Vice

Twenty Two

"Please?"

"Why doesn't Lottie go?" Thea brushed the hair from her eyes so she could see Trevor clearly. He twiddled his fingers, the nerves of seeing his parents finally catching up with him.

"I just thought since... since they seemed to listen to you at the-" his voice caught on the last word, unable to bring himself to say it. He accepted that his brother was dead, but avoided the conversation at all costs.

Thea hung her head over her mug of coffee. The bags under her eyes had darkened in the last few restless hours.

"Okay."

Trevor beamed at her, "Thank you so much, Thea. It really means a lot."

She gave him a weak smile and he turned to exit the kitchen.

"We'll meet them for lunch after I finish training with Lottie. Around twelve, okay?"

Grunting in response she gulped down the rest of her coffee and poured herself a second cup. Lottie's voice mingle with Trevor and Ryder's in the front hall and then the front door slammed a few minutes later.

Ryder entered the room giving her a wary once over, "You look like you've been up all night."

She tugged the sleeves of her sweater over her thumbs and kept quiet. The events of that night still felt like a dream to her.

He sighed, "James is dealing with Ray."

Thea's eyes widened, "Now?"

He nodded and moved out of the way as she rushed past him, "When did he start?"

"Only a few minutes ago...Thea wait." He jogged after her, catching up just as she reached the stairs.

"What?" she turned to face him and his hand dropped from her shoulder.

He scratched the back of his neck, "You should...uh... I just wanted to warn you that-"

"What Ryder?"

"The way James does things...it's not very pretty."

Thea narrowed her eyes, "Okay?"

He stepped back, "I just thought I should let you know. The first time Adalyn witnessed it-"

"I'm not her." She growled and descended the stairs without looking back. She knew they compared her to Adalyn. She could see it in the way Lottie analyzed her fighting and Ryder babied her. But Thea wasn't her, and she wasn't her replacement either.

The whimpers started as she neared the door. She glanced back to make sure Ryder was following before turning the handle and stepping into the room.

Two sets of eyes turned to her, one pleading and one menacing.

Ray was slumped against his restraints. His shirt and pants had been removed, leaving him in a pair of cotton boxers. His bottom lip bled from where James fist had split it and a red welt covered his right cheek. A table behind James had gruesome looking tools laid out across it. From her experience, most were for show. A little roughing up usually did the trick in these situations.

James looked past her to Ryder, who threw his hands up in defense.

"I tried to stop her."

She ignored them both. Instead her gaze was fixated on Ray, whose pained expression had morphed into one of amusement.

"Hello again my little lonely whore."

She let out low growl and closed the space between them. Once they were at eye level she let her own wicked grin show.