him. “Shh, Josiah. Calm yourself. It’s going to be okay.” I looked at the wound, then looked up at Savannah.

“Te-tell J-J-…” Josiah was trying to say something, but we couldn’t figure it out. “J-J-J-osie…love…” He choked. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as he coughed.

“Save him!” Savannah screamed as she pawed at him. “Save him!”

“I can’t,” I murmured, wrapping my hand around Josiah’s cheek. “Listen to me, Josiah. You are a great man. You did well for us today.” He reached up to my face, gasping. Blood continued to run out of the sides of his mouth. His body shook and his eyes aimlessly wandered. I grabbed his face. “Look at me. You played an important role in rescuing Elaina. You’re a hero. A hero, Josiah. You hear me?”

His hand dropped from my face just before his eyes fluttered shut. My head and shoulders sagged.

Savannah held him as he passed, telling him how much she loved him and how proud she was to be his sister. It brought me back to Nick’s death, seeing Elaina in the same position.

I was so pissed that we lost another. “Goddamn it!” I yelled.

Twisting around, I jumped up and kicked Roger in the head. A gasp made me spin around. Elaina had a horrified look on her face, making me realize I needed to center myself and calm down.

Needing to hold Elaina, I rushed to her. The images of Quinn, Thomas, and now Josiah repeated in my head like a flip book. Then, realizing I had almost lost Elaina, I pulled away, my eyes full of tears.

“Love, I was afraid I would never see you again.” She fell into me and sobbed. “It’s all right, love. I’ve got you. I’m right here with you,” I murmured and held her until Chris cleared his throat. I glanced over my shoulder.

There stood a woman—pale, frail, and obviously abused—in a dingy shift dress, her bony arms reaching for me. My body stiffened. She began to cry when she looked me up and down.

“Luke…,” she said.

I felt ire take hold of my every fiber. That woman sold her son. She rejected him.

Me… She fucking sold and rejected
me
.

“It’s Henry,” I snapped. “Luke died years ago when you fucking sold him to that!” I growled, pointing at Roger. “You’re no better!”

“Listen to me…” Elaina began rambling, but I shut her down.

“Quiet, Elaina.”

“Henry, please, you have to listen to me…” I looked at her, not sure what was going on. “It’s not what you think. She didn’t sell you like Kellan said.” My breath staggered as I inhaled. “She has been imprisoned at the facility since you were ten.”

I looked back at the woman. The sadness enveloped her like a perfectly tailored dress. The tears ran down my cheeks while I tried to keep my own sadness tucked deep down. Elaina reached and wiped them away.

“She was looking for you for five years. Roger kept you hidden from her. She wasn’t allowed contact. He forced her to watch some of the things they did to you. She wanted to save you, but she couldn’t. He has beaten and raped her for years. Henry, she
didn’t
abandon you. She
didn’t
sell you.
She did not throw you away
. She loves you. Always has. It was him that took her away from you.”

“Please, my son, I beg you. Listen to her. I love you. I have never stopped trying to get you free.” I slowly reached my hand to her face and touched her, checking to see if she was real or some sick hallucination. “I begged and pleaded for your release from that prison. I did what I could. I tried so hard. I tried for you…
for us
.”

“Mum…,” I whispered.

She nodded. “That’s right, baby boy.” I grabbed her and held her tight. I was so much bigger than she was that I thought I would hurt her. She stroked the back of my neck like she used to, making me cry like a motherfucking baby.
My mum… Christ Almighty.
“I’m so sorry, my beautiful boy. I’m so sorry. Shh… It’s all right. I love you so much.”

After all she had been through, she pushed it all away to comfort her broken son. Elaina held her hand over her mouth to try and stifle her sobs, but it didn’t help. She was crying as hard as I was.

I pulled away slightly to grab Elaina, but my mum reached up and held my face. “You are an amazing man. I am
so
proud of you. Look at your beautiful woman.” I turned. “She loves you so much. She held strong that you would save her. And you did.”

“I do love her more than anything, and would do anything for her,” I said roughly.

“I know. I am
so
proud you didn’t end up like him.” She nodded her head toward Roger. “Thank you for saving us from his wrath.”

“I have so many questions,” I whispered.

“I know you do. But let’s get out of here first, yeah?” I smiled softly and nodded. She rose to her tiptoes and kissed me on my stubbled cheek, then wiped the tears from my face. “Come on.” She led me out of Roger’s quarters.

I watched as Chris picked up Josiah’s lifeless body. He spoke softly to Savannah and headed up the stairs to the deck. We all followed behind them, my eyes focused on the trail of blood being left behind. My heart ached. I had a feeling his death was going to hit Josie hard.

We all met on the deck and walked back to the dock together. There were bloodied, true dead bodies everywhere. We dumped the bodies overboard and decided a few of us would come back later to raid for supplies.

“Oh, Henry… I almost forgot.” Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. I smirked and caught them when he tossed them.

Truck keys. I was so thankful for that. My ass was dragging. We piled in, Elaina making my mum sit shotgun. She held my hand the entire way as I drove us back home.

When we pulled up to the school, we carried Josiah’s body over to our cemetery. Elaina fell to her knees when she saw Thomas’ body. I comforted her as best I could while Chris and Jake lay Josiah right beside him.

I watched Savannah fuss with his hair and touch his face, then I grabbed her chin. “Savannah, I’m so sorry. He was a great kid.”

“He was.” Her tears dripped on his face.

I took her hand and offered my most sincere voice. “I meant what I said. He’s a hero to me.”

“Thank you,” she cried.

I know she and I weren’t best mates, but I liked Josiah. He always brought an air of happiness whenever he walked into a room with his jovial, carefree personality. “Would you be all right with waiting until tomorrow to bury him? We can do a nice service for both him and Thomas.”

“Will anything happen to his body out here?” Her eyes darted around the perimeter of the area.

“I think he’ll be safe. I’ll see if I can get a few people to dig the graves today and place him in one.”

“I think that’ll be fine,” she choked out.

I pursed my lips and slid my hand down to her elbow, gave her a quick pat, and stood. When I turned, I pulled Elaina up and held her while she continued to cry for Thomas.

Walking her over to my mum, she mumbled, “I can’t believe we lost Thomas.”

“I know, love. It kills me.” I nestled my face in her hair.

Knowing she was back in my arms and safe had me feeling more love for her than I ever had before.