Burning Truths (Consume Me #2)

8. Cole

Chapter Eight

COLE

15 years old

Stop !

My fist clench at my side, “We should be protecting her.” I spit at my brothers.

Ryker stands motionless at the bay windows facing the wide front lawn while West leans against one of the walls scrolling on his phone. The small light shines on his face but his mask is in place. Neither of them flench at my outburst.

“This is us protecting her.” West says, not looking up from the screen.

His words don’t match the white knuckle grip he has on his phone. My shoes wear the carpet down with each pass I make through the large room. For a moment the screams stop and the silence echoes around us.

The cream colored carpet and white walls decorated in priceless artwork clash with the eerie feeling surrounding us. As if the expensive items around the room could cover the filthy feeling of betrayal coursing through me.

“No!” A girl wails, ice searing through my veins with the single word.

We freeze. The plea sounding closer. More clear.

“They’ve opened the door.” Ryker grunts out.

West finally looks up with darkened eyes, “They want us to hear. Dad’s entire training method is barbaric, but this seems far past that. He’s testing us.” Caution laces his tone, eyes bouncing around the room.

I ball my fists at my side from the raw anger coursing through my veins, each step gaining speed, but I don’t act on it. Not yet. I have to remind myself that there is always a point to our fathers ways. Kingston’s and Stone’s are bred to know pain. It’s in our blood from the day we’re born. What I don’t understand is why Kenna is key to all of this. She’s a princess in her own right, born to take over for her father as the only child to his name.

“She’s being trained to become one of our wives.” Ryker snaps. Answering my internal questions. “She has to learn what that means. Being at risk is the very reason for this madness.” His words may agree with our fathers but the venom in his voice warns of something darker.

Reality finally snaps into place. And the meaning of what his words hold causes my next step to falter. Kenna Kingston is ours to protect, love and cherish, but she’s not ours to love. Her blonde hair and bright gray eyes shine in my thoughts, but only in the way a brother loves his sister. Full of admiration and protectiveness, and I would tear any fucker limb by limb if they ever hurt her. Including any of our own.

“She’s family.” I state. It’s not a question, but a reminder that she’s off limits to our touch.

West pushes off the wall, pounding his feet until he’s a few paces in front of me. His brown eyes look at me with question, but it’s the other Stone brother that responds.

“Kenna is off limits to the Elite Law.” He snaps, shoving off the far wall near the window. The night sky spans endlessly beyond the back of the house.

Elite Law. Filthy old men and money hungry women built those long ago. Bloodlines must be carried on in wealth and social class. A Kingston and a Stone together would create a new foundation for our world.

Whimpers can be heard from beyond the bedroom door, and my patience has run thin. Fisting both my hands, I spin to face my brother.

“And yet here we are!” my arms expand at my sides, gesturing to the room, “We’re standing here hearing her cries, listening to her as she wails, pleading for the torture to end and do nothing!” My voice bounces around us like a lethal bullet waiting to maim its victim.

“The law is in place for a reason.” West says, his tone low, aggravation evident.

Ryker steps closer, the swift movement of his feet coming to a halt as he stands at the point of our makeshift triangle.

“Kenna Kingston has been promised to a Stone. Elite Law and the foundation can’t touch her unless one of us refuses marriage.” Ryker’s eyes bounce between us, waiting for us to put the pieces together. Kenna can’t be promised to another or married off to a sleazy fucker without one of us turning her away.

Footsteps sound in the hall, it barely registers as my stare bores into Ryker’s, willing him to hear all of my thoughts. The door closing is the only thing that has me whipping my head towards the door, both of my brothers following suit. Another ear piercing screech fills the space around us, no longer muffled on the other side of the door.

Red paints my vision. Rage for Kenna, anger at our fathers, and disgust at us for standing by. So, I do what a Stone would do when one of us is on the line. I go for our girl.

Ryker’s hand lashes out, gripping my arm and yanking me back. Whirling around, I slam my palms on his chest, a low growl escaping my throat.

“Get the fuck off me Rye.” I bare my teeth with the warning.

His brown eyes darken, “What exactly is your plan, Cole? Run down there and rescue her? Be her knight in shining armor?” He scoffs, “Dad and Kingston are doing what’s best for her!”

Jerking my arm from his hold, my hands fist his shirt dragging him closer, so close our noses touch. “She’s one of us.” My eyes look him over, ignoring the way his lip trembles with unbridled rage. He can fool everyone else but I see right through him.

“Cole’s right.” West says.

Shoving him away, I turn to leave when he reaches for my shoulder. Rolling it back to avoid his grip, I take one swing landing a hit to his jaw before storming to the door.

“Where do your loyalties lie?” I toss over my shoulder.

Jerking the door open, I’m met with two sets of tired eyes. Sunken and saddened, but firm in their rules. One reserved in the truth while the other covering hatred for his daughter. Because how can a man torture his own child, a fifteen year old, for the sake of training her to take his place? It’s barbaric and out of touch with the times. Yet, there they stand before us covered in sweat and guilt, but they get no sympathy from me.

“Go take care of her, son. She needs you all.” Kingston says.

Damn near sprinting from the room, I make it to the basement door in less than a minute before I’m throwing it open, the sound of it slamming against the wall barely registers as I continue my descent down the stairs. West stops at the top of the landing behind me, but I don’t slow my speed. Storming down the steps, my body jolts to a stop when I see a red faced Kenna sitting in a chair in the center of the concrete room. Only a table, water bowl, and towel in front of her. Her once long blonde hair is matted to her head, sweat and fuck knows what else staining the strands.

