Fractured Promises (Reapers Reign, #2) Read online

  Fractured

  Promises

  Broken Continued

  Reapers Reign

  Aleisha Maree

  In accordance with Australian copyright laws (1968) the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property and can incur legal action. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained from the author. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  This book is a work of fiction. References to historical events, real people, or real locals are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Aleisha Maree

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  All rights reserved.

  Cover and formatting: © Amanda Walker @ Amanda Walker PA & Design Services

  Editing: YM Zachery & J.B. Joseph Editing

  This book is intended for mature audiences, not under the age of 18, and contains graphic violence, explicit sexual activity, and disturbing imagery.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Disclaimer

  Fractured Promises (Reapers Reign, #2)

  Dedication

  Recap

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

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  Further Reading: Broken

  Also By Aleisha Maree

  Published by Susan Horsnell

  T/A Cocky Romance Publishing

  A.B.N. 57 357 599 847

  Sadness always comes and goes, just like the dark. Soon there will always be light; the Moon will kiss the sun, just hold on, for happiness does come. The darker the night, the brighter the moon.

  Aleisha Maree

  Playlist

  Twenty-One Pilots

  * Heathens

  * Tear in my heart

  * Addict with a pen

  Thirty Seconds To Mars

  * Was it a dream

  * City of angels

  * The kill (bury me)

  * Stay

  * This is War

  The Script

  * Nothing

  David Guetta

  * Titanium (feat. Sia)

  Sia

  * Helium

  * Big girls don’t cry

  * Waving goodbye

  * I go to sleep

  * Hostage

  Eminem, Sia

  * Beautiful pain

  * Guts over fear

  Bleachers, Sia

  * Like a River runs

  David Guetta, Sia

  * The Whisper`

  3 Doors Down

  * The broken

  * Behind those eyes

  * Every time you go (acoustic version)

  Live

  * The sanctity of dreams

  * Runaway

  * Every time I see your face

  * The dolphins cry

  Adele

  * Someone like you

  * Skyfall

  Stargate, P!nk, Sia

  * Waterfall

  P!nk

  * Sober

  Eminem, P!nk

  * Won’t back down

  The rigs

  * All the king's men

  * We all fall down

  * Ladybird

  * Autumn

  Miley Cyrus, Cedric Gervais

  * Adore you

  Miley Cyrus

  * Hands of love

  * Stay

  Noah Cyrus, Labrinth

  * Make me (Cry) -Acoustic version

  Breaking Benjamin

  * Without you

  * Breath

  Five Finger Death Punch

  * The agony of regret

  * My heart lied

  * Anywhere but here – Duet with Maria Brink

  Metallica

  * Nothing else matters

  * The Unforgiven

  * One

  Korn

  * Falling away from me

  * Here to stay

  Korn, Corey Taylor

  * A different world

  Nicki Minaj

  * Pills N Potions

  * Mona Lisa

  Dedication

  To all who believe in me. In my darkest and worst moments, I know who you are, and I know that you will pull me from the mess that is sometimes in my head.

  We all fall to pieces and it's those who are there in these times, the ones that put you back together that matter. So, to my bitches that do that, Thank you!

  My readers, you guys are amazing. Don’t dim your light always know I’m here if you feel like you're falling, just reach out. Love all your faces.

  To Amanda Williams and Cynthia Carpetner, you ladies are always supporting me, loving me and believing in me. I’m beyond grateful. So, thank you, you are both fabulous and I really love ya faces XO.

  Xo Aleisha Maree xo

  Recap

  Broken —-—We left off with the mysterious beauty who had her eyes, my Angel’s eyes. Confusion and anxiety took over. In the end, my gut ruled over my head. I freaked out; I ran and ran. Not looking back, not thinking. I went to the one place I knew could quell this confusion: to the resting place of the dead.

  Letting go and forgetting was not what I wanted to do. It seemed as though it was what they all wanted, even Angel. Me? Well, I was quite happy talking to the ghost of my lost love. You may think I was crazy, a tad unhinged because I've spoken to my Angel, my love who died at my own hands. I came to reside in dark places filled with anger, pain, and misery. I took comfort in the one place that feeds on hate. Then, out of nowhere, she appeared holding the eyes of my past. I don’t need to heal the broken fragments of my soul. It’s too far gone for that. I can’t even love my twisted self, let alone try to love another.

  Going forward, this is going to be a ride of questions, lies and torment, all wrapped in loneliness. Do you want to go on? Or do you choose to jump off before the going gets tough? You never know, though. Through all this chaos in the present and the voices of the past, I may just find the fairy tale. For she may have her eyes, but she sure hasn’t got her past. Her skeletons are dark; just as destructive as mine. Match made in hell you’d say – let’s just see, shall we?

