I walked to the Prez. My head twitched and I felt the darkness starting to drag me down. I stopped fucking fighting it. It was how it used to be, before Maddie. I felt the demons from my soul start to claw at my flesh, possessing me, pulling me down. “They tried to kill Maddie. And the baby. They’re mine! I’m gonna fucking kill them all!”
“When we get them, they’re yours,” AK promised.
The door opened. I spun round, ready to kill whoever dared enter. A doctor in a white coat stopped dead. “It’s time to wake her,” he said. My feet wouldn’t move. My fucking heart wouldn’t stop beating too fast. I bit my tongue so hard blood burst in my mouth.
“We’re leaving soon, doc,” Vike said. “Just speaking to our man, Flame.”
“I’ll come back in ten minutes,” the doctor said and practically ran from the room.
“We’ll be back when we have something,” Ky said to me, and the brothers started to leave the room. Ky paused beside me. “Don’t know if you’ve been told, but Grace had gone to the bathroom when the fire started, snuck the fuck outta the back room. Maddie must’ve realized she wasn’t there when the fire started. Grace got herself out of the building, saw the fire and ran for the exit door. That’s why Maddie was still in the clubhouse. None of the other bitches had realized Madds had left to find Grace in the fucking chaos.” Ky swallowed. He moved his hand in my direction, as though he was going to put it on my shoulder. I tensed, readying to push him away, but I stepped back before he could touch me. Ky’s hand fell back to his side. “Maddie tried to save my kid, brother. I don’t know how to repay her for that, except to find the fuckers who did this, and let you have them.” Ky left. Everyone did except AK and Viking.
“They’re back, aren’t they?” AK said, pointing to my arms. “The flames.”
I gritted my teeth and stared down at my arms. “They’re everywhere,” I said. I traced my tattoos with the tip of the knife. “They never left, never disappear. But they’re fucking boiling again. I can feel them all the time. Feel them in my flesh and in my bones.”
“AK!” Ky’s voice came from the doorway. “We gotta go!”
“I’ll be back, brother,” AK said. “I’m gonna find Smiler, then these assholes. I promise.” He paused beside me. “Keep strong. If you need me, call.” He glanced to Maddie on the bed. “You feel like the flames are becoming too much, you fucking look at your bitch and wrestle those fuckers back. Yeah? Don’t let them win. Push them back, for Madds, for your kid. They need you.” AK nodded to me, and then left. His words circled my mind, you feel like the flames are becoming too much, you fucking look at your bitch and wrestle those fuckers back. Yeah? Don’t let them win. Push them back, for Madds, for your kid… But they were already too strong to fight. They were already everywhere inside me. They had already poisoned my blood.
Viking coughed. My eyes slammed to meet his. He looked to Maddie sleeping on the bed. Then he started to leave, but he stopped and said, “I’m real fucking sorry for touching you, brother. For choking you out the other night. But I ain’t sorry for saving Madds and your kid. You weren’t letting her go. We had to save her. I know I promised I’d never touch you. You might never forgive me for breaking the promise. But I won’t regret it. You’re my brother, man. I gotta save you too.”
Viking left. I tried to keep calm. I tried to stop the fucking fire in my arms from eating my flesh, to stop the darkness from taking over. But I felt it happening. I felt my fucking mind breaking up, the devil digging in his claws. I heard snakes hissing in my ears and felt their fangs sinking into my skin. You’re evil, boy. Evil runs in your sinful veins… you killed your mama. Your evilness killed your mama. You’re a fucking retard. An evil, sinful retard…
I pulled at my hair as my poppa’s voice stabbed at my brain. I tried to breathe, but the flames were burning through the flesh of my lungs. The door opened and the doctor came back in. I forced myself to the side of the room, keeping a