“Princess.” I whisper. My voice almost breaks, but I swallow it down and hide the horror on my face with a smirk. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

Making my way to her, it takes effort to blink away the pain across my face when I see how truly broken she feels. Her grey eyes are stormy, like a raging sea, and her hair has lost its shine. Bending at the knee until I’m eye level with her, I push strands of hair from her red cheeks and give her a tight smile.

She isn’t marked or bloody in the way I expected. Waterboarding someone forces them to fight every natural instinct they have. To breathe, to lean their head forward, to fight. That mixed with being starved, locked in a basement with no lights for days, it’s easy to break someone this way. And she’s been broken. Kenna looks past me at the wall as if she’s lost in her own thoughts. I hope they’re nicer than what’s right in front of her.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, Kens.” I whisper.

I can hear footsteps behind me, but I keep my eyes on her. Waiting for her to speak, to scream, to say she hates us. Anything other than the silence that’s suffocating me in this moment. Yet, nothing comes. Her sunken eyes peer up at me with so much fight left inside them and pride suddenly fills my chest.

“Kens-” I start.

“Tell me a joke.” She says, stopping my former question.

The room is so quiet, I swear I can hear the faint sound of her heart beats slow down to a steady thrum. Chuckling under my breath, I think for a moment before I blurt, “I guess getting married to a Stone comes with it’s own form of torture.”

Once the words leave my mouth I instantly want to take them back, but our girl lets a soft giggle slip free. A small weight lifts from my chest at the soft sound, but then my face falls. She sees it the second it happens.

“Take me to my room.” She says, her voice strong. Clear. Steady.

West lets out a laugh behind me that makes me jump from the sudden sound. “There she is.”

He steps around me to come kneel beside her with a wide grin on his face. Placing both hands on either side of her, West leans in, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. Pulling back, he captures her gaze for a few seconds, neither of them speaking a word, only sharing a look before he nods. That one look says more than any conversation they could have right now. He sees it too. Her strength and fight.

“Anything for you.” With a wink he stands and starts to undo her bindings.

Once she’s free, she rubs the red marks on her wrist with a wince, but she masks her pain well. Once she’s fully untied, the sadness and guilt morph back into rage and suddenly I’m throwing the chair against the wall, letting out a feral scream. The room swims, my entire body vibrating, all I can taste is blood. West steps back to give me space, but a little pale hand lands on my chest pulling my gaze downward. Kenna stands a few inches shorter than me with the look of a fucking warrior.

“I’m ok.”

I can’t look at her, knowing those big round gray eyes are staring up at me. Instead I keep my eyes trained on the wall behind her.

Pinching my chin between her fingers, she forces my head down and I let her. I can’t deny her anything. But I close my eyes, not willing to let her see the demons lurking behind them. .

“Look at me, Cole.”

I can’t. It’s not right. Everything in this room is wrong.

Digging her nails into my skin she speaks louder this time, “Look at me.”

And I do. Our gaze clashes like the sea against the sand.

“I’m okay, Cole. I’m fine.” She murmurs only to me.

My chest aches from the look in her eyes but I see her clearly. A fighter. A true Kingston heir. She’s calming me when I should be the one calming her, and that feeds the feeling inside my chest.

Shaking my head, I grip her hand, and push it into my chest harder. “We should be protecting you, not treating you like the enemy. This should never happen!” I’m trembling under her touch.

Her chapped lips tip up in a smirk, “I’m made of steel because of the way you all care for me. I’m only as strong as the blood that runs through you. I bleed, we bleed. It’s the way it’s always been. We all bear the pain of the foundation.”

She’s so smart for someone who’s still in school. We’re only kids. She deserves to be in high school planning prom or cheer squad bullshit. Not in a basement being treated like a prisoner before her sixteenth birthday. She presses up on her toes to kiss the spot just under my chin before she slips her fingers into mine and pulls me towards the stairs.

West waits at the top leaning in the doorway with a look that lets us know he’s proud of how she’s handling this. We both are. She hesitates when she notices Ryker isn’t waiting for her, causing my fingers to tighten around her in reassurance. Ryker will come in his own time.

When we reach the top, Ryker moves from the shadows to stop in front of us. With one curl of his finger and without missing a beat, Kenna drops mine, taking a step forward before running into his arms. West and I watch as he lifts her and turns to walk away. Kenna’s legs wrapped around his waist, her hands tangled in his hair.

“Ryker.” I call out.

He pauses, but doesn’t turn, “Cole.” He warns.

He’s on the edge and me stopping him from caring for her will push him over. That doesn’t stop me from saying what we all know.

“It’ll be you in the end. Come to terms with it now or later, but she’s yours to protect. It’s time you stop hiding in the shadows.”

He looks down at Kenna, “She’s always been mine.”

Walking away he leaves us standing here feeling useless.

“Is this how it’s going to be from now on?” I ask.

Feeling like the little kid that had his favorite toy stolen, I swallow down the rock stuck in the back of my throat.

Slapping a hand on my back West laughs, “We’re just the middle men, little brother. I wouldn’t get too close to Kenna when he’s like this.” His laugh jostles me. “Keep your empath powers to a minimum, Cole. It’ll kill you one day. There’s no reason to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Wise words from the playboy bullshitter himself. West takes nothing serious and is always ready for the next party. It takes effort to keep my eyes from rolling but I manage to only let a scoff escape.

With those last words he heads to his room. Most likely calling one of the many girls bound to fall at his feet when beckoned. Me? I make my way to the security wing of our house, making sure our defenses are in place. If our fathers are preparing for something, I plan to be the first one to see it coming. I may be the younger brother, Ryker may be the head of our hydra, but I’ll always be one step ahead of them.

Protecting this family falls to the one who has no blind spots. If that means pushing Kenna away to keep us all safe, then it’s a move I’ll make to keep the princess alive.