Awry Read Online Free PDF Page A

slamming into walls.
    Both of them hurt.
    Both of them angry.
    Both of them with no one else to blame.
    Gabriel pushed his pent up frustration out through his fists, savoring the crack and thud of each punch to Tristan’s body.
    Tristan fought back, gripping at Gabriel’s shoulders and tossing him to the side, throwing responsive punches straight into Gabriel’s nose.
    Broken skin, bleeding cuts, bruised flesh…none of it was enough to fill the hole.
    Gabriel grasped Tristan’s shoulders, raised him up, and shoved him into the large window at the back of the living room. The window cracked and shattered under the weight of Tristan’s body, pieces falling everywhere like glass raindrops.Beautiful and sharp, sprinkling the floor with a thousand pieces of something broken and destroyed by them.
    Tristan caught himself on the window’s frame and hurled his body back at Gabriel, throwing another punch.
    Gabriel filled with more darkness than ever before and it was empowering. He slammed his fist into Tristan’s head.
    It felt good to fight; to blame. To be out of control and fueled by sadness.
    He knew it.
    Tristan knew it.
    Nate, however, didn’t seem to understand.
    “Stop it!” Nate’s voice was loud, but inconsequential. “Stop it!” He grabbed the back of Gabriel’s shirt and pulled him away from Tristan. Struggling to shake off his friend, Gabriel twisted and fought, but Nate held steady. “Cut it out. Both of you.” He looked at Gabriel first, then Tristan.
    And then at the window.
    “Seriously, guys?” Nate said. “The window?”
    Tristan took a step back, never taking his eyes off Gabriel.
    Breathing heavily, Gabriel shrugged Nate off and looked at his twin. “I hate you.”
    Tristan pulled a shard of glass from his hand and spit blood onto the wood floor of the living room. “You too.”
    “The next time you try to kill yourself,” Gabriel said, teeth gritted, “don’t screw it up. Just die.”
    Nate held a hand up in between them. “Okay, okay—”
    “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Tristan’s eyes hardened as he took a step forward, glass crunching beneath his shoe.
    “I would.” Gabriel nodded. “You’re poison to Scarlet. You sulk in the background like a quiet monster, slowly killing her from the inside out.”
    Tristan lifted his chin defiantly. “At least I don’t beg her to love me like a lovesick puppy.”
    Gabriel curled a lip and pushed Nate out of the way, charging at Tristan again. He had just fisted his shirt collar when Tristan suddenly winced and fell to his knees. But Gabriel was barely touching him.
    What the hell?
    Confused, Gabriel released Tristan’s collar and stepped back.
    “What’s going on?” a soft voice said.
    Gabriel turned to see Scarlet standing at the edge of the room, her big eyes taking in the sight of the destroyed furniture and bloody brothers. “What happened?”
    “Scarlet?” Gabriel’s mouth fell open as he looked her over.
    She was alive.
    Like a light bulb switching on inside his soul, the darkness Gabriel had so willingly surrendered to just moments ago disappeared, replaced by a new, more powerful substance.
    Hope.

 
     
    6
     
    Every piece of Tristan was screaming internally.
    His lungs. His head. His heart.
    He’d never experienced anything more excruciating in all of his existence.
    But it was the best thing he’d ever felt.
    Because pain—sickening, life-draining pain…pain that brought him to his knees and invaded his soul—this kind of pain always meant one thing.
    Scarlet was alive.
    His heart climbed up his chest. Eager. Desperate. Devouring the familiar pull of Scarlet’s heart. The agony made it impossible for him to move without groaning, but he didn’t care.
    Because Scarlet was alive.
    He could feel her raging heart beating with more fever than ever before, resounding in his chest and slowly bringing purpose back to his soul.

 
     
    7
     
    Tristan tried to die.
    Scarlet could think of nothing else as she