Tainted, Book One: Possessed

19. In This Together

Gemma

"I thought you understood what was going on with him," Hank fussed. "I thought you had better sense!"

"It's my fault." I wrapped my arms around my middle and wished I could sink through the floor. "I reacted on emotion and hit him. I wasn't thinking."

"Gemma, I know you didn't mean it to turn out this way." Hank's voice was full of false patience. "But it was a mistake that almost cost you your life. And Jax's. And Gigi's. And probably those two girls who came in."

We all avoided looking at Kerry, who lay flat on his back with his limbs thrown out any which way.

The second he had made that low animal growl and raised blue spikes all over his skin, I'd touched his fist, flinching as one of the spikes pierced my finger. Jax had hustled the two girls out of the store with some lame story about needing to close early, and Gigi had called Hank. Then, we'd waited together, silent and shaken.

"Warden," Jax said now, "we're trying our best. We want to be his friends and I think he wants to be our friend, too, but he triggers easily over unexpected things."

"Which is why I was against bringing him out into public so early!" Hank's voice was hard again. "Emotionally, he's nine years old. And what do little kids do when they're upset or angry or hurt? They throw tantrums. But this kid's in worse trouble than normal because all of his limiters were turned off, all of his filters destroyed. On top of that, he has an enormous amount of power and he's been conditioned to use it recklessly, to wield it at a whim!"

"He hasn't hurt anyone." I snapped my head up.

"At this rate, it's only a matter of time until he does!" Hank thundered. "Don't you understand? He's killed people!"

"I know! I was almost one of them! But it wasn't him. It was the demon. Kerry fought against it each and every day of his life for a decade. Do you think someone so strong can't be salvaged?"

Why couldn't others see what I could? He needed guidance, not imprisonment!

"I'm going to keep helping him, keep pushing him along." I tilted my chin up. "And I'm also going to be there to keep anything bad from happening."

"Gemma, he's—" Hank plowed a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "He's not safe."

"I agree with Gems." Jax tightened his arm around Gigi's shoulder. "He's showing so much progress. I don't want to fail him now."

"Gemma's proven she can stop him." Gigi looked down at Kerry. "Jax can, too, and I think I could at least contain him. I want to help him. He teased me. When he and Jax first came in tonight, he made a joke."

"He wants to draw again." I held up the sketchbook.

"He let me comb his hair and dress him," Jax said.

"He let you dress him?" Hank's eyebrows flew up.

"Well, I mean, pick out what he's wearing," Jax clarified. "He hides when he changes."

"His scars are bad," Hank muttered, "especially his back."

"And Gigi's right. We can each stop his— Should we call them tantrums?" Jax smiled. "Yes, we have a long way to go, but we're never going to get anywhere locking him up again."

"All right!" Hank caved so quickly, I knew he did not want to see Kerry confined anymore than we did. "But if something happens, if he hurts someone, I won't have a choice. Do you understand?"

We all nodded.

"Don't touch him. He doesn't like it and responds aggressively." He looked at each of us in turn, glaring at me the longest. "Gemma, when you wake him up, what will he remember?"