Bloodbath (Order of the Unseen #4)

Chapter Twelve

Damien

T ension builds between the four of us as we approach the club. Sinsations is just about a block away and yet I haven’t even considered what I’m going to say to her. Quinn is smart, and man is she livid. The second my hand meets the top of her thigh, she pulls away, proving my observation correct.

I don’t say a word. She has the right to be upset. For all the months she has known us, she has suspected that we were hiding something from her.

It’s not like we were hiding a small truth.

This isn’t like lying about shitty credit scores, past relationships, or not seeing their text or call.

This is Quinn’s life at stake. We can blame it on the Order until our faces turn blue…

You were an order at first, princess, but you’ve become so much more.

We took an oath of secrecy, baby.

Babe, if we told you sooner, it could have done more harm than good.

But no. Trust or not, that’s all bullshit. None of that will ever be good enough in Quinn’s eyes, and that destroys me.

I rest my chin on my tightly clenched fist, staring out the windshield into the dark, gloomy night. I’m not a good guy. I never have been. But, hell, I really tried to be better for her.

She shifts in her seat, hugging herself tightly, as if she’s seeking the feeling of security.

A hushed “Quinn,” escapes my lips.

“Don’t,” she warns.

The dull organ that resides in my chest aches for her. The urge to pull her onto my lap despite her probable rejection is almost overpowering. I park the Jeep at the curb beside the club and look her way, searching for the right words.

“Everything is going to be okay,” I promise. She avoids my gaze. “Look at me, baby.” My little Quinn shakes her head, reaching for the door. “Please.”

“No—”

That’s when I redirect her attention toward me by cradling her face with my hands, giving her no other option. She explores my eyes with anger and frustration in her own.

“What do you want, Damien?”

Tracing my thumb over her pink, pouty lips, I say the first thing that comes to mind.

“I want to make sure you hear me fully when I say this,” I begin, emphasizing every word. “Who I am in there is not who I am when I’m with you.”

She blinks innocently at me.

“There’s a difference between guys who say they’d kill for you, and guys like me who actually do it.”

Her eyes glisten.

“To the world, I am a menace to society, but what I am to you is the only thing that matters to me.” My tattooed fingers curl tighter around her jaw. “I would do anything for you, whether it’s gutting someone who has wronged you in the past, or burning this whole town to the ground just so they never have the chance.”

“They’re here, Damien,” Micah announces. “I just got the text.”

“What? It’s after four in the morning,” Quinn mutters, alarmed. “Who’s here?”

I hop out of the Jeep and jog around the front. As soon as I open her door, I can sense her uneasiness. She seems distant, and rightfully so. Except it’s the blatant horror behind her gaze that eats at me.

She leaps straight into my arms and clings to me. “Hold me. Please. Just for a second.”

“Okay,” I say softly, caressing the small of her back.

“I just want you to hold me before we go in there—” She cuts herself off.

“Because this might be the last time,” I finish for her. “Depending on what we’ve been hiding, you might leave us. Is that right, princess?” She tries to draw back, except my grip on her tightens. “You could walk away, baby, but just know, we will always be one step behind, killing anyone who touches you.”

I reluctantly release her.

Jensen places his hand on the small of Quinn’s back, shooting me a nasty glare.

Sinsations is almost pitch black when we step inside. I switch on a light and slow my pace as Micah pulls me behind.

“Killian is tied up,” he quietly explains.

I arch a brow. “Do you mean that literally or metaphorically?”

When Quinn and Jensen turn the corner, Micah takes hold of my bicep and yanks me to a stop. He looks me dead in the pupils, as if he has something important to tell me, but his lips remain in a firm straight line.

Immediately, I’m on edge. “What?”

“They just found three bodies outside town hall.”

“Great,” I snap, trying to remain collected. “What does that mean, Micah? I need more context. Are they mine? Did I fuck up?”

“No. They aren’t yours. Killian and a few of our guys are on watch. The cops have the place surrounded. The whole thing is all over the news.”

“Three bodies,” I echo dryly. “Let me guess. They’re all the missing women?”

He nods somberly.

The next step in the Hallowed Divine’s ritual.

Two young women disappear, then before anyone even has time to report the third, they’re all found dead.

Resisting the urge to put my fist through the large glass window beside us, I pinch the bridge of my nose between my fingers.

“Damien,” he murmurs, slowly trailing his hand from my bicep to my shoulder. It’s evident there’s something he hasn’t told me from his reluctance to continue.

I frown. “Just give it to me, Micah.”

“Their wrists have been slit. They’re all carved up, man. They’ve been fucking mutilated. The photos got leaked.”

My body becomes numb. I try to fight away the gruesome image of my mother lying in a puddle of blood.

I sway to the side, losing my balance.

Micah swiftly grabs hold of me. “You’re okay,” he soothes, keeping me grounded.

The vision hits me.

The gaping wounds in her wrists.

“You’re good,” he reassures me. “Say it.”

Her blood soaking through the towel. My shirt.

I’m good, I mouth silently, my fingertips digging into the nape of his neck.

“I got you,” he whispers.

The light draining from her eyes.

Her body going limp.

My soul turning pitch black.

After all these years of not speaking to my father, he’s still taunting me.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I stumble again. Micah guides me backward until my back is pressed to the concrete wall. He positions himself so his body is against mine—chest to chest, face to face—with his knee between my legs. He grabs my jaw and makes me look at him.

“Don’t let the memory take you,” he warns, eyes narrowed. “Stay with me. Okay?”

With a nod, I stare into his expressive eyes. Those rich, warm hues of amber.

A range of feelings sweep over me as I look at him. I find myself wondering if he feels it, too. The magnetic pull that seems to draw us closer together lately. The force that has me trailing my hand up his forearm in a desperate attempt to feel him better.

His heated gaze drifts to my mouth, and he lightly traces my lips with the pad of his thumb. All I need is his warm, gentle touch to bring me back from the darkest pits of hell.

I don’t fight the gradual shift of emotions that wash over me, the growing feelings I have for Micah. But it’s a new dynamic of our relationship I’m not yet inclined to act on.

I shake away the thought until there’s only one thing on my mind.

I am going to find my father, and I’m going to kill him, as well as anyone who stands in my way.

“You good?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” Micah clears his throat and steps back. “There’s more. They left a message in blood. We think it was meant for you.”

He hands me his phone, and my chest tightens at the image.

She follows