Page 4

Flash

I knew this era of calm we’ve had since everything that happened with Shadow and Wreck was too good to be true. I’ve had a feeling in my gut for days that something was about to happen, that there was something heading our way, and that phone call I just received from Jake just proves that my gut feeling was right. Again.

This situation might not be as bad as some of the things I’ve been imagining could happen, but I very much doubt Megan’s younger brother showing up here is just for a random chat; no, he has a specific reason for being here, especially requesting to speak to Wrath, Flame, or Shadow. They’re not exactly small fries around here; they’re all officers within Devil’s Inferno, and one of them was directly impacted by everything Megan did all those months ago. Fuck, if you think about it, Wrath and Flame were impacted too. When Wreck was attacked and taken from Devil’s Ink after Megan had lied to Rex, Sera was there. Hidden away by Wreck. Sera would have been pregnant at the time. Now why Wreck hid her away and sacrificed himself makes so much more sense. I’ve always wondered why he didn’t go into the safe room with her. She must have disclosed the fact she was pregnant, and Wreck, being ever the protector, chose to give himself up to make sure that Sera and the life she was carrying were safe and secure. It’s not really that surprising that he’d do something like that either; any of us would have done the same in his shoes. There’s no chance in hell any of us would have allowed there to be a chance of harm coming to a pregnant woman.

After hanging up with Jake, I quickly and discreetly grab Piston’s attention and fill him in on the situation we have to deal with as we head towards our rides, which are parked in front of The Clubhouse. The Compound Gates might not be that far from The Clubhouse, but riding there is certainly the quickest way for us to get there and hopefully get to the bottom of what Megan’s younger brother could want before anyone realizes Piston and I are missing from the celebration. The last thing we need is everyone converging on the gates and terrifying the kid. He’s probably wary enough as it is.

It only takes minutes for us to arrive at The Compound Gates, and the entire ride over here I can’t help but hope and pray we aren’t about to have more problems to deal with. We’ve seriously had to have dealt with our quota of issues this year, surely.

As I hop off my bike, with Piston right beside me, I head towards where Jake is standing on the inside of the gates. As I’m heading towards Jake, he moves slightly to the side so he’s no longer blocking our view of the boy who we’re here to talk to, and I get my first glance at him waiting there outside the gates.

Immediately my feet stop moving, and I can feel the color draining out of my face as I get my first unobscured view of him. This is Megan’s little brother? If that’s the case, then why the fuck does it seem like I’m looking at a ghost from my own past? Unquestionably my eyes have to be playing tricks on me. There’s no way I can be seeing what I am right now. It’s got to be a trick of the light, surely. There is no way I can be looking at what I am. My feet feel like they’re literally glued to the spot as I stand here staring in utter shock and disbelief at the boy.

“Flash. Snap the fuck out of it. I see it too. Let’s go find out why he’s here and then figure out why the hell he looks so much like Wyatt.” Piston says sharply, snapping me out of my stupor.

His words might sound harsh to most, but I know that he’s only speaking to me in this manner because he’s trying to snap me out of the shock I’m currently in. Which is understandable. This boy is a spitting image of my younger brother; Piston’s words have just confirmed that for me. I know I’m not imagining it. Piston would see the resemblance between this boy and Wyatt just as clearly as me; we grew up next door to each other. He saw Wyatt every day for years. He watched him grow up right alongside me. I don’t know what the hell is going on right now, or why he looks so much like Wyatt, but I sure as fuck plan on finding out.

I want answers more than anything, but I know that finding them is going to have to wait until we find out why he’s here in the first place. He must have a reason for showing up here and asking to speak to Wrath, Flame, or Shadow. Kids don’t just show up at our gates randomly. Fuck, the last time there was a kid outside these gates, it was Cam looking for his father. Lucky for Cam, it was Flame who ended up speaking to him back then, and after asking only a few questions, he soon figured out Cam was Wrath’s son. That’s not surprising when you think about how close they are; they’ve been best friends since they were kids. If anyone was going to connect the dots with what Cam had to say, it’s Flame. Cam was in a bad way back then, beaten black and blue by his own fucking mother, so I’m at least happy to see that Megan’s younger brother doesn’t appear to be injured, so we’re not dealing with another situation like that. Or at least I fucking hope we’re not. I know abuse isn’t always visible by looking at someone; people can be smarter than we want when it comes to hiding their nefarious actions from the world. Unfortunately, we’ve all seen it far too many times to count.

I hate what Cam experienced at the hands of the woman who birthed him. What every child who has ever been abused by a parent, guardian, or family member has ever had to endure. Kids are meant to be loved and cherished; they’re a gift. They should never be used as a verbal, emotional, or physical punching bag. Some people just don’t deserve the gift of having children.

I couldn’t have been happier when I learned that Claire had been caught and dealt with permanently. She didn’t deserve to carry on breathing after everything she’d done, and I believe that her death and the knowledge that she could never come back and take him away from his new life with his Dad and Papa was good for Cam. He could start living his life without worrying about his personal boogeywoman coming back to haunt him.

One thing I know for certain about the boy outside The Compound Gates is that he definitely isn’t Wyatt’s kid; he’s far too old for that to be true, and that’s not even taking into account that my little brother is gay and always has been. He figured that out when he was around ten years old, a lot sooner than I figured out my own sexuality, that’s for sure. There’s something very fucking hinky going on here. That much I’m certain of, and if the look on Piston’s face is anything to go by, he’s thinking the same thing as me. There will definitely be some investigating going on in our future.

Taking a deep breath, I try to regain some of my composure before I start heading towards the gates once more, Piston right by my side. His steps are just as determined as my own. Jake is throwing looks of worry and concern at me, clearly catching the way I first acted when I spotted the young man. I get it; Jake has no idea that Megan’s younger brother is a spitting image of Wyatt when he was that age. He knows all the gritty details about everything that happened between me and Wyatt, but he’s never met him. Wyatt was long gone before Jake joined Devil’s Inferno, all because I couldn’t keep my fucking big mouth shut.

If there’s one thing I regret, it’s that. If only I’d kept quiet, Wyatt would still be here, and I’d know how he’s doing. I’d have been able to keep an eye on him with that fucker he calls his boyfriend and know if I needed to step in. Instead, I’m clueless. I have no idea how he is, where he is, or anything. All I do know is I miss him like I’d miss a limb. I wish I could just have him back in my life; I’d do anything for that chance. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t hope to see his name pop up on my phone because he misses having me in his life just as much as I miss having him in mine.

I need to stop thinking about the past and about the things I wish would happen but probably never will. I can’t change anything about what happened back then. Unfortunately for me, time machines don’t exist. I can’t make Wyatt contact me either. I need to focus on the here and now. Starting with talking to the young man and finding out what he wants, and maybe learning his name while I’m at it so I can stop referring to him as young man and young boy in my head, it’s getting a little bit annoying. Once I’ve done that, all bets are off because I will get answers to the questions running through my mind.