Page 4

Aries

Darkness surrounds me and I can’t help but wish it would swallow me whole.

One week. Seven days. 168 hours.

I’ve been stuck in this fucking cell, chained to the concrete wall, for seven days.

My wrists ache as the metal digs into them, fresh blood dripping from the scabs, ripping open.

Everything in my body is screaming to fight, but I can’t. Not with the state of my mind. Not with the words of the masked dickhead filtering on repeat.

Killer. Disease. Waste of space.

His robotic voice filters through my head and I push it out with every ounce of strength I can manage to latch onto.

“I will not die. I will make it out of here.”

The words are like fire against my dry throat.

In the week I’ve been here, they have given me a peanut butter sandwich and water twice a day. The first few days, I refused to consume any of it because poison is not the way I want to leave this world. But eventually, hunger and dehydration took over, giving me no choice but to succumb to the cravings.

Killer. Disease. Waste of space.

“Shut up,” I mutter and ease myself into a sitting position, looking around the room as if the dark walls and no windowed area are going to change.

I need to get out of here. I need to get back to my team.

But everyday I try to fight seems futile because I am chained to the wall. Every day I’m greeted by the same asshole who attacks the deep dark depths of my fucked up soul that only the worse version of myself would conjure up.

In the five years that I have been part of Resilience, I never once stopped to think that I would end up being the one needing to be rescued. I never allowed myself to go there because my plans were always well-executed and thought out to every last possible outcome. So that brings me to the question that has been plaguing my every waking hour. Which is a lot because I have nowhere to fucking go.

How the hell did this happen? And who the hell is responsible for this?

Anger rises in my chest, and I want to fucking scream. But I can’t, because just as I’m about to, the sound of a door opening stops me and my spine stiffens.

“Oh, Aries. It’s time for a little chat. Hope you slept horribly.” The robotic voice filters through the dark room and I want to kick, punch, stab, and maim whoever is behind the mask. But I can’t. I’m fucking helpless and all I can do is sit and try to ignore the words that are harsher than a bullet.

“Aries! Rayne is here!”

Boone’s voice booms from the bottom floor of our shared apartment.

I stick my head out of the bathroom and yell, “Get her settled, will ya? I’m just getting out of the shower!”

“Yeah. Hurry up.”

I can hear the hatred in Boone’s voice. But it’s not because of Rayne. It’s because of her mother.

My best friend is not fond of the woman holding my toddler, who was the gift of a drunken one-night stand. He was skeptical and so was I, but there was no denying Rayne when her dark eyes met mine. And the paternity test that was done a few days later only confirmed what I already knew.

Rayne Makenzie Carter was all mine. And the moment that little girl’s finger wrapped around mine, I vowed to protect her with my entire soul and never allow her a single moment to doubt that I will always be in her corner. Even if that means dealing with her insufferable mother, Tana.

As I run the towel through my long hair, I can’t help but roll my eyes at the idea of facing Tana. That woman has been nothing but a pain in my ass. I thought it would get better as we adjusted to co-parenting, but here we are four years later and it has only gotten worse.

And if it wasn’t for me wanting Raynie to grow up knowing both her parents, unlike I did, I would take Tana’s ass to court and get full custody. I have enough evidence to do so, but my damn past with my own parents is making me give Tana a million chances.

With that in mind, I quickly get dressed in a pair of sweats and a short-sleeved shirt. It’s a cold ass day in Calgary, but Raynie loves tracing my tattoos with her little fingers and I will do just about anything to put a smile on my little girl’s face.

My feet make quick work down the stairs and as soon as I hit the bottom step, I’m smacked with the sound of arguing from the kitchen.

Annoyance fills my body as I make my way to the rising voices. When I step foot in the kitchen, I’m hit from behind at the knees.

“Daddy!”

I glance down and a smile pulls on my face and I bend down to pick up Rayne, who is trying to climb up my leg. Her legs kick in excitement and her long blonde hair falls into her face.

“Hi Raynie Girl. I missed you!” I press a kiss to her rosy cheeks and do a quick assessment of her tiny body. It’s been an instinct ever since she came to me with a bruise on her arm one day. Tana said it was because she fell at the playground, but Tana is about as responsible as a damn teenage boy, so my trust in her is minimal.

