Dangerously Damaged: A Contemporary Dark Bully Romance (The Shadowed Souls Series Book 3)

by Abigail Cole

  Charlie parks and offers me in hand before walking with the other two behind, following a trail of dirt amongst the fallen leaves and tiny plants growing all around. Acorns crunch beneath my shoes and the pine-filled air travels into my nose. I love the woods, the spots of sunlight poking through the shade and sounds of animals rushing around. I’m about to ask Charlie how much further it is when a whinny sounds through the trees, birds scattering from their branches. No. Way.

  I run, slipping past Charlie’s arms as they try to catch me and enter a huge clearing when a beautiful white horse stands before me. There’s a patch of black over her left eye and covering her nose, her hair flying wildly as she bucks against a rope tying her to a fallen log. Daddy steps out from behind her, his thick black hair pushed back and his suit looking out of place amongst the trees. “Happy birthday sweetheart.”

  Stepping towards the magnificent creature slowly, I stretch out a hand and wait for her to push her nose against my palm. Warmth and softness nuzzle against my fingers, a rumbling noise sounding in her chest. My heart is ready to burst but I contain my squeals, not wanting to spook her. Finally, I have a friend to keep me company! Daddy moves to stand behind me, his hand on my shoulder gently pulling me back a few steps. Her black eyes search for me instantly, her front trotters lifting in panic, but Daddy’s grip tightens so I can’t rush back to her.

  “For your birthday this year, I’m gifting you a life lesson money can’t buy,” he speaks quietly into my ear. Turning me, I see Arti lifting a pistol from his bag and passing it to my dad. “Beasts come in all shapes and sizes, but the cruellest of them all will be the most beautiful. The ones that crawl beneath your skin and steal your trust, the ones who make you vulnerable. You need to know you are always the strongest one in the room, everyone else is inferior when you hold the power to end them.” He takes the gun Arti is offering, spinning it around his pointer finger and gives it to me. “Now, kill the horse.”

  Ice freezes my bones and makes it hard to breathe, the forest tilting around me. The black metal in my hand is so heavy and all I want to do is drop it and run. I can’t kill the beautiful mare behind me.

  “Sydney, do it. Now.” I glance back, the horse’s black eyes filled with the same panic I feel. It doesn’t matter if she were a horse, a cat or a beetle, I can’t kill any creature because I understand what it’s like to feel worthless. For bad men to think they have the power to say who lives or dies. We talk about children’s rights at school, and Mrs Dawson told me I have a right to grow up in a family environment full of happiness, love and understanding. The horse lifts as far from the ground as she can, fighting against the rope to get away. Her whinny’s fill the forest, pain so clear in the sound I begin to whimper too.

  “You’ll thank me for this one day my dear, love is weakness.” My eyebrows pinch together. Love is weakness? But Daddy always says he is not a weak man, a fair one but never weak. My chest starts to pound, the guards and Daddy shouting at me while the horse screams in fear. My ears hurt from the loudness of it all, the ground blurring beneath my feet as I find a glimpse of bravery to grab onto. In the next second, I’ve raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

  Everything goes silent. The birds stop tweeting, even the horse knows not to move. Daddy’s eyes are furious, staring down the gun I have pointed at his head, the safety catch firmly in place.

  “Oh, no I didn’t...I’m so sorry Daddy,” I rush to drop the metal onto the ground and start to back up. At first he doesn’t move, standing still except for the heavy lift and fall of his chest. Suddenly he jumps forward and grabs me around the waist, dragging me through the forest while I kick and scream how sorry I am. He keeps a tight hold on me as he sits in the caddy, Charlie quickly jumping behind the wheel to drive us back to the house.

  A gunshot echoes from the forest and I know in that instant, my new snowy friend is dead. Tears fall down my cheeks, all my fight leaving me as I wait for my punishment. Even when we stop, I don’t struggle as Daddy carries me through the house, just hanging limply while the weight in my heart pulls me down. Daddy takes me to the main staircase and then turns sharply to yank open a door hidden around the back. A door I’ve never been allowed into before.

