Then I leaped at him.
He cursed, and I stabbed at him. My blade hit his arm, his shoulder.
His roar echoed down the tunnel. I stabbed him again, in his side. I was aiming for his kidney, but he moved, throwing me off target.
Reaching back, he grabbed at me, and turned in a circle. He slammed me into the wall and my knife fell from my nerveless fingers.
He yanked me over his head and I hit the ground. Before I could move, his hands were on my throat, choking me.
“Little Lark. Ed always thought you were so perfect. So much better than everyone else.”
I kicked at him.
“Not so perfect now.”
Anger ripped through me. I elbowed him in the face. He yelped and his hold loosened. I rolled free and leaped to my feet.
We faced each other across the tunnel. Blood ran down his arms.
He smiled. “You and I are so alike.”
“We’re nothing alike,” I snapped.
“We’re killers. Loners. We’re Ed’s creations.”
“No, Ed didn’t create you. He didn’t train you. You took advantage of his weakness.” I shook my head. “I’m not like you.”
I’d been alone. But I didn’t want to be anymore.
Bastian had showed me something different.
I ground my teeth together and pulled another knife from my sheath.
“I think deep down, you’re exactly like me,” Dean continued. “You have that little core of darkness that likes to kill. Ed saw it in both of us. He had it in himself.” Dean’s laughter echoed in the tunnel. “We’re evil, Lark. Like Ed.”
“No,” I whispered.
“No family, no connections, just living for the exquisite feel of taking a life. You like cutting, Lark. You liked the feel of stabbing me, of my blood sliding down my skin.”
I tasted bile.No. I was nothing like this man. “Ed was broken and you manipulated him. I’m nothing like you. And I’m not alone.”
I had Bastian.
Bastian would come for me, and wasn’t alone either. He’d come in force with his deadly friends.
I didn’t need to run. I didn’t need to sacrifice to protect him.
And I didn’t need to fight Dean alone.
I was stronger with Bastian.
I threw the knife. It hit Dean in the neck and he shouted.
I ducked past him and ran, my dress billowing behind me. I sprinted back the way we’d come.
Back to Bastian.
CHAPTER 38
