What's Your Poison

15. Broken Glass and Bruised Hearts

Mission

Light filtered through the dirty windows, glinting off the broken shards of glass. Jade was soft and warm in my arms. A slight tremble rippled through her form. My lungs burst with air I had gulped, trying to calm the raging beast inside my chest. It chanted in my ear to follow Sean. To shove the hateful words he'd spat back down his throat. Knock his teeth out in the process. Every part of me was on fire with the desire for vengeance.

But Jade needed me more.

"You can say I told you so." Her voice muttered against my chest.

It was too soft and tentative for my wildcat. Her body was too pliant in my tight hold. So I didn't say shit, just hoped that some of my strength might transfer through her skin.

"Did you hear me?" Jade wriggled, pulling out of my grasp with an exasperated grunt.

Her neck looked red raw from where that fucking necklace had cut in to her. Jade's fingers danced over it, wincing slightly as she pressed too hard. My silence seemed to bolster some of her fire. Her eyes flashed with ire and she disappeared into the back. I looked at the scattered glass on the ground and swore. Hard and harsh under my breath. My heart was like thunder in my chest, warning of a lightning strike to come. I had to hold it in, though. It wasn't my turn to fall apart.

I remembered how Jade had held me when the balcony had crashed to the ground. All I could think about was how close I'd come to losing her. She'd let me hold her then. Now the same thing had happened. I had seen that brute with his hands all over her, rage painting his features ugly.

And I could have lost her again.

But this time I couldn't fall apart. I had to stuff all the roiling emotions down. It was my turn to hold Jade, to be her support. If she would let me. Jade flew back into the room, a bucket hanging from her elbow. She pulled the dust pan out and tossed it to me with a scowl. Her eyes were red and swollen with a line of tears. Like she was trying so hard to contain herself.

I wished I could tell her to let it out. That I would hold whatever she gave me. Once upon a time, she would have done just that. She was a force. Every feeling was amplified with Jade, pleasure, joy, sorrow. But I'd broken her trust. Now I was only privy to the anger, and how it scorched me. She plucked the larger pieces of glass up haphazardly, tossing them in the bucket.

"Was that the first time he'd ever hurt you?" I asked. Needing to know for my sanity. I was going to obliterate him either way. I'd spent a month imagining how I was going to tear him limb from limb. Spent long nights staring into the dregs of whiskey in my glass, wondering if this chokehold Jade had on me would ever let up.

Seeing Jade with someone else had scorched my insides, but I didn't want this either.

I resorted to Wings level of stalking, following them on dates. Watching his hands slide under her top like a fucking pervert and monster. I'd gnashed my teeth against a cage wrought with cowardice and fear. I'd built the bars myself, locked inside with the surety that no-one would ever care enough to pry me out.

Good things never lasted.

The stories I told myself had been a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jade wouldn't have been driven into the clutches of another worthless man if I'd been strong enough to swallow my fear. The clattering noise of the glass intensified.

"This was the first time." She admitted, her shoulders bunched around her ears.

"Are you okay?" I picked up some of the glass, careful to avoid the sharp edge.

Sean had destroyed the frame, but the poster itself was unharmed. The glossy version of Jade loomed over us, exuding sensuality and passion. It gutted me to see her crouched below it, diminished and low. Hunched over like she was trying to make herself small.