  Chapter One

  Knox

  I feel her. It's like a hum running through my veins, desperate to break free. All I want is to live in this moment, feel her, touch her like it’s the first time all over again. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as they begin to glass over. I know it can never be again, as a fresh wave of pain squeezes my chest. I struggle to breathe; it still feels like it was only yesterday that I lost her. I get comfortable as I lean over her headstone.

  “Thought you weren’t coming around anymore?” I say
in a tone laced with bitterness.

  “I thought you were going to put on big boy boots and suck shit up?” She retorts, a smile playing on her plump lips.

  “I guess we were both wrong then, weren’t we?” I say, breathing out as I sit down. I see the pain on her face as she sits down in front of me, her eyes never leaving mine.

  “What do you want me to do, Angel?” I ask, even though I already know the answer to my dumbass question. It’s always the same fucking answer.

  “I want you to move on. I want you to let go. Why can’t you? What are you so scared of?” She asks, a tad exasperated.

  Her tone makes me flinch as I lay back, placing my arms behind my head. Looking up at the sky, I breathe in deeply. Her tone makes me hesitate. I draw in another deep breath before I answer.

  “That’s rich coming from you! You're dead, and you can’t move on either. You keep coming back to me, too. Because what we have, this, our past, it’s still so powerful; even death can’t keep us apart!”

  Her look says it all as she looks into my eyes. Truth mixed with shame washes over those beautiful blue eyes. It hurts knowing I’m the cause – my need for her and her not wanting to fail me. I reach my fingers out towards her.

  “You got me, and I got you,” I tell her, thinking we could make it all right, “you said ‘Come and take a look inside.’ You believed in me, in every single lie that I told... I couldn’t keep you. I failed, yet you're still here, you still stay.” Running my hands through my hair, I breathe in deep. I need to get this out.

  “I can’t believe just how fucken broken I am, Angel, I don’t ever want this to end. I can’t imagine it will ever be over, but you’re always telling me it is.

  You always say you’re not going to come back, but then you do. You’re here, and it’s not over. Maybe we can do it right this time around? The best part of you isn’t dead. You’re here. I can see you, looking more beautiful than my memory even remembers.” Her movements catch me off guard. My heart skips a beat, and my palms start to sweat.

  “Knox, please. I do everything I can to tell myself I can leave that I must leave and let you go... But then I close my eyes, and you're all I see. I worry about you; your self-destruction has me coming back to you time and again. It’s hard for me to leave, knowing how hurt you are. The moment I think I can go, I see the pain etched on your face when you sleep, and I can’t turn away from you. But look at me,” her face falls and tears pool in her eyes, “look at my wings.” She fans her impressive wings out in front of me. Shock and fucken pain hits me deep in my core as I look them over.

  “Baby, they are turning black. The more I defy the gods and come to you, the harder it is for me to return. They warned me, but leaving you wasn’t an option, and now I’m stuck in limbo between places with nowhere and no one.” Her voice cracks as silver teardrops pour down her face. All the peace I have stolen from her every time she has visited me, comes crashing down around me. Her words open my eyes, and I know that I have failed her yet again because I was too damn scared to let go.

  “From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were my light. Here, tonight, it has never felt more right, but it’s all just fractured promises and broken dreams, and now my actions have killed you and left you alone. I haven’t learnt a thing. I will die trying to make this right, Angel. I’m fucken scared to set fire to this love; you're all I have ever wanted. You’re the love I dreamed of.” Closing my eyes, I blink away the fucken weakness, the tears that want to fall.

  “Angel I’m scared of losing this – you... Us. Our time together was so short and this right here,” I wave my arms around signaling that I mean us, both here, together. “This makes the pain less. And, well, that, back there,” I sigh, gesturing towards my bike, towards town, towards the gym and where I know Blue is. “That’s too hard. She has your eyes.” My heart silently breaks as I mention Blue to her. The very thought of her is a betrayal to my soul.

  I close my eyes at the memory as a lone tear I tried so fucken hard to stop escapes. “Angel, it wasn’t the first time. I saw her at the fights. She was there. You both were. You each pulled me in different directions. When I close my eyes, it’s her eyes I see. It's like I know her from somewhere. I can’t shake the feeling that I know her. My body does things that scare me when I look at her. Shit! I only want you! Is that wrong? When my brain calls your name, it’s her eyes I see. When it’s her name I say, it’s the scars of me killing you that burn. Can you hear it? The crackle of the flame as I fall apart?” I say, slamming my fist into my chest.

  “Knox, please, it’s ok.” Her voice is soft, stricken with pain as she attempts to comfort me.

  “Baby” it falls from her lips like hot molten lava hitting my core with an erotic need to kiss those lips. “I never felt this before, what you gave me was ever-changing and magical, you showed me that, no matter how much love hurts, it can also be euphoric and soul consuming and the plans we made and the time we had, the love and trust... us, just being us was perfect but it wasn’t meant to be. I was there to show you that it's ok to love and let go.”

