Six months, three weeks, and two days.
“Did it feel good when you carved his victims’ names into his flesh?”
It felt amazing. That was the first time I felt alive since I lost her. That son of a bitch deserved a lot more than I gave him. Killing him was the one thing I could do for my sister. That bastard would never touch another kid again.
Felix’s mouth lifted in an amused smirk. “But his anguish didn’t chase away her laugh, did it?”
My stomach clenched as the mirrors around us rippled like a waterline. Somewhere in the distance, I could hear her coughing for air.
Felix leaned in, brushing his lips off the shell of my ear. “You let it happen. While she was fighting for her life, you were drinking with your boyfriend.”
A tear rolled down my cheek.
“You killed her, Poppet. Just like you killed him.”
My voice cracked out a broken, “No.”
“Yes,” he hissed in my ear. “You’re a killer, Mazie. That’s why you can’t look your parents in the eye. Because they’ll see what I do.”
“No,” I shook my head and let the tears fall. “I didn’t mean to. If I could go back?—”
“But you can’t, can you?”
No, I couldn’t. She was gone, and there was nothing I could do. I didn’t deserve to live.
I was so lost in my own guilt that when a bloodcurdling scream tore through the air, it took me a minute to realize that it wasn’t coming from me.
Gina was now fully alert. She bounced around in her chair while hysterically voicing her terror.
On the upside, Felix’s attention was no longer on me. He stood up, whipped around, and walked over to her while she continued to scream.
The sound drowned out everything else. Felix was saying something. His lips were moving, but I heard nothing. It looked like Austin was trying to calm her down, and Flynn stared at her, amused. Or he was irritated. I couldn’t tell. I just wanted her to stop. Her shrill tone was making my head hurt.
I covered my ears, but that didn’t help. Her voice traveled through my hands as though they weren’t there. And she didn’t stop. She kept screaming. It dragged on, getting louder and louder until I couldn’t take it anymore.
I got up and walked over.
“SHUT UP!” The crack of my palm against Gina’s face snapped through the ballroom.
Her head whipped to the side as blood bloomed at the corner of her mouth.
The silence that followed was worse than her scream.
Felix’s laughter quickly spilled into it. “There it is,” he drawled. “That bite beneath the guilt. I knew you had teeth.”
My palm burned as I stumbled back. “I—I didn’t?—”
“You didn’t mean to?” Felix finished for me. “Ah, but you did. You wanted her quiet, so you made her quiet.”
What did I do? Of course, Gina would scream. Flynn was torturing her.
I looked down at the hand I slapped her with.
What the hell was wrong with me?
Felix clapped once. The sharp sound caused me to jerk back a bit.
“Do you see, Flynn? Our little star can’t help herself. She’s already joining the act.”
