Page 45 of Born to Scar

I look at Jared, and I can see the knife she threw into his heart with her words. It hit me, too. But she’s wrong. She’s never been more wrong.

She walks out the door, puts her helmet on, and flies out of the parking lot. She’s calm…too fucking calm.

“She’s not going to him, is she?”

“That’s exactly what she’s doing, Cam.” Micky shoves his helmet on to follow. For someone who can’t read a room, he can sure as shit read her.

We all head out to our vehicles.

“Send us your location,” Jared yells over his engine.

With a nod, Mik flies out of the parking lot, following Indy. He and Felipe are the only two in our direct friend group who can catch her right now. My bike is at home, so I ride with Jared. Felipe takes off right behind Micky. He doesn’t talk much, but he sees everything. He’s been silently keeping her safe for years.

Felipe is the first to send a pin. Jared and I follow. “She’s going to Deacan County.” Jared’s voice is panicked. I still don’t know the area very well, but when we take the highway for fifteen minutes and exit into a nice area, I’m confused.

It’s the kind of place you think about when you picture the classic American dream, exactly the place you’d think good, happy, loving families live. Not the nightmare she lived through. Felipe has stopped, and we are in a quiet neighborhood. The bikes look out of place here, as do the four men chasing after the broken girl who used to live here.

Micky is on the porch of a house, trying to pull Indy away, as she continues to bang on the front door, ignoring his protests. She’s pummeling it with everything she has. Jay and I rush the porch. Pulling her away, I throw her over my shoulder, removing her by force.

“Cam, put me the fuck down. This ends—right fucking now.” She slams her fists into my back and wiggles like a goddamn neurotic worm to break my hold. But we’re too late.

The door flies open.

“What the fuck do you want?” a man’s voice slithers out of the opening.

Indy stops hitting me and looks up at the house. Her stomach is tight against my shoulder, holding her body up.

“Hello, Father,” she snarls.

“Ahh, I see you got my message. Is it Indy Rhodes now? Did you get married?”

Her laugh is maniacal. I’ve stopped walking, but everything in me wants to keep moving, to take her away from here.

“You look beautiful. Though you should go back to your black hair. The silver is…off-putting.”

He’s a fucking dick.

“What do you want?” she bites.

“We have a lot to talk about.”

I grunt. He’s not getting anywhere near her.

“I don’t think we do. There’s nothing I need to say to you,” she shrieks.

“Indy, this is a quiet neighborhood. Lower your voice,” he hisses.

Her entire body tenses over me, and she stops breathing.

“What? You don’t want everyone here to know what you are, you fucking monster?” she screams.

If there were one moment in time when I wish she would stop, it’s this one. But I know her well enough to know she’s not stopping. She would burn her skin off before she stopped.

“I wanted to tell you that your mother died. Almost a year ago.”

She laughs. Her deranged voice sounds like she is possessed. “Oh, did you kill her too?” she bites out. “Slit her wrist, watch her bleed out? Clean up your mess?”

She’s shaking against me.