“And you just spent five minutes detailing all the ways you were going to rape me, you sick fuck,” she screams. My blood runs cold at the thought of what could have happened if I’d taken a day longer to sort out my shit. “You can squeal like a stuck pig while your cellmate holds you down. See how you like it for a change.”
“What?”
The world slows down, sounds muffled like I’m underwater.
My senses overload, fuses blowing one by one as the entry from my sister’s diary flashes in my head.
I finally told on him. I never have to hear him squeal like a pig again.
My voice is sharp as I grind out, “What did you say?”
Evie’s expression turns wary, and I hate to see it, hate that her first thought is that my anger will be for her.
Vale knows better.
The man reads my face and knows it’s all for him.
“You hurt Addie?” The strained question turns into a bray of fury as I repeat it as a statement. “You hurt Addie.”
He rolls over, hands clawing at the ground as I launch myself, roaring, grabbing his hair and smashing his face into the hard earth, again and again and again. I kneel on his shoulders to gain leverage, my hard joints digging into him, pinning him like a bug.
Each time I smash him, more blood spills, making crimson mud with the clay.
“Did you think my sister was your personal plaything? Someone to take advantage of?” Another volley of blows smash into the back of his neck, his head, battering his ears. “Did you really think no one would ever make you pay?”
Evie steps back, her eyes wide as she makes the same connection I did. That this man took my beautiful, trusting sister and peeled her innocence away to leave her exposed and raw.
A cry tears from his throat. His body bucks, trying to dislodge me. But I’ve spent the last year perfecting the art of taking revenge. I’m not about to let this filthy cretin gain control.
In my back pocket is a knife and I pull it out, planting my opposite palm on Vale’s head to keep it pinned flat against the ground.
“Wait,” Evie says, her voice filled with panic. “You can’t kill him.”
“Listen to her,” Vale grunts.
And she continues, “Not here. We need to take him somewhere private. With no one watching.”
Vale’s desperation explodes, and he struggles a hundred times harder to get away. I can’t tell if Evie’s serious or just threatening him to cause a reaction. When I glance over my shoulder, I see movement at a few windows; people jerking out of sight so they won’t be seen.
“You bitch. I should’ve known better than to fuck Blaine’s leftovers.”
Evie stamps her foot on his outstretched hand, grinding her heel until he screams for mercy, and the bones snap. Her jaw clenches as she stares at me, eyes wary.
And I rush to give her the reassurance that’s long overdue. “I hate my father thought it was okay to use you. That he fed you to this man.” Vale bucks and I slam the heel of my hand into theback of his head. “It’s not your shame to carry and I’m sorry I ever made you feel that way.”
She nods, brow smoothing as her worry lines relax.
“Here,” I say, passing her the blade. “Hold this while I turn him over.”
The folks who live around here aren’t the type to volunteer information to the police, but I still need to be careful. I don’t want to be locked up on the same day I finally got my head straight.
I stand for just long enough to flip Vale onto his back. When I fall back on his body, my knees make something in his shoulder pop and he screams, writhing underneath me.
“This is a warning for anyone you meet in the future.” I hold out my hand and Evie slaps the knife into place, eyes glittering with vengeance. “A signal for anyone young and vulnerable so they know to stay away.”
Evie kneels, gathering Vale’s arms and yanking them above his head, making him scream again as his shoulder twists.
A cry that grows louder as I slice the blade through his flesh, carving out the letters to mark him. Making them as tall as I can, more than an inch high. Branding him as a clear and present danger.
