Page 58 of Volatile King (The Kings of Wayward Academy #6)

L iam

Of all the fucking people that I thought would walk through the door, Mya was not on the list.

Nash stumbled back, and his legs hit the glass coffee table. Myles was the closest and jumped up, grabbing him so that he didn’t crash through. I had no idea how this was possible, but none of—whatever the fuck this was—was going down without me getting to the bottom of it first.

“Guys, take Nash to his room. Ren, go with them,” I ordered.

“But I need to talk to Nash,” Mya said and stepped forward.

The guards stopped her.

“Mya,” Nash said again, like his brain couldn’t comprehend that she was in the room.

He looked at me, and ghosts once more danced in his eyes. Fuck this.

I stepped in front of Nash, blocking his view.

“Get him the fuck out of here,” I growled, my eyes locked on Mya.

She didn’t come off as threatening, didn’t try to fight the guards, or cause any more of a scene than she already had, but that didn’t mean shit. I heard Ren talking to Nash, and she was probably the only reason he left the room without a fight.

“Keep him in there until I say otherwise.” I looked at Marcus, and he nodded, knowing that I wanted him to call Edmundo. We needed more guards here, right the fuck now.

Once I heard the bedroom door close, I pointed to a chair at the dining table.

“Take her over there. Did you search her for weapons?”

“Yes,” the guards answered, marching Mya over and forcing her to sit down.

“I’m not here to hurt Nash.”

“Fuck that and fuck you. I don’t believe a single word coming out of your mouth.” Mya’s eyes went wide, like she was surprised by my aggression. I knew her, not overly well, but we’d hung out when she and Nash were dating.

Pulling my gun, I stomped forward and pressed it against her forehead. She trembled, but I didn’t believe her…not a hundred percent. She was scared, but you didn’t get to come back from the dead without answering a few questions.

“How are you alive?”

Mya didn’t answer. She just stared at the gun. “I want to talk to Nash,” she said.

“No, not until you’re done talking to me, and if I decide that you’re a threat, I’ll kill you myself.”

Reaching out, I snatched her jaw in my hand and shoved the gun into her mouth. The fear in her eyes shifted and was now a hundred percent real. Unshed tears shimmered, but they had no effect on me.

“Don’t fucking push me, Mya. I’m not in the mood, and I’m already tired of the ghost routine that you’ve been pulling. So, I’m going to ask you again…how the fuck are you alive?”

I removed the gun but kept a firm hold on her jaw a few seconds longer—my threat clear.

“Lawrence gave Nash a gun with blanks.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I guess in case Nash turned the gun on him instead. That was what he told me. He said that if Nash really loved me, then he would know it was me the entire time and choose to shoot everyone else.”

She looked down, and I watched her carefully as her face shifted to sadness.

“But he shot me instead. Or thought he did.”

“Why did you fake it when he shot you?”

“It was part of my deal.”

I growled at Mya, and she flinched. “What deal?”

“If Nash shot me, then I was to play dead, and I would be set free. If he shot everyone else, then it meant that Nash truly loved me, but I would have to watch Lawrence kill him for his betrayal.”

Sounded like a typical Lawrence deal… fucked if you do … fucked if you don’t . No matter what, he always won.

“But Nash didn’t recognize you and pulled the trigger, then what happened?”

Mya fidgeted in her seat. I grabbed one of the other chairs and sat down right across from her so our knees touched. The gun tapped gently against my leg as I waited for her to continue.

She looked up at me, her eyes filled with hope for understanding, but I had none to give. My heart only had space for my family, my boys, and Ren. Aside from them, I didn’t give a fuck if the world ended tomorrow.

“Lawrence lied.”

“Shocking,” I said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm.

“He kept me prisoner this whole time. I only got away because he was frantic the last time he was over. He left one of the doors unlocked at the house where he stashed me. I started searching for Nash right away.”

Bullshit.

“Try again.”

“What?”

“Are you hard of hearing?” She shook her head. “Then you heard me. Try that story again, and this time tell the truth, or I’m going to start putting holes in you.”

“I was always nice to you, Liam. Why are you acting like this? That insane asshole kept me prisoner. You have no idea what it was like.”

That was the truth.

“Agreed, so why are you lying about how you escaped?”

“I’m not,” she said, and then started to cry.

“Shut the fuck up,” I said, pointing the gun at her.

Mya pressed her lips together, tears still trickling down her cheeks.

“Look at my face.” Her eyes snapped up to mine.

“Do I look like I give a shit if you cry?” She shook her head.

“Good, so we understand one another. I don’t care what he did with you.

Maybe Nash will, but you’re not dealing with him. Not after fucking with his head.”

“I couldn’t leave. How was I supposed to tell him?” Mya’s plea landed on deaf ears.

“Not what I meant.” I touched the barrel to her knee, and she went perfectly still.