  The air is cold, my dungarees not keeping me warm enough to not shiver. And it’s dark, pitch black with no lighting. Next thing I know, I’m thrown onto the hard floor which scrapes my forearms and knees and a door is slammed behind me. Jumping up, even though my legs seize with pain and I can feel the warmth of blood trickling towards my socks, I run to bang my fists on the door as I start to cry again.

  “Daddy! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to! Please let me out! Mom? Mommy, please help me!”

  Meg

  “Wait, aren’t you supposed to be dead?” I lean through the open car window to get a better look at the driver. It’s difficult to tell is there’s a family resemblance since my point of reference is a decrepit old man, but she does have the same oval shaped face and small bump to the bridge of her nose. She rolls her eyes at me, revving the engine impatiently.

  “We’ll talk on the way, get in!” I jump into the passenger seat and Avery hops into the back, the car speeding off before we’ve managed to close the doors fully. I fasten the seat belt across me securely, the strap cutting into my exposed cleavage and I curse under my breath. Damn Perelli for dressing me up like a doll and making me jump through his hoops whilst dangling Wyatt’s safety in front of me. Look where we’ve ended up now, racing through the streets of Chicago in a Mini with a dead woman behind the wheel and the one I’ve fallen for slipping away from me. Sydney slams her foot down in time to stop at a changing red light, a boy slipping out of his mother’s hand to skip across the road.

  “Time to spill.” Avery sits forward between the seats and I chastise her for not wearing a seat belt. She grumbles, clicking it into place and sticks her tongue out at me. “Okay now, why are we paying the price if you’re alive?”

  “I’ve been in witness protection,” she huffs as if that explains everything, too focused on winding through a confusing network of roads. I share a look with Avery in the rear-view mirror and we hold our questions until Sydney takes the turning for the freeway. The second she pulls into a free lane of straight, open road, we both order her to give us every detail possible.

  “I’m sorry you all got dragged into this, but you know what my father is like. You won’t believe the things he did to me as a child, what he made me do. When I turned eighteen, he announced he would be searching for a husband on my behalf to continue his legacy. I thought he may have forgotten since a whole year went by but then one day, a sleezy man three times my age arrived at the door, his suit slicker than his thoroughly oiled, thinning hair. So, I fled.”

  A yellow Mercedes pulls up beside us, honking its horn loudly and swerving to grab our attention. In the driver’s seat, a seriously pissed looking Dax is screaming through the window and waving his fist at Avery in the backseat, who is pouting and batting her eyelashes at him. I can’t help the snigger that leaves me until my eyes land on a dozy Garrett beside him. He’s holding the back of his head, blood colouring his fingers as his eyes close and jolt back open a few times. I frown, wondering how many people are going to suffer before this is finished. It’s not like I asked them to come but still feel guilty my need to have Wyatt back is putting others in danger.

  “Ignore them, please continue.” Avery waves her hand as the Mercedes falls back and pulls into the lane to trail us.

  “Hang on Sid,” I put my hand up as she opens her mouth, twisting in my seat to glare at my twin. “How long have you been in love with Dax for?” Avery half chokes and splutters but I narrow my eyes on her, mentally telling her to cut the bullshit. She sighs and looks away, a rosy pink colour rising to her cheeks. I know Avery better than she knows herself but even she must be aware of the way she’s overly deflecting him. Her seemingly innocent flirting is more than she’s ever given anyone else, not wanting to give the wrong impression which m
eans he’s managed to crawl beneath her skin.

  “Maybe since the campfire. Who knows anymore? But it doesn’t matter, I’m not loveable.” She sighs dramatically, her hands slapping against her thighs. Avery is one of the toughest nuts to crack, but once someone nudges through a crevice into her heart, she can’t shove them back out and close the door like she wishes she could.

  “Well I love you, so clearly that’s incorrect.”

  “You either love a psychopath or have some serious Stockholm syndrome going on so I don’t trust your judgement right now.” My eyebrows knit together, wanting to jump to Wyatt’s defence but knowing there’s no point. He has to mend the relationships he’s torn to shreds, provided we manage to save him in time to do so.

