Embrace the Darkness (The Maura Quinn Series Book 1) - Ashley N. Rostek Page 0,18

hurt my pride, but he really fucked me over when he told her that I was raped. That I was damaged goods. And that I’ve been nothing more than a disgusting pity fuck he had to force himself to be with.” My words ended on an angry growl. “So I killed them. I killed them in a way that would cause them pain. The same pain they made me feel. I made sure I saw fear in their eyes just before I did it because otherwise it wouldn’t have been as satisfying. Just like how I had to watch Zack and Tyson’s fear before I killed them. I kill people who hurt me because that’s apparently who I am. I’m a Quinn. No matter how many years I spent pretending I’m not. I will always be a Quinn.”

“Maura—”

I stopped Stefan from saying anything by slamming my hand on the trolley, causing a loud bang and the glasses to clank. “Are you both satisfied with my reason now?” I was angry at them. Rationally, I knew they'd done nothing to deserve my anger. I wasn’t very rational at the moment. I felt someone come up behind me and the last thing I needed was to be touched. “Don’t,” I snapped to stop whoever it was. No one touched me, but I could still feel a presence behind me. “You promised me a bottle of whiskey.”

“It’s in your room,” my father replied. With how close he sounded, I had a pretty good guess as to who was behind me. I turned to face him. He held a blank expression, regarding me cautiously. I didn’t even bother glancing at Jamie because I knew he’d be just as unreadable.

When neither of them said anything, I left.

By the time I made it to my room on the other side of the house, my anger was at a simmer. Once I stepped inside my old bedroom, it completely faded. Apparently all the prep work that Brody had talked about had been focused on my room. The last time I'd been here, it had been a room of a teenage girl, with dark walls, posters of hot rock stars, and hot pink bedding. Now it was completely redecorated for a woman. All the furniture was new and the bedding was a light lavender color. He'd even had the walls painted light gray with a white trim.

True to his word, a bottle of whiskey was sitting on my new dresser. I grabbed it only to place it on my nightstand. Climbing onto my cloud-like bed, I fell back against my pillows, letting all my emotions come to the surface. I allowed myself to feel everything. Tears poured uncontrollably out of my eyes, one after another until I finally drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER 6

Seven years ago…

I didn't know how long I'd lain on that floor. The bass from the loud music downstairs buzzed through the tile, tickling my fingers. My adrenaline had faded and all the pain was trying to take over. I felt it everywhere. As I lay there, I tried to take inventory of every injury.

My head was pounding from the hits I'd taken to the face. The taste of copper coated my tongue from my split lip. The skin around my wrists was already discolored with bruises from when Tyson had held me down. My knuckles stung. They were sticky with blood from where they'd been cut open. I was proud of the way my knuckles felt because it showed I hadn't just lain there and taken it. I'd fought back, gotten a few hits in before they'd taken me down.

One of my breasts throbbed from where Zack had bitten me. The ribs on my left side were sore from where he'd kicked me. I could still feel his hands on my hips and thighs. His grip had been so rough I felt bruised down to the bone. Between my legs… the pain there was the worst. I tried not to focus on what had happened there, but each pulse of pain that ripped through me gave me flashbacks.

Zack shoving my legs apart while Tyson held me down. The feel of Zack pushing himself inside of me, ripping me apart.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts because I would never be able to leave this bathroom if I didn’t gain some sort of control of myself.

“Don’t chase the rabbit,” I whispered, voice coming out coarse and broken. “Don’t chase the rabbit,” I repeated with little