Torment: Part Two (The Bleeding Hearts, #2)

by Dylan Page

My mind is a mess of emotions: pain, grief, and fear. I am terrified. But here, in Shay’s arms, I am safe. He would keep me safe.

“I’m here, Sweetness,” he whispers into my ear, “I’ll always be here. You’re not alone. I’ll never let you be alone again.” I shiver and desperately cling to him. “Do you promise?” I feel his lips curve up in one of his rare smiles before he murmurs, “I promise.”

I feel like the man, who was once my faithful guardian and protector, is now transforming into my dark demon.

Shay used to soothe my fears. Now… he is the root of them.

“Don’t be nervous, Sweetness,” he says in a rough whisper as he gazes down at me, “This is how it’s supposed to be between us.” He reaches up, pressing two fingers to my racing pulse on my neck, the corners of his mouth rising ever so slightly. “I just want you to be with me, Mina. Stop fighting it. Just be good and do as I say, and I’ll fucking love you with all that I have. I’ll make you feel good.”

What do I tell them? That I’m his personal toy? That I agreed to do what he says to protect someone I love? That I’m trapped in this sick game

while Shay and I turn into the driveway. I was back in my caged world. And this time… I wasn’t getting away.

“I’m done giving you time,” he murmurs, his cool reserve now shifting to something else, something menacing and unstable. “I am done waiting. You brought this on yourself, do you understand me? Say you understand.” When I remain silent, his hand painfully grips a fistful of my hair and he gives me a shake. “Say, ‘I understand, Shay.’” “I-I understand, Shay,” I hiccup through my tears. “Say, ‘I will do what you tell me, Shay.’” “I will do what you tell me, Shay,” “Say that you are mine!” I swallow back the lump in my throat and whisper, “I’m yours.”

He’s balanced on his heels at my side, his silver eyes gleaming from beneath his mess of dark hair, studying me from behind the veil, but the look is dead. I’m not talking to Shay right now… I’m speaking with Manic.

I won’t be able to get through this if I am solely focused on my grief and heartbreak. Instead, I reach out and embrace darkness as if it is an old friend. One I’ve known for years but never really given much attention to. To protect him… you must surrender. To protect him… you must surrender. To save Key, I need to completely submit to Shay.

I’m so fucking furious, so livid and broken that this man who was once my whole world and my savior, has literally stolen my freedom from me. For years I’d been trying to help him fight his demons, but now? He’s forcing me to dance with them instead.

“You want this?” I whisper, sounding more confident than I really feel, “You want me to be your pretty little toy?”Leaning closer, I nip at his neck, leaving teeth marks behind.

“You’ve never been a fucking toy, Mina…” he practically growls at me, “You’ve just been mine. You always have been, from the very first time that I held you in my arms and looked at you. I felt it then, even if I didn’t understand it. You were always meant to be mine.”

His eyes are shining, his mouth slightly open, and he’s looking up at me with a sort of euphoric expression. I’m his world.

“Don’t tell me you don’t love this. Don’t tell me that this isn’t right. This is the most fucking right thing in the world… you and me.”

Everything in my life revolved around him. He was no longer my protector. He was my tormentor.

I was trapped, betrayed, and caged by the one person I had loved and trusted most in the world.

The only times I feel remotely good is when Shay is inside me, making my body sing.

I feel all the pent-up emotions of prejudice and animosity simmering in me since the beginning of the school year suddenly erupt. All the whispers and cruelty fueling my violent frenzy as I beat the shit out of Becca.

“Whatever you did to piss off the Beasts, if you think coming at me will be some sort of retribution for you, you are sorely mistaken.”

“I need to know now… is she safe with you?” For a long moment, no one says anything, and the only sound comes from Mr. White, who is groaning and sobbing softly. Finally, Shay leans in, close to her face, and murmurs, “She is the only person I would never hurt.”

“Because, Mina,” Shay moves slowly toward me, his silver eyes never leaving mine for a moment. “I wanted to give you a home. A place that’s just ours where we can be together and fuck everyone else.”

Yes, Shay was menacing. Yes, Shay scared the hell out of me because I knew how dangerous he could be. But he wasn’t like that with me. A part of me does genuinely love him. Did it make sense? No. Absolutely not. It’s just how I feel.

But… and this is a huge one… I am not Shay’s equal. I’m not. In the end, it is all about him. It is about making him happy. Making sure he is okay. Another but… I do love him. And he loves me.

I have Shay, who is now so much more to me than just my stepbrother. My protector had turned into my tormentor, and now, he is something I don’t know how to live without. He is the only one that makes me feel truly loved and safe. He is all I have.

“Mina, I’ve never cheated on you. You think that I go out and bang any girl that hits on me? Fuck no. I tell those bitches to get the fuck off my lap and send them on their way.”

“All I’ve ever wanted was you, Mina. Even before I understood how much… why the fuck would I throw that away for some nothing when I have the only thing my heart cherishes right here, waiting for me?”

Shay didn’t scare me, but Manic did. Manic was like a demon that appears when the darkness sinks its claws in and takes control.

“The first mistake I ever made, was with Shay…” he says, his voice raspy and pained, “I wanted to be there for him after his fucking mother left. And the only way I knew how was to bring him into the club life with me. I couldn’t leave it. But I couldn’t abandon my kid. So I combined the two. That decision is one I’ll never live down.

“And then you came along, Mina,” James whispers softly, “And from that very first moment, you made him act like… like a human again. He loved you more than anything else in this world. I could see it. Your mother saw it. I think everyone did.”

“To see my son smile, to see him actually give a shit about-about… something. I felt like I could breathe. I felt like everything was going to be alright.” At this, he frowns and ducks his head, “And then Emily tried to leave.”

For a long time, we sit there together, father and daughter, holding each other as the information, lies, and secrets we’ve unveiled sink in. After all this time, after everything, to hear that James was behind it all, orchestrating it, pushing it, and then when it got too far ahead of him, he’d lost control.

And me? What did the future hold for me?