Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(66)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Riley’s eyes narrowed. “Or what?”

His fingers dug into my arm, but I didn’t say a word. Sam appeared at my side and pinned him with a glare. “Let go.” He looked at my arm.

Riley gave me a little jerk. Sam grabbed my free arm and kicked out with his leg, catching Riley in the gut. Riley flew backward, hitting the coatrack and scattering jackets everywhere. Sam thrust me behind him as Riley came flying back across the room. The two went at it, fists flying and legs kicking.

Sam sent Riley across the room again and before getting up, he picked up a piece of wood from the coatrack and held it like a club. He stepped forward, menacing and wild.

“Riley, don’t you dare,” I said.

He didn’t even look at me. His focus was all on Sam, on hurting him. I closed my eyes. Anger was sweeping over me. He attacked Gemma, then my brother, and now he was threatening Sam with a broken piece of wood. I wished I were strong enough to stop him… I wished…

A scream snapped my eyes open. The wood had burst into flames and was burning toward Riley’s hands.

“Throw it in the fireplace!” I yelled. Riley whipped the burning wood into the fireplace and the whole stack of timber inside went up in flames. It cracked and hissed with intensity.

“What the hell was that?” Riley asked.

“What is your problem?” I yelled, trying to race at him, but Sam intercepted me, placing his body in the way. “You just attacked everyone in this room.”

“I was bored,” he said mildly.

“You’re a drunk idiot,” I snapped. “If you wanna know why Gemma walked away from you, that’s why.”

Riley’s eyes narrowed.

“Go upstairs and sleep it off.” I ordered.

He smirked. “I don’t take orders from you.”

“Fine! Drive off and kill yourself. That’ll make things better.”

“Whatever,” he muttered and stomped up the stairs.

The room fell quiet. “Look at this mess,” I said and went over to pick up the broken coatrack and coats.

When no one else moved, I straightened and looked up. “What?”

“Did you set that on fire?” Cole whispered.

“What? No.” Was he crazy?

They all looked at the fire, then back at me. I focused on Sam. He would know that I couldn’t do that. But he didn’t seem as sure as I would have thought.

“I didn’t do that,” I said, my voice a little too unsure for my liking.

Sam glanced at the fire. It was dying down. I shrugged. “I’m going to go talk to Logan. I tried earlier, but Riley decided to be an ass.”

I nodded.

“I’m going to go,” Cole said, drawing my attention. “Today has been… yeah. I’ll just see you later.”

He went into the kitchen before anyone could say anything. I glanced at Gemma. “Aren’t you going to follow him?”

She shook her head.

“Then you’re a fool.” I spat and ran after my brother.

He was on the porch when I caught up with him. “Cole, wait.”

“I can’t stay right now, Hev.”

“Yeah, I get it. I just…” I wasn’t sure what to say. “Riley is an ass.”

“Yeah, but what he said probably wasn’t a lie.”

“I still think she loves you,” I said, coming to his side.

“I’m not so sure.”

“Want me to talk to her?” I offered.

He swiveled around to look at me. “I want you to touch her.”

“You what?” I said, confused, but it didn’t take long to know what he meant. “You want me to mind rob her?”

“Yeah.” He didn’t seem proud to ask, but he wasn’t unsure.

“But why?”

“I can’t do this anymore,” he said tiredly. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to love something so much it hurts?”

“Yeah.”

He laughed bitterly. “I think my situation is a little different.”

He was right.

“It physically hurts me, Heven. To be that close, but so far away. It’s the worst kind of lonely. I can’t do it anymore. I’d rather never see her again than see her and know she’s out of reach. I have to know. If she loves me, then I can handle it, the distance. I’ll know she’s going to come around. But if he’s right…” He looked back at the house where Riley was and shook his head.

“I’ll do it.”

“You will?”

I nodded. “I’ll call you after.”

He hugged me swiftly, then got in his truck and drove away. I watched until he was out of sight.

Gemma came out the back door seconds later. “He’s gone?”

I nodded, my gaze sweeping over her. She was dressed, as usual, in dark jeans and brown knee-high leather boots. Her navy blue T-shirt was half tucked in, half out. Her hair was up in a high ponytail and the glossy strands fell down behind her. There was a dagger strapped to her leg and probably a smaller knife in her boot.

As she came down the stairs, Gemma told me, “I’ll see you later.”

“Wait, can we talk?”

“About what?”

I lifted a brow. “Really? You have to ask?”

She sighed and dropped down on the middle step. I took a seat beside her. “I know I haven’t been the best listener lately, but I’m here now.”

“You think I’m going to talk to you about your brother?”

“Why not?”

She didn’t seem to have a comeback for that so we sat quietly for a minute. She surprised me by starting the conversation. “I thought I was ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“For him. I didn’t think he would matter this much.”

“But he does?”

“I don’t want this. I didn’t come here for this.”

“Then why did you?”

“What Riley said isn’t true, you know?”

“No?”

“Well, not all of it. Back then, when I first met Riley… he was so much like Callum. I did try and make him into who I thought Callum was and that was wrong. But, you can’t make someone into something they aren’t. And then there’s the curse. It changed him… made him cold.”

“So you left.”

“I thought it would be easier for everyone.”

Instead, he felt abandoned and unworthy of even her friendship. My heart went out to Riley.