“He knew we’d make it this far,” Luca’s voice filters through my earpiece. “He wants a show.”
Tex lets out a low growl. “Let’s not disappoint him.”
A speaker above crackles to life again.
No words. Just music. A slow, crackling waltz, something old and broken, warped by static. It drifts through the grounds like a taunt.
Jace’s voice is low. “He’s playing with us.”
“No,” I whisper. “He’sstalling.”
A flicker of movement. I spin, gun raised—Nothing.
But the hairs on the back of my neck stay standing.
We walk further. Luca and Noah rejoin us. We don’t speak.
My heart stops cold.
Daniel stands near the center, just beyond a towering stack of concrete blocks. His stance relaxed but ready. The lights paint his face in hard lines, making the grin on his lips lookinhuman.
No armor. No weapons in hand.
Just a gun holstered at his side, and a sickening calm in his eyes.
He’s waiting for us. Just looking at me.
“I gave you everything, Isobel. A home. Food. Structure. You think Lucian would’ve protected you the way I did? You think he even cared you existed?”
“Don’t talk about him.”
“Why not?” He holds his hands out. “We’ve got nothing but time. Where is your sperm donor, anyway? Hiding in the base as usual, letting everyone else do the work for him?”
Daniel looks around. “He stole the love of my life away from me, but I got her and more back, didn’t I, baby?” Spit flies from his mouth like he’s gone feral.
“I’m not sure you’re capable of love.”
“I was the one who shaped you. You were nothing when I got you. Weak. Fragile.”
“I wasfive,” I snap.
That calm smile twitches, falters for half a breath.
“Youbeatme,” I say, the words sharp and sudden, like broken glass. “You starved me when I disobeyed. Yousold mewhen you ran out of money. You made me bleed and then told me it was love.”
His face hardens. “You were supposed to die. But your mother wouldn’t stay compliant unless I had you as a bargaining chip. Nevertheless, you were strong enough to survive.”
“I was a child.” My voice rises. “And you, were a manipulative coward with a belt and a sick sense of power.”
The silence that follows is electric.
“I loved you, you know,” Daniel says after a long moment. “In my own way.”
“No,” I say, stepping forward. “You don’t get to call it that.”
He watches me carefully now. Measuring.
“You’re not afraid of me anymore,” he says.
