I clench my jaw, sick to my stomach. But I keep the gun steady.
“I’m going to fuck your girl,” he sneers. “How do you like that? Would you still want her, if I had my way with her first? If Idirtied her with my hands?”
“So youdidrape her before you buried her?” I question, my voice shaking.
He doesn’t answer, merely chuckling.
“No,” she blurts out. “I swear he didn’t touch me.”
She’s white as a sheet, and I wonder if it’s because of what he did, or because of what he might do now.
My mind, in the foggy state it’s in, can’t seem to figure anything out just now.
“Would you still want her?” taunts Noel.
“Fuck you,” I hiss.
He places his hand on the trigger. “Not very polite, are we? Should I kill your girl right now, just to teach you a lesson?”
“No!” I shout. “Tell me what you want from me. Anything. All my money. The Devil empire. Anything you want. Just give her to me. Please.”
The blow to my head really has fucked with me. Or maybe it’s Seraphina making me go daft. Whatever the case, my eyes burn, and a tear actually falls down my cheek.
He takes it all in with a gloating grin. “Wow. You reallyhavegrown soft. Don’t worry, though. I’ll send you the videos of me fucking her. That way you can get off to her one last time, before you kill yourself. ’Cause I guess that’s what losers like you do when you lose thelove of your life.” He says the last words in a sneering voice that sends a jolt of anger to my chest.
And the anger allows me to focus, surmounting the fogginess that’s still causing my eyesight to blur.
I turn my eyes discreetly toward her, hoping she sees the fingers I’ve pressed to my thigh and understands. She seems to be looking straight at them as I begin my silent countdown.
Five…
“It’s the pain,” I grimace. “You really fucked up my head. Anyway, you got one thing wrong. The timeline. Because Iamgoing to kill myself. But first, I’ll hunt you down and end you. Unless…”
Four…
My words appear to get his attention. He must realize that killing her is the best way to ensure his own death. If there’s a way to kill her while staying alive, he’ll take it.
Three…
“Unless we turn this into a game. I’ll give you a head start. And then I’ll pick up your trail. Give me an hour to find you. If I do, I get her. If not, you can keep her, and I’ll leave both of you alone.”
Two…
He lets me believe he’s thinking about it. Deep down, we both know it’s meaningless. I’m going to go after him anyway. There’s no way I’d leave either of them alone.
One…
There was a time when Devil’s word was law. But that time has long since passed. Our honor code quickly degraded when we met Angel. They don’t know what honor is. Then when we found out Vale was a traitor, and that we had rats in our midst. We realized then how much Devil’s so-called honor was an illusion.
But maybe it all really started the day I first laid eyes on my pet. Obsession really warps the mind. It will make you say anything and do anything, if it means holding on to your possession.
Noel sees right through me. He knows I’m buying time, just as he is. Because the second he turns to get in the car will be the second I have to kill him. He’s trying to figure out how to leave without giving me the chance to shoot.
But he doesn’t see through me as fully as he believes. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t see what’s coming.
... Zero.
Fuck. Neither does she.
