in, showing his cheekbones much more than they should be.
“What in . . . how . . .” He murmurs out in complete shock.
“Hola hermano,” I say hello to our brother in our second language, one I’m becoming even more brushed up on in my time here. Angel and I usually practice my Spanish.
“Dios Mio. Me estoy volviendo loco . . .” Damon shoots back out, saying how he must be going crazy.
“Claro que no.” I tell him he isn’t, immediately shutting down the route he’s thinking.
“No entiendo. Has estado desaparecida por más de un año.” He tells me he doesn’t understand that I’ve been missing for over a year.
I shake my head. “Si. Lucien me tuvo escondida aqui en Mexico. Me tenia en un cobertizo enserada en una jaula pero no quiero entrar en detalles. Lo que importa es que esoty bien y los López me rescataron, hermano.” I tell Damon I was imprisoned by Lucien here in Mexico, that he kept me in a shed. I don’t want to give him the gritty details and the Lopez family rescued me.
“Cuando. Cómo. Te ves bien, Amara. ¿Cómo puedes verte bien? Dijiste que vivías en un cobertizo. . . Eso no tiene sentido. ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas allí con ellos? ¿Eh? ¿Cuánto tiempo llevas a salvo y nos tienes preocupados por ti? ¿Pensabámos que estabas muerta! Dios mío. Nuestra madre? ¿Eh? ¿Te das cuenta de lo que ha pasado?” Damon’s expression shifts to anger as his words begin to fill with haste, showing me how upset he is. He asks me when, how. He tells me I look absolutely fine, how I said I lived in a shed and nothing is making sense. He asks how long I’ve been with the Lopez family. How long I’ve been safe and have left my family to worry about me. He even goes on to say our mother has been through so much, even saying everyone thought I was dead.
“No. No puedes sentarte ayi y reprenderme por lo que han pasado nuestra madre o nuestra familia. Yo fui la que torturaron, violaron y mucho mas. Fui yo, Damon, Ninguno de ustedes tienen el derecho de enjorse conmigo. Necestiba tomar tiempo para sanar.” I begin to choke on my words and tears threaten to break through as I defend myself to my brother. I say how he doesn’t get to tell me how to heal, even going into how I was tortured and raped. I sense he’s mad in the fact I’ve obviously been here, but he doesn’t get to tell me how much time I needed to process everything that happened. Hell, he doesn’t even get to be mad. None of them do. “I never wanted to tell you everything that happened to me. But you won’t sit here and speak to me for the first time in over a year and berate me for what I needed to do.” I say, tears rolling down my cheeks. I stop speaking in Spanish, switching over to English so nothing we say is lost in translation.
“You’re right. As much as I hate to admit it. You are.” He shakes his head back and forth, rubbing his hands over his eyes. “Fuck, Amara. I thought you were dead.” Damon pulls his hands away and I see too how my brother is crying alongside me. Damon clears his throat, and hollers. “Poison! Go get Kat. Tell her to bring in Luna and Widow.”
I hear a muffled voice in the background but can’t make it out. “Who’s Poison?” I question.
Damon chuckles lowly, “One of our new prospects. You’d like her. She’s a riot.”
“She?” I don’t realize it at first, but I smile. I never thought I’d see the day when my brother brought in women as prospects, but I’m so happy.
“Yeah. Zane had a club vote and we decided to follow what the Iron Vex up in New York are doing. We’re pulling in female members. In this day and age we can’t not, you know? Poison is the first female we’ve had in the club besides yourself. Zane has one up in Montana, her road name is Frost. She’s a friend of Elena and Reed with the Skulls Renegade.”
“The one who worked for the FBI?” I don’t remember all the details, but I’m remembering a few.
“Yeah. You’d never know that now, though. Her hair is even redder than yours and she’s got tats everywhere. Hell, I expected to see a blondie goodie-too-shoes when I met her.”
I smile at