  “You don’t know him like I do,” I mutter, facing forward. “We’ve heard most of the story from Nixon but please continue,” I gesture to Sydney who has been silently looking between us.

  “So yeah, I ran away and found Nixon. He wasn’t the successful man I’ve seen on the news back then, but he and Cathy were so down to earth and accepting. It was naïve of me to think I could escape my father so easily, but it was going so well until it wasn’t. I don’t remember the pain, but I remember hearing the gunshot and then the lights fading out around Nixon’s silhouette. Next thing I know, I’m jolted awake by a defibrillator with a paramedic flashing a light in my eyes. Then the pain began.” Sydney indicates to exit the freeway and veers onto a ramp with the guys following right behind.

  “I gave a fake name at the hospital until the police arrived, but my father has so many cops working for him I had to be careful with who I could trust. Clearly, I chose well, I’ve been living under an alias for twenty years now.”

  “But how did you find out about us?” Avery asks.

  “By mistake really. I snuck into Cathy’s funeral, needing to pay my respects and guess who I saw hunched over the buffet table, filling their arms with canapes and champagne bottles? I knew Cathy before she became famous enough to have her hair and make-up professionally done each morning, and you two are clones of her. After that, I started to keep a watchful eye just in case. My father doesn’t let go of a grudge, trust me.”

  We sit quietly for a while, Avery and I absorbing the overload of information. This changes everything. Maybe if Perelli sees his daughter alive and well, he’ll let Wyatt go. But I already know that won’t work and probably put Sydney in the danger she’s be hiding from all this time. I’ve been staring at the passing landscapes on a narrower road for so long, I don’t realise there’s a black sedan directly in front until Sydney leans across to remove a baseball cap from the glove box. Pulling it low over her eyes, she veers onto the wrong side of the road to pull alongside it.

  Suddenly my view has changed to an image of Wyatt slumped back in the back seat, deflated, and resigned. His emerald green eyes flick towards me, widening as much as the swelling allows and sitting upright. The immediate surprise in his expression shifts to one of horror, signalling for me to go away with his hand. I shake my head slowly, not caring about anything else right now than being with the one I love in any circumstances.

  My heart is going to explode if I don’t get the chance to tell him, and soul is going to shatter if he doesn’t say it back. Perelli leans forward next to him, his shrewd eyes pinning me as a target as he shouts orders to his driver. The sedan swerves into the side of us, testing our resolve and hoping we fall back but there’s no chance. After the horrors I’ve faced in Perelli’s dungeon, a little nudge isn’t going to scare me, and it seems the woman beside me feels the same. Sydney pushes back, our two vehicles grinding against each other on the single traffic intended tarmac. Grassy banks stretch either side of us with fenced fields of wheat further beyond, a scenic route our revving engines are ruining.

  The sedan pulls aside before ramming back into us, the scrape of metal on metal piercing my ears. Wyatt is pressed against his window with fear imprinted in his beautiful eyes, mouthing for me to leave him. If it weren’t for the two panes of glass between us, I’d be able to reach out and cup his cheek while telling him that’s never going to happen. Instead, I lift my hand to rest over his, so close yet so far.

  A deafening horn sounding from in front breaks the moment as a large truck is heading directly for us. The screams which instantly leave all of us add to the volume of noise, Sydney twisting the wheel sideways on instinct. The truck ploughs towards us, catching the back end of the Mini as we fail to get out of the way in time and sends us spiralling off the road. My stomach rolls in time with my head, the world around me spinning until I squeeze my eyes shut. I’m going to throw up and then die in my own vomit.

  Crashing to a halt, I crack an eyelid to find we’ve luckily landed upright again, the vehicle rocking on the tyres before sagging to a halt. My heart is thrumming in time with my shuddering arms, my hands gripped tightly enough around my belt to make my knuckles turn white. I go to turn and shout ‘Ha! I told you so!’ to Avery when a figure appears at my window, making me scream instead. Garrett struggles to get the door open, tugging roughly on the handle before it flies outwards with a screech.

