Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High) - Meagan Brandy Page 0,76

okay, RaeRae. Everything will be good.”

But will it?

I was a little girl no one wanted. A little girl that forced another one from her home. From the only place she ever knew and into a world of poverty and drugs, prostitution.

My mother’s body was used, then decided her body was all she was worth and let people pay her to use it.

She came here to save me, in her own fucked up way, and I killed her for it.

I took her life, and then I took her life.

I don’t know how long we sit on the floor of the bathroom before Royce whispers, “You need to escape? I can send someone for your iPod, some weed, anything.”

My heart clenches, his crestfallen eyes flashing before mine.

“It’s gone,” I whisper, pieces of me I didn’t know existed splitting beneath the skin. “He took it.”

Royce tenses against me, then slowly draws back to meet my stare. “What?”

“Maddoc, he took it.”

Royce’s face morphs and he gently shifts back a few inches to see me better. “Maddoc has your iPod?”

I nod.

He sets me on the floor as he climbs to his feet, then pulls me up. He grips my face between his hands. “Come on, RaeRae. You need to sleep.”

I don’t fight him but let him pull me from the room and lead me into Captain’s.

“I’m gonna step outside the door and talk to Bass,” Royce tells me, glaring over at Bass before exiting the room.

I move closer to Captain, ignoring Rolland when his chair scuffs slightly across the floor and he exits, taking Victoria and Maybell with him.

Thankfully, Captain’s bed is wider than a standard hospital bed, so I only have to move a few wires to crawl in beside him.

I close my eyes.

Soft, slow hands run across my arm and my eyes peel open.

The room is dark, the sun gone, but the moon offers a hint of sight.

When the hand brushes once again, my head snaps up, and I gasp.

“Cap.”

“Hey,” Captain rasps.

“You’re awake.” I look into his tired eyes.

He nods. “Been for a while, didn’t wanna wake you though. Royce told me you haven’t been sleeping.” His eyes move between mine. “You okay?”

I can’t help it, I laugh, burying my face back into the crook of his arm again. “Ugh, am I okay?” My head pops back up.

Cap doesn’t grin though, instead growing more concerned.

“Captain, you were shot, twice. By my mom. Are you okay?”

“Raven,” he whispers, his hand coming up to cup my face. “Stop it.” His light eyes roam my face, pausing at my hairline. He moves his fingers up my cheekbone to my forehead and pushes my hair back gently. His features squeeze before coming back to mine. “You saved me,” he whispers.

“You saved me, too.”

Captain stretches his neck, bringing his lips closer. His stare hits mine, a rawness I’ve never seen in them, one that exposes my own in the same second. My eyes move between his a moment, and then the world around us becomes too much, we lean in.

So much pain and sadness wraps around my heart with this single move, and I can sense his just the same. There’s no movement, not exploring, only the firm contact of my lips and his.

He pulls away but keeps the connection between our mouths close. “We could have lost you.”

“I don’t wanna talk about that.”

He nods. “Is she...”

“I’d say she won’t cause us any more trouble but knowing her she still might.” Her watery eyes flash before me. “Even without a beating heart.”

He pulls me close, so I drop my head back beside him and he continues to run his hand across my arm.

Several minutes pass when I finally start talking again.

“She thought you were Graven,” I admit. “That’s why she came. That’s why she shot you before she realized shooting me would be easier.”

“She sold you to my dad. Why freak out about it now?”

“Royce asked the same question.” I tilt my head up to look at him. “Maybe your dad never planned to give me to them. Maybe he had good intentions, and his way of letting me know was giving me my knife, but things changed, and he had to use what he could to protect his family.” I give a small smile and Cap’s eyes drop from mine. “I wasn’t family yet, Zoey was. It’s what anyone would have done.”

He’s quiet a long moment before he says, “I was so sure Mallory got pregnant on purpose, try to lock herself in, you know? But then