Marcus paced just a few feet away, every step jerky and impatient. His head snapped around at the slightest sound – wind, birds, anything – and each time his eyes scanned the growing twilight, I could see the tension in his posture tighten.
He was waiting for Eli. I already knew that much. I'd heard his side of the call and filled in the blanks from thehandful of words he'd spat at the phone. But seeing him in this state made it clear just how far gone he really was.
He looked worse than I'd ever seen him. His whole face twitched with barely restrained fury. His hands kept clenching and loosening, and more than once, he muttered under his breath. His face and clothes sported blotches of bright red from the Farbgel. It made him look like he'd crawled out of a fire and hadn't noticed he was still burning.
He even spoke differently now. That polished tone he always used was long gone, and every word out of his mouth came raw and clipped. The effort to sound put-together just wasn't there anymore.
But what made my stomach drop wasn't the wild look in his eyes or the restless pacing. Not even the way he kept glancing at me like he was itching for a reason to lash out.
It was the gun. Tucked into the back waistband of his jeans, barely hidden under the edge of his coat. I didn’t know where or how he got it. But I knew what he planned to do with it.
And I didn’t doubt for a second that by the end of the night, he meant for both me and Eli to be dead.
For a brief moment, Marcus stopped pacing. He stared down the path towards the park entrance – and then his head snapped around toward me. I tensed but didn't flinch beyond that. There wasn't much I could do. Not while I was bound and freezing with the skin around my wrists rubbed raw from the cable ties.
I just stared back. It was the only leverage I had.
To my surprise, his lip curled when he saw that. I expected him to get angry that I wasn't looking away or giving in to him. But if he was, he didn't make it obvious.
"This is your fault, ya know." Even though his voice was quiet, it still sounded too loud in the silence of the park. "Yoursandhis. He had to come sniffin' around. Had to playtherapist like he had any fuckin' clue what was goin’ on." He started to pace again. Every few steps, he made a sharp gesture as if he was trying to throw the rage off him.
I didn't move. My eyes stayed locked on him, even as the wind bit at my face and my fingers continued to go numb. I flexed them – or tried to, anyway – just to feel something.
He stopped and turned to glare at me again. "I didn't want this. I didn't plan to be the bad guy.Youdid that. You twisted everythin' around untilIwas the monster. That's what ya do, isn't it? That's always been your thing. Play the victim, act like you're scared, and then suddenly everyone's pointin' fingers at me."
I didn't say a word.
He hated that. I could see it in the tick of his jaw, the wild spark in his eyes every time he checked to see if I'd cracked. If I'd flinched or folded or given him anything to latch onto.
I just kept staring. Because if I didn't hold on to something, I'd unravel faster than he had.
For one awful second, the quiet felt louder than his ranting. His hand drifted to the back of his coat, and he brought the gun out where I could see it clearly. The metal caught what little daylight was left.
He didn't aim it. He just held it loosely in one hand while the other fidgeted with the slide. He almost didn't seem aware he was doing it.
I tensed even more. My pulse throbbed in my ears, and I had to fight to keep my breathing from turning shallow. No sudden movements. No flinching. If I flinched, he'd see it. I didn't want to give him that.
"I shoulda finished this the first time," he mumbled. "Never shoulda let it get this far." He turned the gun in his hand, testing the weight. "This time, I'll make sure it's done."
My stomach dropped.
He didn't have to spell it out. I knew what he meant. My hands twitched, but the cable ties dug in deeper and reminded me that movement wasn't really an option. I felt the tremble start in my fingers and tried to force it to stop.
Marcus looked over and saw it. And he smiled. "I was gonna make this quick. But now I'm thinkin'... Maybe I'll make him watch."
I couldn't stop the flood of panic that raced through me. I couldn't stop the sharp twist in my gut at the idea of Eli seeing any of this.
No. No, I couldn't let that happen. If Marcus was going to do it, he could do it now. Before Eli got here. Before he had to watch it happen.
My jaw tightened. My heart pounded. I braced myself.
"Do it now," I said, my voice lower than I expected. Steadier, too. "You fucking coward. If you're gonna kill me, get it done."
There was a flicker,just a flicker, of surprise in his eyes. It didn't last, though, and snapped into something sharper and hotter. His whole face twisted, and then he was moving. He closed the space in a few quick strides.
I stiffened. This was it. I locked my jaw, ready for the crack of the shot, but instead –
Pain exploded through the side of my head.