  I remove my belt and bundle into his arms, just needing a hug while my bones continue to quake. Garrett bends to cradle my body in his arms and carries me a safe distance from the destroyed Mini. Once I’ve been placed on the grass, I watch him sprint back to assist Sydney until Avery catches my attention. Or to be more specific, Avery’s mouth devouring Dax’s. He grips her like she’s his lifeline, like the world will crack and swallow him whole if Avery isn’t anchoring him.

  Garrett walks up to me, tossing the Mercedes keys over to a determined-looking Sydney by his side. “Ready to end this Megamoo?” he asks cockily, back to his usual self. I roll my eyes and accept his hand up, turning to the haphazardly parked Mercedes with black racing stripes lining the bonnet. Avery’s voice yells over for us to wait up as my hand lands on the handle, a sigh leaving my lips.

  “This is my fight. Take your victory while you can,” I bob my eyebrows towards Dax and force a small smile that doesn’t portray any of the jealously I’m feeling. I hate to leave her behind, but the simple fact is her happily-ever-after has his arm around her shoulders and is inhaling the scent of her hair. If anyone deserves to benefit from the fucked-up situation Nixon’s mistake has landed us in, it’s her. It’s my turn to struggle and I can only hope I will be rewarded in the way she has.

  Sydney throws a cell phone across the space dividing us, telling the pair to call a recovery truck but Avery’s eyes don’t leave mine. The tilt to her eyebrows and puppy dog eyes which normally work on me are begging me to stay, but there’s no way I can do that. Blowing her a kiss, I quickly jump into the back seat behind Garrett and close the door between us. Once again, I’ve fallen for the bad boy, so all that’s left to do now is to save his ass and never let him go again.

  Wyatt

  My heart spirals and crashes as I watch the red Mini do the same through the rear window. We speed away before I’m able to see the car fall still, unsure if my sweet Meg is safe, injured or worse. Until now I’ve been compliant, sitting calmly in the back seat like the good boy I’ve spent years perfecting. Good for nothing maybe. But I have been acutely aware any resistance from me could still fall back on the brunette that’s stolen my heart. Not even the sharp slap Ray delivered to me in the elevator was enough to make me push back. Ray thrives on power and control, but now uncertainty is pulling me in all directions.

  She’d been right there. On the other side of the glass, her blue eyes declaring everything we hadn’t had time to share. What if we’d met sooner and under different circumstances? Would I have paid any attention to the girl with resilience made of steel, her quick-wit and unbreakable will? I already know the answer is no. I would have glanced over her because I was too lazy to put in the work, too selfish to give her what she needed from me in return. But everything has changed. She’s the light in my darkness, the sugar to my bitterness. My Sweetness.


  Every mile along the tarmac road drags away another piece of my heart, the weight of my soul reflected in the thickly grey clouds fast approaching. I recognise this last stretch of road as we near Ray’s hidden estate, the edges of a forest enveloping us. Branches knit together in an arch overhead, blocking out any hint of light as we fly towards an estate looming in the distance. The modern mix of grey brick and exposed wood I had thought as my one true home now seeming too unfamiliar without the headstrong brunette stashed beneath.

  I can’t bear it anymore. What if I die with only what if’s filling my mind? The whole point of my sacrifice being null and void because she’s already waiting for me on the other side. Which is better than what I imagine is waiting for me in hell, but that defeats the point. She should finally be free. Free to live and love, to have a career doing whatever she wants, to have a family that will fulfil her and die an elderly, wise woman. Adrenaline fills my veins, the pain of my injuries momentarily forgotten as I throw my elbow into Ray’s face. A sickening crunch sounds from his nose, a bellow leaving his throat which has his driver swerving in panic.

  Ray’s cane snaps out in a flash, his reaction instantaneous to lash me across the chest. His skeletal hand grips my arm with more force than I’d expected, ignoring the gushing of blood from his nose while his eyes are fixed on me with fury swirling in their darkened depths. On the next attempt to whack me with it, I make a grab for his cane and push all my weight behind shoving it against his throat. A gunshot pierces the air and a bullet hole appears in the seat an inch from my face. The car swerves and screeches as the driver spins around to try to take another shot at me.