Ash narrowed his eyes. “He’s gone. He’s been gone for a long time.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but something suddenly pieced itself together. “Was it all you?” I breathed, stunned. “The threats? The surveillance?”
For the first time, his hatred and anger slipped. There was a glimpse of something else…maybe shame? Uncertainty? It was gone before I could identify it.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “I didn’t have a choice.”
I stared at him. At the boy I had once tried to protect. At the man who had unraveled into something unrecognizable.
“How?” I whispered. “How did you plant that spyware? I couldn’t trace it.”
He lifted his chin. “You can learn anything on the internet if you try hard enough, and know where to look.”
I shook my head in disbelief. It was possible to find almost anything online. I’d known hackers who never set foot in a college classroom. “I-I guess I never knew you were interested in tech.” I needed to keep him talking. I carefully moved another half step back, toward the lamp that was almost in reach.
“You failed her.” Ash’s lip curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “I learned how to keep her safe, even at a distance. I focused allthe time I could on being better than you, so that I could be the one who protected Skye.” Ash tilted his head. “At first, it was our father keeping tabs on her, but he wasn’t good at it. When he discovered what I could do, he loosened things up around the house. He encouraged my studies so I could help him. He never let her go, but I was always there to make sure he never got too close to her.”
It was all starting to come together in a horrifying picture. “But youthreatenedher?” I pushed.
“I would never hurt my sister,” he snarled.
“Then why did you run us off the damn road?” I snapped back. “I’m assuming that was you, too?”
“That was an accident,” he fumed. “You slowed down too quickly and I couldn’t stop fast enough in the rain.”
I glared at him, not sure I believed that. “But you deleted her files. Youtrackedher. Put up cameras in her home and pretended you were your own father.”
“You weren’t supposed to come snooping around.” He bared his teeth at me, tightening his grip on the weapon. “She was supposed to stay away from you. I was only deleting her files because I wanted her to stay longer. I needed more time. But when you butted in, I had to create a distraction.” His eyes blazed. “It wasn’t hard to fake a call from our father. Digitally recreating a voice is an easy task these days.”
I shook my head, bile rising in my throat. “This is insane. You’re insane.”
Ash smiled, but it was hollow. “You’re not going to put Skye in danger ever again.”
My time had run out. He charged faster this time. I dodged, reaching behind me and grabbing hold of the lamp. With all the strength I had, Iswung the large lamp at him, but it was heavier than I anticipated and it slowed me down. He cried out as glass shattered, and pain sliced across my ribs. We somehow both crashed to the ground.
The knife skidded across the floor, and I crawled after it, Ash close behind. We struggled, grappling—his fist hit my jaw. I elbowed him in the ribs. He growled. My fingers found the knife, but Ash’s nails dug into the back of my hand, puncturing skin.
I wasn’t sure exactly what happened next.
I rolled, trying to keep control of the weapon, but he never let me go. I ended up on my back, Ash on top of me, the knife shaking between our bodies as we both fought to take it from the other.
And then—someone let go. Ash jerked. Everything slowed as Ash’s eyes widened.
Horrified, I looked down.
The knife was in him, sticking out from Ash’s abdomen.
It wasn’t deep, but it was in his side, just above the hip. Blood was already soaking his shirt.
“Shit,” I breathed.
Ash stared at me. The rage in his face drained, replaced by something like fear, maybe even regret.
He glanced down at the knife, and before I could stop him, he grabbed the handle and pulled it out of himself.
“No!” I yelled, reaching for the weapon. He didn’t fight me this time.
Ash made a soft noise, something between a groan and whimper before he slumped to the side, hitting the floor hard.