  Angel NO! What about us and this,” I scream out, but it gets stuck in my chest.

  “We were the perfect, broken ever after baby.”

  Sliding my hand through his hair, I love the way it falls over his eyes shielding his vision and hiding the pain I know will be forming in them. Hoping that me giving this small touch will calm him, as another white feather falls and a black one takes its place. But no, he takes a deep breath in and I feel the shudder leave his body. He’s off on yet another tirade. Closing my eyes, I pray for the day he can see it. This man is hard work.

  “Isn’t this a betrayal? To your memory? I feel like I’m betraying you! Betraying us!” Pointing at her, I feel anger spewing from within me.

  “And as much as the pain eats at me, I know I don’t deserve to be happy ever again. You were my happy.” Reaching out to her Ghost, I continue, “I destroyed my happy when I took you out of this world.” The words cause the tears I have tried so hard to keep at bay start to pool behind my eyes. Wiping my hand across my nose, I slam my eyes shut as she opens her lips to speak. All I want to do is take that bottom lip of hers between my teeth and bite it hard, unforgivingly, but I can’t, I know I can’t, but it doesn’t stop my body wanting to, just one more time. My body craves her, the soft silky feel of her skin, the way her heart skipped when I would run my fingertips over her body or take her bottom lip between my teeth, the small quiver that would ripple from her body as I entered her. I miss all these things but what I miss the most is waking up to her eyes; the crystal-blue pools staring into mine pulling at my loins.

  “Have you ever thought about why she is there now?” Walking towards me she continues, “why she’s come to you?” She runs her fingertips that she now has in my hair, softly down my neck until they come to rest on my shoulders, knowing this is not okay for her to be doing so. A small shudder escapes me at the heat in her touch. Shit’s sake, she’s a ghost, but she’s mine!

  “Maybe I’m not what you need now.” She pushes me, a feather-like touch, down to sit on the grass below.

  Taking a breath I know I shouldn’t touch him, allow him this part of me but I have to, I need to calm him.

  I can hear her thoughts as though she is sending them to me, so I knew what was coming. “Maybe, I had to go so she could come to you. Maybe you can save her, and she can save you? We all have our reasons for being here, Knox, our purpose.” Her wing brushes the side of my cheek as she sits down by my side.

  Placing her hand over my heart, she continues speaking gently into my ear.

  “Stop inflicting pain on your soul. Stop sending all this hate and anger out into this world. Let love in, let yourself have that again. Let her love you. I know you both need it. She needs you just as much as you need her. She has a pain that burns deep too. Blue-James is her name, and she is Jimmy’s daughter. She will give you a run for your money.”

  She giggles slightly
as if the idea amuses her

  “And you will fight it; I know you will. But you need her. She will love you more than you will ever love yourself, you have to get up and try. I have to go, baby, they are calling me. I have people to help, places to go. Whisper my name on the wings of the wind when you feel as though it’s too much. I won’t be far away. I’ll love you forever.”

  Leaning over, she kisses me so sweet and soft, yet with so much passion I could get drunk on it.

  Breathing in deep, I plead through gritted teeth, “don’t go! Please don’t leave me, Angel! Please!” Looking up, I place my hand over the burning I feel on my chest. “Is this a heart coming back to life, beating, feeling?” I ask, looking at her as she hovers over me in a swirl of lace.

  “Just try,” she begs. You need to stop fighting her, fighting yourself, fighting me! Knox, you have to trust me, trust that I know what is best.” Her pain is drawn all over her face. She pauses and closes her eyes for a second before uttering a husky tear-laced sentence that sends shards of glass into my body, piercing the skin deep. “Always and forever under the sun, over the moon and in and out of the stars.” With a wink and a whirl of the wind, she is gone leaving behind only a white feather and the sound of her whispering, “I’m not gone. I’m with you forever. I won’t ever leave. I’m just letting go.” Then my Angel, my Sarah-Jane, the love of my life is gone.

  I sit there alone, leaning back against her headstone. Just like that she is gone. She was my everything. I wonder, for a brief second, if the pain of having her leave me again, over and over is worth, those few moments I get to be near her again. Here I am, I keep coming back like an emotional cutter. I can’t stay away. Am I addicted to the pain? Is the pain the familiar that keeps me here?

  My thoughts are interrupted as Jamie, my best friend, rocks up with a pack of Marlboros, and a bottle of Jack Daniels. Sitting down next to me, not even saying a word, he passes me a lit cigarette and the bottle. I take a long pull of the liquor followed by a deep drag of the smoke, letting it out in swirls around my face. I just look blankly into the New York skyline.