Page 49 of Seven Graves

“He said he’d leave me alone. Let me be.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and tightened her mouth. “And that’s what you still want?”

“I dunno.”

We were silent for a few long moments, with nothing but the sound of something dripping down the hallway past the barred door. Then, she lowered her knees and crossed her legs, staring down at her lap. “He’s in love with you.”

“He barely knows me, Bridget.”

“And is that why you’re so unsure about what happens when it’s all over? Because you think nobody can see that you love him too?”

I chose not to answer. How do I explain to a child that I probably know as much about love as she likely does? I don’t know what I feel. The only one of us that probably knows the torture of something like love …is Malek. And I think I know why.

“Jonas said I look like her. Who is he talking about, Bridget?”

“It’s not my place to—”

“Shavonn?”

Her already pale skin went gray, and she swallowed loudly.

She outright refused to look at me. “…Mal warned me. On the way to your apartment. He told me to chill when I saw you. I really didn’t understand what he meant until that morning you came out, bashing your foot on a coffin.

” She snorted and stared at the floor. My chest started to ache, and honestly…

I don’t even know why. The heaviest feeling of dread crawled over me.

“The resemblance is kind of crazy, but…”

“Tell me this isn’t why he wouldn’t leave me alone.

” Her silence and the long blank stare were answer enough.

I’m a fucking fool. He was never over this woman, and he thought he’d have some part of her back through being with me.

This… this is why I’ll end up an insane cat lady that lives in a funeral home.

If I even make it to thirty. “He told me he killed her.”

Bridget’s face popped up, utterly confused. “He what? ”

“Last night. Malek told me that he killed her. Did she betray him? Is that what’s gonna happen to me?”

“Dude, no .” She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose as she raised up to stand and started pacing the small space. “He didn’t actually kill her, Sev. He blames himself for what happened to her. He’s a fucking idiot.”

“Tell me.”

She’s hesitating. I can see it in every move she makes.

But she stood, her back facing me, and stared out the door to our little prison.

“Malek grew up with her. We all did. I’ve heard stories of how they used to torture each other as kids.

She’s pure Irish blood. Comes from a deep-rooted family across the pond. But Malek…he’s—we’re not.”

“What does that mean?”

Bridget turned around and leaned back against the bars.

“Daddy married an American woman. My mom died having me. We’re not what the other families consider pure-blood.

They call us half-breeds. No other family wants their daughter marrying Malek.

Daddy thought that marrying me off to merge the families would help whatever stigma surrounds our name because he fell for my mother. It wouldn’t make us look so weak .”

This is starting to make more sense. And I’m beginning to realize I might be better off not knowing what she’s about to tell me. “So…he fell for her. And she got married off to the guy I cleaned up.”

“Pretty much, but it’s more than that. By the time Malek was old enough for Daddy to start teaching him how to do his duties to the family…

he and Shavonn were inseparable. He didn’t know any other woman but her.

He wanted a love like what our parents had, despite what we are.

Malek was determined to run off and marry Shavonn one day.

They just didn’t do it fast enough. And I feel like I might be a reason for that. ”

“Because you think he stayed behind to raise you.”

Bridget teared up and nodded, hugging herself.

“There was a big merge gathering with four of the Irish houses. A really big, uppity shindig, and…I didn’t really understand all of what was going on at the time.

But Malek lost his mind. They announced Shavonn’s engagement to Braughton O’Dell.

Shit went sideways. He killed three people that tried to restrain him that night.

A week later…she was married. Malek did everything he could to keep it from happening. But it happened.”

So…that’s why he wears another man’s wedding band.

The finger. The savagery in that kill. The name carved into Braughton’s head. It’s all making sense. I feel like I’m gonna hurl.

“A couple months went by, and we all tried to fly under the radar, thinking of ways to break Shavonn out. But none of us knew what was happening on the other end. Nolan O’Dell, Braughton’s father, he started pushing them for a kid.

Shavonn risked it all to send word to Malek. We got her message too late.”

“What happened to her, Bridget?”

