Page 73 of Talon

“Believe me, it is.”

“That sucks,” I mutter.

“Not as much as that basement sucked. If I’d known where I was headed, I would have gladly shared a room with twenty other children instead of a dozen in Blackstone’s basement.”

“A dozen? What the fuck? What happened to the rest of the kids? Did you all escape at the same time?”

“Sadly, no. We tried to get all of them to come with us, but some were too scared. In the end, it was just Scar, Nitro, Matrix, Reaper, and me. We came up with a plan to get free. I would have brought anyone else we could trust, but you have to understand—Blackstone rewarded spies. Most kids would have done anything to receive an extra piece of bread, even sell out their supposed friends. That’s how bad things were.”

“So, you have issues trusting people.”

“Yeah. That’s for sure.” He laughs bitterly.“Which is why I didn’t trust Hank. I don’t trust anyone.”

“Not even Scar and the others?”

“I do trust them, and Nina. But that’s it.”

“What about me?” I ask softly.

“I-I care about you so much. Before you came along, I never spent this much time with a woman. I had a few casual things in the past, but nothing like this. You’re so different from any woman I’ve ever known before. You’re special.”

“You’re pretty special, too.”

“Can you forgive me for Hank?”

“Yes. I do. But I want to hear the rest of your story. It’s helping me to understand where you’re coming from.”

“Okay. Well, as you can imagine, Blackstone had a dozen kids locked up in his basement, and it wasn’t to keep us safe. He’d take us out, one by one, and use us in various ways.” His face drops, and he can’t meet my eyes. I’m sure he’s referring to sexual abuse, based on how he called Blackstone a pedophile. It’s clear he’s still ashamed of what happened, even though it wasn’t his fault.

“It’s okay, honey.” I rub his back in slow circles.“I don’t need to know everything.”

“Can I just skip to where we escaped?”

“Yes.”

He lets out a shuddery sigh before continuing,“Scar came up with the idea. It took a few years, but eventually, I started trusting Scar. He brought in others, Nitro, then Matrix, and finally, Reaper. We became each other’s protectors. See, we didn’t just have to fight Blackstone, we had to deal with the other kids, too. It was kill or be killed down there. The guards weren’t our only enemies.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Yeah.” His jaw clenches as he rubs his palms along his thighs.“Scar has the ability to see what people are planning.”

“That had to be horrifying.”

“It sucked. He knew what Blackstone was going to do to him every time he pulled Scar out of the basement.”

My stomach turns when I think about what they must have endured. I’m glad he’s not telling me everything. I don’t know if I could listen without throwing up.

“Scar discovered Blackstone would be at a charity gala in California for several days. Most of his guards were going with him, which left minimal security at the ranch. We knew it was our only chance to escape.”

“What’s Nitro’s talent?” I ask, curious about the others.

“He’s a medical intuitive. If you’re ever sick, he’ll know it before you do.”

“And Matrix?”

“Astral projection. He can leave his body at will.”

“Wow, that’s wild. What about Reaper?”