Jason (Kings of Guardian #4) Read Online Free Page B

cartilage, skin and muscle compressed under his desperate bite. With every ounce of strength he had, Jason levered to his knees and ripped the man’s throat out. The keening wail of the asshole under him echoed eerily in his mind. He felt the tissue rip and give just as a blinding pain pierced his skull and darkness overwhelmed him.
     
    ***
     
    A hand on his shoulder brought his head up with a jerk. Jason cast a furtive look around the now vacant room.
    “I waited as long as I could, son. The next group needs to use the room. Why don’t you and I go have a seat on the benches out front?” Jason remembered the refined gentlemen who spoke to him from previous meetings. Matt. No last names were asked for or given in Narcotics Anonymous.
    Jason nodded and stood. He glanced at the women waiting in the hall and nodded solemnly as he passed. Once outside he sat down on the wrought iron bench and drew a deep breath.
    “Tough day?” Matt asked as he sat back.
    “Tough life.” Jason meant it.
    “I can understand and relate. Do you want to talk about whatever is driving you so deep within yourself?”
    “Can’t go into specifics.”
    “Then don’t. Stay at concept level. Big picture.”
    “I’m being forced to confront a piece of my past that I thought I had buried.”
    “Ah. I see.” The man’s sigh preceded his next comment. “A portion of your past that you haven’t made peace with?”
    Jason nodded.
    “How long have you been clean?”
    Jason shrugged. “Depends on your definition. Five years before being treated medically. Since then, one thousand thirty days.” Jason prayed he would make it to one thousand thirty-one.
    “So, this past, if you had a magic wand and could make everything change, what would you do?”
    Jason exhaled hard and sat back. “I don’t know. We were in a foreign country. It was a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t situation. But I wasn’t the one who was damned. Two people are dead because of decisions I made.” He’d found out later his weapons specialist had died from the jump. The jump he ordered. Broke his neck on landing.
    They sat quietly for a long span of time. The distant sound of vehicles punctuated the silence with a rhythm unique to this portion of the city.
    “Well, since you are sitting next to me now, I will assume that you made a couple of correct decisions. I’m also going to assume you were U.S. military or worked for an agency that would sanction those types of events. Am I correct?”
    Jason cast the man an assessing eye. “I can neither confirm, nor deny, that assumption.”
    Matt chuckled without any real humor. “Got it. Alright. Ever hear of Murphy’s Law?”
    “Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong,” Jason said.
    “Well, I have my own code. It’s called Matt’s Law. Original, aren’t I?” The old blue eyes danced with mirth.
    “Very.” Jason tried for a slight smile. He wasn’t sure he’d been successful.
    “First rule: Be true to yourself. Don’t exaggerate, make excuses or manipulate the past. Dealing with the truth is hard enough. Don’t take on any additional baggage. The second rule is also my last. Live the life that you were given to the fullest. As much as we may try, we will never be motion picture superheroes who always get the happy ending. But we can try.”
    Jason rolled his head and narrowed his eyes at the man. “Did he send you?”
    “He who?”
    “You know who.” He wouldn’t put it past Gabriel to have a support system in place for him.
    “Nobody sent me, son. I’m an addict. I’ve been clean for fifteen years, five months and four days. I am responsible for the financial ruin of hundreds of people. Two of them committed suicide because of my manipulation. I developed my rules in order to live with myself and my past. If you think someone sent me here, you’re wrong.”
    Jason held the man’s stare. The honesty and the emotion in his eyes conveyed more than his words.
    “Does it ever get