Rayne is talking a million miles an hour, telling me about her day, and I grasp onto anything I can, while also trying to listen to Boone and Tana arguing a few feet away.

“Mind your damn business, Boone. You have no right to have me followed.”

“I wouldn’t have you followed if you weren’t doing dumb—things.”

“Shut the fuck up, dumbass. You don’t know my life or have any idea what I do in my free time.”

“Watch your mouth. Your daughter is right there.”

“Don’t tell me what to do with my daughter. In case you missed it, Rayne is Aries’ and mine, not yours!”

“Oh wow. You remember you have a daughter? Not just someone you hand off to Aries or your mom?”

“You—”

“Don’t. I know you’re up to something, Tana. And Ari may give you a million and one chances because he believes that having a mother and father is key for Raynie to grow up happy. I for one do not. I want that baby safe and in a stable environment.”

“I am fucking stable!”

“Not according to my PI. He says you’ve—”

“Enough,” I say, interrupting my best friend before he can go any further. I have made him promise not to tell me anything his PI digs up unless it is a credible threat or suspicion to Rayne. The fact that she hangs out with her flavor of the week and leaves Raynie with her mother, who is a nurse at the local hospital, doesn’t bother me. I actually prefer it, which is why I haven’t pushed the issue.

Tana and Boone’s heads snap to me.

“If you two are done, I would like to remind both of you that you are not the only people in this house.” I pause and look towards Tana. “If you don’t have anything to tell me regarding our daughter and when you plan to come to get her next weekend, I think it's time you go.”

“You’re really going to stand there and let him talk—”

Rayne moves in my arms, her head resting against my shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed.

“Tana. Please. I will speak to him once you leave.”

She scoffs and tells me she will text me next week with a time, kisses Rayne, and stomps out the door.

As soon as the door shuts, I turn back to Boone with a fully asleep Rayne in my arms. I narrow my eyes at him and he crosses his tattooed arms across his chest.

“You couldn’t have just sat on the couch with Raynie and ignored her?”

“No. She’s up to something and I will bury her when I find out what it is.”

I roll my eyes and head to the living room and sink into the couch, adjusting Rayne into a more comfortable position.

Her long eyelashes flutter and I smile. This sweet, innocent girl is my entire world. It was dark and lonely before she came into my life. She gave me purpose and the desire to turn my life around.

I don’t know how long I sit there staring at my little girl, but it’s not until Boone sits across from me in the recliner that I look away.

His long blonde hair is disheveled, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

My calm, collected, former assassin of an organization he will not disclose best friend, is usually the epitome of control and unbothered.

“What?”

His mask moves back into place, and he levels his gaze with mine. “Tana is up to something. I can feel it in my gut. I know you want Raynie to have a family, but Tana is not the woman she lets the rest of the world see. You and Raynie are my only family, and I will not let anything happen to either of you.”

“I know, Bo. Can you tell me with confidence it's time to submit for full custody? Be honest. Because if I do this, there is no going back. I need hard, concrete evidence. I will not go on a hunch because if there is even a point zero one percent chance Tana could rebuke the claim, she will make it impossible for me to see Raynie. I need you to be one hundred percent confident because I will not lose my daughter.”

Without a second of hesitation, he says, “It’s time, Aries.”

My body jerks awake and I wipe away the moisture cascading down my face.

I stare out at the dark cage and my head hits the wall behind me as the memories of my nightmare smack me in the face.

Any other day I wake up dreaming of my little girl, I go for a ride or take my anger out on any captor waiting for revenge at the mercy of Boone and the rest of Resilience. But I can’t.

Instead, I stare out at the darkened room as Rayne’s face fills my vision and tears cascade down my face.

Boone was right.

He was also ten steps behind.

I try to wipe away the tears, but they fall so rapidly I can’t.

I cry at the memory of my little girl. I cry for the ultimate defeat that I didn’t make it in time. I cry because I didn’t listen the first time Boone said something.

I cry and cry and cry, because what else is there to do?

Seconds, hours, days, who knows, pass and I cry until exhaustion takes over.

And just as my eyes flutter closed, I mutter, “I miss you, Rayne. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”