Dark red oozes from Braxton's mouth after Dax's boot connects with it. He wipes his lips off with his sleeve, and spits the remaining blood onto the floor. A darkness spreads in his pupils, his eyes turning a deeper shade of blue.

    "You fucking let him take Eddie?" Dax yells, pulling back his foot for the next blow. When it lands, Braxton groans and automatically clutches his stomach. "Your piece of shit plan cost me my most important man, and you didn't do anything to stop King from taking him?"

    Braxton looks up, enraged. "I was fucking shot in the leg. What more could I have done?"

    His older brother squats down next to him. "You should have tried harder."

    One nod from Dax, and Iker raises Braxton to his feet with the help of an older guys named Daryl.

    "If I would have tried any harder, he would have shot me in the head!" Braxton argues. "Would you have rather had that happen? I doubt it, otherwise you wouldn't keep dragging me back into this shit. I've wanted out ever since day one. Don't pretend you want me gone when you fucking need me."

    Dax's fists are clenched so tightly, his fingers must be digging into the palms of his hands. "The only person I needed was Eddie and he's gone. That's on you."

"Fuck you, Dax. You and your beaner bitch!" Braxton's words expel from his mouth before he can stop himself.

In a flash, Dax is on him. Blood splatters on the floor when blow after blow comes down on him. I clench my jaw as he continues to beat his brother. Braxton tries to get Dax off of him by grabbing his shirt, but he's too weak from blood loss to defend himself. At one point, the grip he has loosens, and I know his older brother is beating him to death.

"Stop!" I yell, propelling myself forward, but Iker holds me back. "You're fucking killing him."

Dax brings down a final punch and Braxton lays, seemingly lifeless, on the hard ground. Cold eyes meet mine as Dax stands, and I immediately regret speaking up. When Dax is like this, even the smallest thing can set him off - I remember this from back in the day.

He approaches me with a wicked sneer, and I want so desperately to back away, but I stand my ground. Iker still has a hold on my arm while Dax closes the distance between us. When he's close enough, his hand shoots up at me, as if he were going to strike. I'm frozen after my body flinches.

An entertained laugh bolts from Dax. "Damn. Your dad still slapping you around?"

I don't reply, my eyes finding a spot on the ground.

When Dax and I used to get fucked up together, I spilled my biggest secrets to him. It was almost as if he had injected me with truth serum.

"I bet he still gets under your skin, right? Daddy's little fuck up that he never wanted."

"Fuck you," I mumble, barely getting the words out.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Dax challenges.

"I said fuck you!" This time I yell it with conviction, giving Dax a shove for good measure.

A deadly flame ignites in his eyes, and a powerful punch decks me right in the face. I hear a sickening crackle in between my ears when a sharp pain fills my nose. Blood drains from my nostrils as my back roughly hits the ground and I roll to my side. The steel toe of his boot connects with my ribs, greeting old bruises with a new torment.

Blood from my torn lip drips from my chin as I lay there, taking the beating from Dax I've had coming since the day I returned.

Another kick makes me groan in pain.

"Do you know how fucking lucky you are that I haven't killed you? I've shot and tortured people for less!" he yells, sending one last jolt to my side.

I suck in a sharp breath that I can feel in my ribs before rolling onto my back. The smallest movement is like another kick and I immediately know that I have  bruised ribs, or maybe even a broken one.

Hands grab me by my arms and I belt out in misery as they pull me to my feet. It feels as if I'm being torn in half, the very sensation making me want to fall to my knees. I refuse the urge, knowing it would only look pathetic to Dax, and I never want to look weak in front of him. My jaw clenches; my teeth digging into my tongue to keep me from making any other sounds of defeat that Dax might be dying to hear.

The taste of iron on my taste buds doesn't affect me as I glare at him with glowing eyes. Dax stares back with amusement dancing in the blue of his iris, but there's still that dangerous spark, deadly enough to start a forest fire.

Dax examines me for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"This new Austin's got some moxie," he says, his tone dripping in playful mockery. His attention turns towards Iker, and he laughs.

A blow to my right cheek catches me off guard, but Iker and Daryl make sure I don't slump to the floor again by keeping a secure hold on me.

"Fuck," I hiss, spitting out a mixture of spit and blood onto the ground.

"You want to try disrespecting me again?" Dax's voice has lowered a few octaves. He's so close his cigarette breath is fanning my face. "Go on. I fucking dare you."

I avoid his piercing gaze and chew on my inner lip. Challenging him any further would be a death sentence.

"Come on," Dax taunts, shifting his weight from one leg to the other, creating a swaying motion mimicking that of a King Cobra. "Don't you want to take another go at me?"

Still, I continue to remain silent. Keeping my big mouth shut is the only way I can keep myself from saying anything that will dig me an even deeper hole.

"Come on!" Dax yells it this time, getting so close that our foreheads are almost touching.

Heat is rising to my head. I can't think straight. The hands that were holding me up now fall away and I see Iker backing up in the corner of my eye. I feel weak again, but I refuse to let my body shut down. Clenching my fists, I try to push out the ache in my whole body, but I can't shake it.

Dax adds to it by shoving me hard against my chest, making me stumble backward. The breath practically jumps from my lungs, and refilling them is straining on my ribs.

"Don't be a little bitch!" He gets up in my face again, pulling something from the hem of his jeans. "Come on!"

Cold metal presses hard against my temple, and I close my eyes. I wait, my blood turning to ice, chilling my bones.

"Get out." Dax drops the gun and it clatters on the floor. "Get out before I shoot you."