Dark (Beautiful Ashes #1)(26)
Keeley was beyond spent and couldn’t confirm or deny his claim. Truth was, she abso-fucking-lutely belonged to Tarius McNeil.
The demon roared, “NOOOOOOOOO! You are MIIIIINE!”
Keeley drifted into a sated sleep, but Tar saw the lines of worry on her forehead and around her eyes. Maybe he was kidding himself. She very well could be playing him. He needed to guard his heart. But it was too fucking late. She held it hostage. He couldn’t negotiate it back even if he wanted to. There was the crux: Keeley could break him like no other and he knew she would, but the instinct to stop her just wasn’t there. What did that say about him? You’re in love, idiot. True that.
The demon hoped that Leith would do his bidding for him. But the damn man actually had a fucking honor code. Mitch was a no go, looking at Keeley as only a friend. How would he get her away from Tarius McNeil? The demon paced inside Keeley, searching for his answer. She missed her sister. Could he use Lacey Strand in some way? The cravings for heroin still lingered but she discovered another way to handle those. Pain. Yes, maybe it was time to up the ante so she could never step back into the light. Of course that was the biggest lie ever told, key would be to convince her it was truth. Humans were just so damn easy to deceive. Keeley already harbored the fear she was too damaged for Tar—time he sealed her fate on that count. Shouldn’t be too difficult, guilt and shame were his cohorts, after all. When he finished with Keeley Ann Kincaid she wouldn’t even recognize herself, much less be able to come back from her journey through destruction.
The diabolical laugh caused Keeley to thrash in her sleep. Tar studied her intently. “What is it that haunts you, my love? I’ll slay any damn dragon that tries to harm you.” He stroked her back gently then placed a tender kiss on her head. “You just have to let me into that darkness with you. I can show you the light if you let me.” He hugged her tight, wishing she would see the truth in his words. “You have to want it, baby. You have to want to fight.” She snuggled into him, murmuring his name. “Yes, Keeley, I’m here. Say you will. Say you’ll fight for us.”
Keeley felt like she was trapped under some sort of heaviness. She could hear Tar’s muffled pleas but she couldn’t seem to lift whatever it was that held her down. Inside she screamed, “I want to, Tar. I love you. I want to FIIIIIIGHT!”
But her cries could not be heard by the man who loved her more than his own life. His memory took him to a place he never wanted to revisit. Tarius had his own battle to fight before he would be any good for Keeley. He knew it. Eventually the powers that be would demand he did just that. Time was running out, he felt it with every hammer of his heart. “No matter what happens, don’t give up on us, Keeley,” he whispered the plea just as the hard knock on the door brought an omen he couldn’t avoid.
Show time.
Chapter Twelve
Mitch entered the room solemnly. Not good. Not good at all. “What’s up?” Tar studied him.
“You’re needed up north.”
“News flash, man, I don’t work for this operation any longer.”
“Null and void,” clearing his throat, “though, when you agreed to help Keeley, you did become part of us again.”
Tar couldn’t deny that. “Exactly what am I needed for?”
“Come with me.” Mitch left the room.
Keeley barely stirred as Tar gently placed her on a green couch in the corner. He covered her with a throw blanket and softly kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back,” he whispered before finding Mitch in the dining room.
The long, black table served well for meetings he noted, taking in everyone seated there. His body stiffened at one man in particular. The reason he’d left the organization in the first place. He avoided eye contact and made a point of going around the other side away from him. Mitch stood and motioned to the chair next to his. Tar leaned in so only he could hear him, “What the hell is Chase doing here?”
Mitch gave a tight shake of his head and whispered, “No fucking clue.”
“Tarius, I appreciate you coming back to assist us,” one of the head honchos spoke directly to him.
Tar didn’t have any issues with a few of these men. He fully supported their honorable acts to help bring down these horrendous sex rings. But some of those men lacked morals, especially Chase. Tar had been working further undercover to see which of them was actually double-dipping. He’d learned in his investigations that the deceased Senator Caleb Reynolds, who brought all of this to light, had a long reach and many were in cahoots with him, although since his demise, they had scattered. Fucking cowards. “Sir.” Tar gave a deferential nod.