“You’re mine, Fe. If you try to leave me, I will murder everyone you love and make you watch.” Diego grabbed my hair and forced me to look at him. “Have you learned your lesson yet?”
He pulled hard, causing me to cry out. “Yes.” I blinked away my tears, but a few stray ones maneuvered down my cheeks. Diego smiled evilly and his tongue met my skin, licking away the tears that mixed with Alejandro’s blood on my face.
“You’re never leaving me again, Fe. You’re mine now.”
I heard the footsteps running across the compound. It sounded like a herd of elephants storming toward me.
Scythe’s voice was first. “Sis, Faith? What’s wrong, what happened?”
He fell down beside me and touched my shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” I screamed. “Don’t touch! Don’t touch! Don’t touch!”
Scythe coiled back, but another pair of strong arms came around me, familiar arms that made me feel safe—arms I desperately needed in that moment.
Specter.
I tried to fight back, I didn’t want anyone touching me, not even him, but he refused to let go. He scooped up my broken body and carried me into the compound. The whole time I screamed, until the screams died in my throat and turned to sobs. I clutched onto Specter’s shirt, refusing to let go of the soft cotton.
“I got you,” he murmured. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
He carried me into Scythe’s bedroom and straight into the bathroom. He slammed the door behind us and locked it. I could hear Scythe and Switchblade pounding on the door, but I knew what Specter was doing, and he didn’t want anyone else to see me.
“Let me in!” Scythe screamed. “I need to make sure my sister is okay.”
“Give me a second,” Specter yelled back.
Specter plugged the tub and turned the water on. The whole time he kept me cradled into his chest, not caring that my fingers were digging into his flesh and making him bleed.
The room filled with steam, and even though I fought him, Specter removed my clothing until I was nothing but skin, blood, and anguished memories. He lifted me up and placed me in the warm bath, the second my skin touched the water it tinted pink, the clumps of dry blood dissolving in the warm liquid. He pushed the curtain over so that you could only see my face, then opened the door only allowing Scythe inside.
“Is she hurt?” Scythe asked.
Specter shook his head. “This isn’t her blood.”
“Fuck,” Scythe ran his fingers through his hair. “You didn’t kill him, did you, Faith?”
The word kill sent me into another sobbing fit. I sank to the bottom of the tub, allowing the water to wash over me, until I was submerged underneath the reddened liquid. Maybe I could drown away my sins. Midas could meet me on the other side.
Strong hands wrapped around my neck and lifted my head out of the water. I sputtered as I gasped for breath.
“My fault. My fault. My fault.” It started out as whispers, then got louder.
Scythe covered his ears and started screaming. “Make her stop.”
Powerful lips covered mine, silencing my crazy thoughts. For a second all the evil melted away, and I felt safe again. Specter pulled away, and Alejandro’s screams echoed in my head again.
“No. No. No. Kiss me. Keep kissing me. Make the screaming stop. Make me forget.” My whole body started to convulse, and my brother’s eyes went wide, but Specter looked remarkably calm.
“She’s in shock. Let me clean her up and get her calmed down, then we can see what happened.”
Switchblade pounded on the door. “Scythe, get the fuck out here. Shit’s hitting the fan. Diego and the Saints are here.”
I launched out of the tub until I was face to face with Specter. I grabbed him by the collar, pulling him toward me so my face was inches away from his. “Nooooooo,” I screamed. “Don’t let him have me. Don’t give me away.” I clutched Specter’s shirt, afraid that if I let go Diego would take me away.
Scythe looked down at me and frowned. “There’s nothing in this world that the Saints could give me that I would sell my sister for, Faith. You’re Armada, and the Armada protects its family. Specter, stay here and take care of my sister. I’m going to see what Diego wants.”
“He’s bad. A bad, bad, bad, man. He’s evil. He murders. He . . . he . . .” I broke down again, all my words choppy and crazy as the thoughts rolled around in my head.
“I got her, go and take care of this shit.” Specter held me as tight as he could, my shaking sobs vibrating through him, too.
Scythe ran out of the bathroom, leaving me and Specter alone together.
“You’re okay now,” he cooed, petting my wet head. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He grabbed a rag, lathered it with soap, and moved it across my skin. Everything was pink, the water, the soap, everything.
“Why do you care about me?” I asked him, staring into his hazel eyes. The outline of a contact covered his iris, and I realized he was wearing colored contacts. “Your eyes aren’t hazel?”
He shook his head. “No, they aren’t.
It was like I was seeing him through new eyes, and I swear if I squinted just right, it was Midas sitting right in front of me. But that was impossible. Midas was dead. Wasn’t he?
I opened my mouth to ask him what color they are normally, but a soft knock wrapped against the door and Daisy popped her head in.
“Can I help?”
“Yeah, can you continue washing her up? I need to go see what’s going on outside.”
“No, don’t leave me. Please!” I clutched onto Specter’s cut, refusing to let him go.
“I have to, Faith, my brothers may need my help. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you. Daisy’s a good person, she’s going to keep you safe for me.”
Daisy nodded. “I got this.”
Specter stood up and gently removed my hands. “I’ll be back.”
“But what if you don’t come back? He said he was going to kill everyone I love.”
Specter looked at me strangely. “I’ve already survived death once, Faith. It’s going to take a lot more than a bunch of Saints to kill me. Nobody’s ever taking me away from you ever again.”
He left the room in a rush, but his words hung in the air between us.
I mulled over them for a few seconds before everything hit me like a bolt of lightning. “Midas, come back!” I screamed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Specter
The second she said my name, I stilled. I knew I had said too much, but I couldn’t conceal my identity any longer—not from her—not when she was this fucked up. Faith meant everything to me and when she showed up a sobbing mess covered in blood, I knew that I had to tell her the truth. It was the only way she’d trust me again.
Despite the nagging thought in the back of my head telling me to turn around, I kept walking until I was outside. The gate was closed, but Ice and Obi were standing on the lookout posts with guns pointing down. Scythe, Switchblade, Guerrilla, Jagger, Riptide, Rex, and Cipher had their guns drawn pointing at the other side of the gate.