She pushed off the door and turned to look back down the hallway.

It was like she couldn’t look at me when she talked about it.

Like she could see this girl all over me.

It only made me feel worse. “One morning, I woke up to screaming. I was hungover as fuck. Honestly…still drunk, if you want the truth. Nothin’ sobers you up like the sound of your own brother, slowly dying inside.

I knew it was him before my feet hit the floor.

I made it to the top of the stairs and Finley and Declan had Mal by the shoulders.

He was screaming at the top of his lungs in the main foyer, on his knees.

I’d seen him torn up before…but not like that.

Never like that. It was like his soul bled right out of him.

They carried him to his room, and I tried to go, but Daddy pulled me back. He told me Shavonn had hung herself.”

“Did they kill her, Malek?”

“No…I did.”

“He took something that didn’t belong to him.”

“He disrespected me. Disrespected her. Disrespected you.”

“Mal is always gonna blame himself, Sev. He hasn’t been the same since Shavonn died.

He’s more reckless. More bloodthirsty. He deals with his grief by covering it in blood and humor you’d be better suited to find in a nuthouse.

” She smiled softly when she tipped her chin over her shoulder at me.

“But then he met you . And I see how beautiful that broken part of him is now that it allowed some light back in. There wouldn’t be any way for him to feel that without what any of us have to go through before it.

I can see little pieces of my brother again. ”

This is very un-Bridget-like, considering the short time I’ve spent with her and getting to know her a bit better.

For once, she doesn’t sound like a kid. She sounds like someone that’s had to grow up way too fast. And I know she means well…

but I let my guard down. It has a lot to do with Malek’s charm…

and a lot to do with my softness for a misunderstood young girl.

A young girl I’ve seen too much of myself in.

That’s where I got caught up, and that’s where I let my mask slip completely off.

I did this to myself. My decision’s made.

If we make it outta this. It’s over. It has to be.

It isn’t real. Not for him, anyway. It’s just a lingering need of a heartsick lover.

And I’m always gonna be that girl that nobody understands.

The one that’s unlovable because of who I am.

It’s okay. It’s all I’ve ever known. I’m just gonna have to be smarter about it once I get out from under this fucking train wreck.

“You’re gonna break it off in there. This isn’t a spy movie. Have you ever even done this shit before?”

I grit my teeth, holding my breath while I turned one of Bridget’s bobby pins in a jagged lock. It looks rusted out and probably hard enough to open with an actual key, let alone this stupid shit. “No, but I’m pretty sure it could work if I sit here and do it long enough.”

“Don’t you need two pins? Isn’t that the way they do it in movies?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? I pump dead people full of embalming fluid, Bridge.”

She shrugged. “Fair point.”

“Well, this has been entertaining, but it’s getting rather boring now.”

I jerked back, the bent metal pin clinging to the dirty floor as Jonas strode through the shadows of the hallway and made his way towards the door. Bridget didn’t flinch. Didn’t move . I wish I had a little bit of that confidence right now.

“All this trouble to stick your bride in a torture chamber? Bit much, Jonas…even for you.”

“A bride by name only. Have a nice nap, did you?” He smirked coyly at her, and she gave it right back. She doesn’t look like the terrified prisoner she should be…and it’s making me nervous.

“Not nice enough. I saw your throat split wide open from ear to ear, and your pretty shirt all red and ruined…just to wake up and find it all a dream.” She clicked her tongue.

“Shame. Guess it could be worse though. Could have been like your poor baby brother. Last I saw him, he had his own dick in his mouth.”

“Tell me where he is. I’m gettin’ real impatient, wifey.” His eyes shot towards me, and I tried to remember who the fuck I am. That’s Bridget’s trick. If she’s going down, she’s doing it with some dignity. That’s something she knows well… herself . That’s what I’m forgetting.

“Unbecoming quality of a man that’s supposed to eventually lead his own house. Didn’t you give us twelve hours?” I said…with a surprisingly solid voice. Jonas cocked his head.

