“Hayden…Hayden…Wake up…” I hear a male voice sing song. I try to open my eyes but they seem so heavy. I feel a hand tangled in my hair, slowly almost against their will, my eyes open. I expected to see Michael’s face. It’s not. I don’t see Michael at all. In fact, I’m not in bed with Michael—which is where I was when I fell asleep. I’m in a cage…No…the cage. How could that be? I stood there and watched as Crusher demolished the cage. A new cage? A new Hell? My heart is pounding in my chest, erratically. About the only thing that is familiar to me, is that I’m in my bedroom.

“Did you really think you could get away from us, Hayden?” Blade’s voice asks, demanding my attention. My eyes move to look at Blade. He’s squatted down looking through the cage at me. He’s drunk. I can smell the liquor on his breath. His hair is rumpled and he’s got some scraggly growth started on his chin, from not shaving. His fingers are poking through the wide holes of the cage and have latched onto my hair. He gathers more and more until my head is wedged against the cage, the steel pressing into the side of my face. “Fucking bitch. You ruined everything. Did you really think I would let you keep my son from me? I’m going to make you pay now.”

“Blade don’t do this. Don’t touch Connor. He’s innocent. You don’t want to hurt your own blood. Do what you want to me, but please leave Connor out of this!” I beg, fear causing my heart to thunder in my ears as it slams against my chest so hard that I can barely breathe. My body is shaking as panic floods through me. I’m losing it. I’ve been so good; I haven’t had a panic attack in forever. Yet, right now I feel one coming on and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. He can’t hurt Connor. He can’t!

“You thought you could get away with naming my son after your fucking lover? How can you let that monster crawl between your legs, Hayden? After everything you and I shared you’re just going to let that thing touch you? I thought you had pride. You thought you were too good to give my brothers what they wanted, but look at you now! Willing to suck a walking freak’s cock—just for protection.”

“Stop it!” I scream, the panic dying down and in its place now is anger. Anger at the way he is talking about Michael—of the things he’s saying about Michael. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Michael. Blade will never know what it means to be a good man. He’ll never be anything but scum. “Stop it! Leave Michael alone! He’s worth a thousand of you! He’s a good man, and he’s a great father! He’s everything you aren’t and will never be!” I just keep screaming, all the years of pent up anger and fear are surging through me. In the back of my mind I’m trying to figure out how to get free. I have to get to Connor and save him. I need to get him away from Blade. Michael might have done that already, maybe that’s why Michael is not here.

Blade pulls out a knife, and I know I’ve gone too far. I knew it, but I just couldn’t control myself. With Blade you have to keep a level head. I needed to keep control over my emotions, but I’m so tired of people hurting Michael, of not understanding him.

I can’t move because of the hold Blade has on my hair. I yank against it and feel the sting of pain, but he’s not letting go. Instead, he takes the knife and slides the cold blade flat through the small opening in the cage. He lets it push against the side of my face. I do my best to keep from crying out, I have a feeling he’d like that too much and I don’t want to give him the pleasure. What I need is to try and scare him, to make him leave.

“You need to go, Blade. Michael will be back soon and if he finds you here, he’ll kill you.”

“Really?” he snorts.

“He’ll kill you. He’s vowed to. You need to go while you still can.”

“You have so much confidence in that scarred-up freak,” he sneers.

“Michael’s vowed to kill you,” I tell Blade, keeping my voice completely firm. “And he’s a man. A real man. He will keep his word! He won’t stop until he does. If you were smart you would run.”

“Michael,” he jeers, “isn’t going to do a goddamn thing, Hayden.”

“He will! He won’t stop,” I tell Blade with a hundred percent certainty.

“That’s where you’re wrong Hayden. Beast’s not going to do a fucking thing.” He abruptly releases me and steps away from the cage. He’s laughing and I have no idea why. He has to be even more insane than I gave him credit for. That’s the only explanation. “Look at your precious, Michael,” he sneers. I look frantically around the room and that’s when I see him. He’s lying on the floor behind where Blade had been kneeling. Michael. He’s lying on the floor, covered in blood and he’s got deep cuts all over his body. He’s looking at me, but he doesn’t see me. He doesn’t see anything. His eyes are lifeless. He’s dead. Michael’s dead.

I’m curled in a ball because of the height of the cage, but when I see Michael like that, I fall back on my ass—hard, and then back quickly against the other side of the cage.

“Michael!” I scream. My world comes crashing down around me. “Michael!” I cry, my whole body shaking.

What will I do without him?