The basement door slides open with a soft whoosh.
My adrenaline-soaked body registers it like a gunshot through an empty hall.
I whip around and there he is. Filling the doorway, his barely restrained wrath vibrating from him.
“They asked you to hurt me, didn’t they?” Being left alone has poisoned me with panic. Thoughts I wouldn’t have voiced minutes ago spit out of my dark, terrified subconscious at rapid speed. “Chop a finger off to prove your loyalty?”
Knox descends the stairs in terrifying silence. Onethunkand his walkie drops to the floor.
My chin is squeezed between two calloused, demanding fingers that tilt my face up.
This close to Knox, breathing him in, I see him with perfect clarity.
He isn’t angry.
Feral protectiveness rolls off him in waves. The wordmineis practically written all over his face.
“They didn’t ask that. And even if they did, I’d cut my own hand off before I touched one of your fingers.” His teeth grind loud enough for me to hear. His fingers will fracture my chin if he keeps crushing it like that. “My whole arm.”
I believe him. But there’s more he isn’t telling me. “What did they say, then?”
“Your sister’s going to die today,” he deadpans.
That doesn’t surprise me. Her death here was never a question ofif, butwhen.
What rips a whimper from my throat, what sends tears to my eyes, is the unfairness of it all.
Murdering her is my right. My revenge.
Not theirs.
And Knox isn’t going to do a damn thing about it.
Of course he won’t. I never told him I wanted her blood in the first place. He isn’t a mind reader.
As more tears slide down my cheeks, Knox’s patience snaps.
“What’s this?” He shakes my head. His features twist into a cruel expression. I still can’t bring myself to tell him what a monster I’ve become. “Are you fucking pitying her?”
Heat prickles under my skin, knees threatening to give out beneath me.
My body revolts against the idea.
Knox watches me closely, cursing under his breath.
Then, he huffs.
Ever-so-slowly, his intimidating silence transforms intoIt’s fine, you can cry.
So I cry. Because I won’t be able to have my revenge. Because I can’t be completely honest with him.
While I do, he’s giving me his undivided attention, waiting it out with me.
Eventually, my tears slow to a stop. I’ve got this.
“Okay, so, they’re going to kill her.” Getting through today, that’s what I have to focus on. That’s what matters. I’ll have to find another way to deal with Bronwyn’s betrayal by myself. I brush the tears off. Stand up straighter. “What else did they want? What are we up against?”
The moment I saywe, his entire body tenses.
