Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102136 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Flame!” Viking called from behind me. I guided Flame out into the communal clearing. Viking stopped before us. “Flame. You doing good, brother? Been fucking worried about you, man.” Viking smiled, waiting for Flame’s response. His smile fell when Flame stared at the ground and he gave no answer, no indication that he had even heard him. I watched confusion wash over Viking’s face. He looked to me. I gave him a sad smile. Flame was not yet the man we knew, a shell of his former self. But he would be whole again soon.
He will be soon…
“Flame.” AK approached us from his cabin. He had spoken quietly, just enough to let Flame hear his voice, but delicately enough that Flame was not surprised. AK was more careful with his approach. I studied Flame’s best friend as he came closer. I saw the moment he noticed Flame’s sunken shoulders, with his hand wrapped tightly around mine. Flame showed no expression on his face, which masked his feelings. AK’s feelings, however, could not be concealed. He looked to me as Flame focused on the ground. I was not sure Flame was even listening to any of this. I believed he had simply placed himself at an emotional distance from his friends.
The pain in AK’s eyes was so profound, it made my aching chest grow even tighter with sadness. In the past, AK had always been the person who saved Flame, the person who had freed Flame from the hospital that imprisoned him and given him a home. AK had committed the gravest of actions, simply to give his friend temporary reprieve from the pain he held in his heart. AK had been Flame’s protector. I knew it must have been agony to be a witness to his friend’s obvious inner pain. “It’s good to see you, brother,” AK rasped. I studied Flame for any sign that he had heard AK. There was no response, not even a squeeze of my hand. AK’s happiness at seeing Flame faded, like a drop of water quickly slipping off a leaf in a storm.
“Is everything ready?” I asked AK, trying to defuse an awkward moment. AK tore his concerned gaze from Flame. I gave him a reassuring smile, nodding in confirmation this would work. It had to, because I did not know what else to do to help my husband beyond this.
“Everything’s ready.” AK’s eyes drifted above my head, in the direction of Viking’s cabin. I turned to view what had caught his attention. My heart immediately swelled. Asher. Asher was standing in the doorway. Then my stomach fell as I witnessed the black rings that circled his eyes and the wounds on his neck and hands. But Asher was not looking at me or AK. His focus was directed to one person and one person only—his brother. The brother he loved more than any other soul on earth.
“Asher,” I called, trying to keep from crying at the shattered look on his face. In that moment, I felt a true failure. I did not know how to care for either of them. I did not know how to fix the Cade brothers. They were both lost, both so filled with pain and fear which would not ease. At the mention of Asher’s name, Flame snapped his head up and focused straight on his little brother. It felt like a punch to my chest when Asher met Flame’s stare. Asher swallowed, and his dark eyes began to shine.
“Flame,” Asher rasped, voice broken and coarse. Flame’s hand tightened around mine. I heard Flame’s quick inhale of breath at Asher calling his name. I wanted so desperately to know what Flame was thinking in the here and now. The last time he had been with Asher, they had been tied to trees, hurt, bleeding… and Flame had imagined Asher as Isaiah. He had replaced Asher with the memory of his late brother. I saw how that had crushed Asher, making him feel unwanted, and unworthy when compared to Isaiah.
Asher’s obvious worry for Flame was heartbreaking. Asher appeared tough these days. He was as tall as Flame and almost as wide—muscular and intimidating. His dark features made him seem harder than he was. But when it came down to it, he was a child, desperate to please the older brother he worshipped. Neither knew how to navigate a relationship with the other.
Both were broken.
Both sought any scrap of happiness they could muster. But that happiness forever seemed to evade them.
Flame’s gaze dropped to the ground when it all became too much. “Ash… Ash…” he ground out, his voice hoarse from lack of use. His voice trailed off and I saw redness burst on to his cheeks. He shook his head, unable to express what he wanted to say, frustrated that he could not find the words. Flame stepped closer to me, his chest brushing against my back. He was seeking my comfort.