“I gave you twelve hours, little witch. I didn’t say shit about this one.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, prick. Might as well off me right here. I’m not fuckin’ scared. Can you say that?” Bridget took a bold step towards the door and Jonas smiled.

“And why would I be scared? I’m not the one that’s about as good as a dollar bill. Or a slave. Which is what you’ll soon be. How’s it feel to know you were just as easy a trade as my brother…and by your own father. We’re not much different after all, are we, pet?”

“If you’re so pissed about your Daddy’s dirty deals with mine, why are you blowing a gasket over Kendall?”

Jonas smiled wide. “Ah, that’s the question, isn’t it?

” He wagged a finger and leaned in closer to the bars, lowering his voice.

“Kendall wasn’t traded off like a dairy cow.

My hands were tied with Braughton. Your thick-headed brother took out an unmerited hit.

His head’s worth a lot, but it won’t hold a candle to what I’ll be gettin’ outta you, Bridget Byrne. ”

“You have no idea what you’re up against. Fucking fool.”

I listened to every word in stunned silence.

I’ve grown up very different from other kids, but I can’t imagine, for the life of me, what it must have been like to grow up in murder and mob life.

They’re talking to each other like this is some run-of-the-mill conversation over a pint.

It’s more unnerving than knowing I’ve been fucking kidnapped and held against my will.

And she’s handling it like she’s not the least bit worried about her own head.

Bridget is a fucking badass.

“I’ll admit. For a lass as young as you, you’ve got an impressive track record. I could almost say I’m proud of your body count—even if you never actually got your hands dirty. If you weren’t a half-breed whore, I might have kept you for myself.”

“My hands are just as clean as yours, Jonas. And I might be a whore, I’ll own that. It’s somethin’ I’ll take pride in. At least I would have known good dick before getting stuck with you .”

Ouch.

Jonas grinned, nodding and stepping back, returning his hands to his pockets. “Well. Makes two of us, sweetness. I wouldn’t have touched you with a yard stick. I was gonna feed you both, but I think I’ve changed my mind. You can have my wedding gift, instead.”

Dammit, Bridget. God, I’d kill for a Big Mac right now.

“Swell. Can’t wait.” She gave him a petty, sarcastic smile and crossed her arms. There’s the bratty bitch I know and love.

A second set of footsteps sounded behind Jonas as he pulled out a key and started unlocking the door…

that smile left her face faster than I could blink.

“ You …traitorous son of a bitch. You’re the rat? !”

“Did he really think Conor was capable of pullin’ off a feat like that? The poor, entitled bastard. I dunno why you’re surprised, Bridge. We’ve done this dance too long, lassie. Be a good girl and come upstairs. Got a wedding to get to.”

I stepped forward and Jonas cocked a gun, tapping the door open with the barrel and pointing it straight at my face. I choked.

“Ah, ah, ah, little dove. One move, and I’ll happily show you both how dirty I can get. Bridget…go with him, or I’ll blow her fucking head off.” Whoever this guy is, didn’t give her much choice. He grabbed her arm, urging her forward and she shot her face towards me, true terror in her eyes now.

“Don’t fucking touch her!” I screamed. The end of Jonas’s gun pressed into my forehead, but I kept my eyes on her.

“Sev,” she whispered. “It’s alright. I’ve got this.”

“Bridget, don’t!”

“Stop. Just stay with my brother. He’s already lost too fucking much for me. I’m not gonna let him lose you. I’ve got this .”

I’m hyperventilating. My throat burns and I taste vomit.

The mystery man led her out the door and she jerked her arm free, sneering at him in disgust while she shoved past him and started down the hall.

I couldn’t do anything but watch in horror.

Jonas smiled, lowering the gun and slamming the door closed.

The lock screeched and he tapped the gun against the bars.

“That’s a good lass.”

They left me there…alone. Defeated. Ashamed. I backed myself up until my bare feet touched the mattress Bridget had slept on. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I hit my knees and dry-heaved until whatever I had left in me splattered on the floor. My dinner. My hope. My sanity.

We’re all fucked.