Page 72 of Fractured Future

“Angry? Fucking angry?”

Grabbing my half-full water glass, I send it sailing into the wall next. The wet explosion satisfies me for half a second, then the red-tinged rage comes rushing back at full speed.

“I’m beyond angry! I need to do something!”

“You have to let us do our jobs,” Warner attempts to explain. “It’s what we’re trained for. Give us all the information you can. We’ll take it from there.”

“Like you’ve been doing for the last six years?” I growl at him. “You didn’t even find me first! Blaine fucking Madden did!”

Heartbreaking pain and regret flashes over his face. Regardless of Warner’s role in keeping my case alive when the odds seemed insurmountable, I want to rage at him now.

Focused on him and my brother, I don’t notice Axel’s quiet approach behind me. He moves like a stealthy predator before resting a hand on top of my shoulder.

“Easy, Ember.”

“Fuck off!” I hiss at him.

“Why don’t you come with me?”

Shrugging off his inked hand, I glower at him.

“Or you can stay here and scream at people who don’t deserve it.” He cocks his head in question. “Your choice. But I have something that may help.”

“Like what?”

“You’ve spent all this time fighting, right?” His usual grin is nowhere to be found. “That’s what your body is craving right now.”

The thought of kicking the living daylights out of something, anything, is enough to pique my interest.

“So I thought.” Apparently, he read something on my face. “Come on.”

Axel stretches out an inked hand, giving me a glimpse of his thick, layered tattoos up close. Two ornate timepieces are etched onto the backs of his hands, packed full of intricate details.

He wriggles his fingers in invitation. “You trusted me before, right?”

Reluctantly, I nod.

“Then trust me again. If there’s one thing I know about, it’s what you’re feeling right now.”

Not even the other two worriedly whispering to each other can break the strange emotion pulsing between us. It feels like a kind of kinship. An understanding. He recognises that I’m blinded by wrath.

My hand slips into his, my movements controlled by sheer desperation. I don’t want to hurt Tom or anyone else, but I need to fucking hurtsomeone.

“We’re just going to step outside while you two chat,” Axel advises them. “Back soon.”

“You aren’t taking my sister anywhere!” Tom bellows.

“Last I checked, she’s a grown woman. We’ll be back.”

“Not a chance!”

“Tom.” Warner drops a hand on his shoulder. “Sit down. Let Ember take a breather while we review what we’ve got so far, yeah?”

“That man is a psychopath, and if you think I’m going to?—”

“Bye, then!” Axel chirps loudly.

Turning his back on Warner attempting to hold a still-ranting Tom at bay, Axel steers me from the conference room. I can’t even look at Warner. Not after what I said to him.