“I know you’ve been following him around.

Letting him see you. Making Nash think he’s going crazy.

If you value being able to walk, the next words out of your mouth better be the truth.

Just know that if I have to take your ass up to the roof and throw you off to protect Nash, and make sure you stay dead…

” I leaned forward so our faces were inches apart.

“I’ll do it with a smile on my face. Are we clear? ”

“Yes,” Mya whispered. “He told me I could go,” she said.

“Who?” I wanted her to say it so that there was no room for confusion later.

“Lawrence.”

“When?”

“It was Halloween. He kept me locked in a house with another woman. She looked out for me, made sure I had food and clothes. I was sitting in my bedroom watching the kids run down the street in costumes when Lawrence pulled in and marched into the house. I thought he was there for sex. That was usually why he showed up. Instead, he unlocked the shackle from my leg and told me I could go.”

“Which leg?”

“What?”

“Which leg did he keep shackled?”

“My left.”

She gasped as I grabbed her jeans and yanked up the bottom. There was a distinct red ring around her ankle that had been rubbed raw, scarred, and reopened multiple times.

Dropping her leg, I sat back and analyzed her face. She was telling the truth, and I believed what she said about that night. But there was something that I didn’t trust, and the sensation was like little pinpricks all over my skin.

“Lawrence, out of the kindness of his heart, just let you go?”

“I don’t know why he did it.” Mya shook her head.

I fucking knew why. Lawrence was nothing if not great at mind games. What better way to screw with Nash’s head than for him to see his dead ex walking around?

“And what about the other woman? Who was she?”

“I don’t know, she never said her name.”

My gun hand twitched, and I glared at Mya.

“I swear. Questions led to beatings.”

The only person I could think of who would help Lawrence willingly was Sheila Collier, Nash’s mother.

She’d already abandoned him as a kid, leaving him with a sadist. I could see her helping him do this.

Mother of the year award went to…Sheila Collier.

I wasn’t going to say anything to Nash about my suspicions until we had more information.

“Where was this house? He let you go, so you must know where it is,” I said, and she nodded.

“I can take Nash there.”

“Over my cold, dead body,” I said, smiling. “If anyone is going to check it out, it will be me and an army of guards. What’s the address?”

“I don’t know it like that,” she said.

“What is the fucking address?” I yelled, and she jumped.

“I don’t know,” Mya yelled and then covered her head, shaking. Fuck…she wasn’t talking Nash into going alone. I didn’t trust her, no matter what she said.

“What about Nash’s kid?”

Mya looked away, her hands wringing together. “That’s what I wanted to talk to Nash about. I was looking for him, but I always freaked out and took off.” My eyebrow arched. “I mean it. I found him at the hospital from the news about the shooting at his club. It was everywhere, but he…”

“He what?”

“Was always with that girl.”

“That girl is very important to me, so I’d watch your mouth if you plan on saying something nasty.” The threat rolled off my tongue. I almost hoped she would give me a reason to shoot her, so we didn’t have to deal with this bullshit. Fucking Lawrence, always had something up his sleeve.

“No, it just never seemed like the right time.”

“But you kept going to the hospital, anyway, didn’t you?”

She sniffed and nodded. “I…I just wanted to see Nash. It’s been so long.”

“Uh-huh…running to the son of the man who kept me captive for three years is what I would do, too. Ever think of going to the police? Or taking off and never coming back? Instead, you stayed where you were obviously abused. See how the math isn’t mathing, Mya?

Someone else might look at you, and your pretty face covered with tears, and think, Oh, poor Mya . But that’s not me.”

“When did you turn so cold?”

“I’m not cold. I’m fucking protective, and as Nash’s number two, I’m really fucking protective of him.

You coming back right now…it’s not a coincidence, and you’ll never convince me otherwise.

So, we’ll skip all of that and jump to the crux of the matter.

Why are you here? What do you want with Nash? ”

Mya wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her oversized sweater and crossed her arms.

“I want to find our son,” she said.

Motherfucking son of a bitch!

“So, you’re saying that you had a boy and he’s alive?”

How I kept the chaos in my mind from coming out when I spoke to her was a goddamn miracle. But Mya’s anger had finally bubbled over.

“Yes, and I don’t know what happened to him. I need Nash’s help, and I’m not lying.”

She wasn’t, but…I really fucking wished she was.

The guards walked over when I waved. I stood up, needing more room to think.

“Make sure she doesn’t move. If she does…shoot her. And don’t help her or go near her, even if she falls off the chair convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Let her die,” I said, and shot a glare at Mya, so she didn’t get any bright ideas.

“You’ve got it,” Massimo said, taking point.

I marched toward the bedroom, preparing myself for a conversation I didn’t want to have, the entire time picturing disembowelling Lawrence.