Dad rolled his eyes. “You’re so goddamn slow. Always have been. Such a little pain in my ass. I wish I’d gotten rid of you when you were a kid.” He twirled the knife in his hand. “All those years ago, your little girlfriend here killed your uncle. Your own flesh and blood. You already knew that though, didn’t you? Our pal Rick has been busy uncovering everything I worked so hard to hide.”
The gears started turning, and everything began to make sense.
“I was going to kill Jeff eventually. I just hadn’t realized it yet. Our girl went ahead and took care of it for me. A little earlier than necessary, but it likely saved me a hell of a lot of trouble.”
I looked back to Raven, and her face was stone as she listened to Dad ramble. I didn’t care what happened to me as long as she was safe. She was telling the truth to the police and my grief for Jeff was replaced with acceptance. I resolved to do whatever I had to for her to get out of here. Even if that meantgiving my life for her. Without her, life wasn’t worth shit, anyway.
Dad moved to stand behind her chair. “Are you angry with him, Leah? You’ve killed before. Want to do it again? It would be quite poetic to inflict your wrath on him, wouldn’t it? Your last act of vengeance.”
He placed a hand on the chair back and made a show of flipping the knife in the air and catching it by the blade, holding the handle in front of Raven’s chest. She stared at it for what seemed like an hour before wrapping her black-tipped fingers around the hilt.
“Go on, darling. Do as you wish. I’m in no hurry. I’ve got all night,” he said, urging her to stand as he moved to the side of the room. Almost like a referee in a cage match. “It’s not like his intentions with you were pure, anyway. After all, he did hire a private investigator to find every detail about the past you wanted kept hidden. That’s why you changed your name after all, isn’t it?”
Raven’s face transformed into a mask of anger, her lips pursing into a thin line.
“He is my son though, no matter how unfortunate. I’m sure I transferred some of my deviant ways when I pumped his mother full of the seed that created him.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from lunging at him, to stop him from spewing lies and bullshit that was making her hate me. Finally, I spoke in the steadiest voice I could muster. “Raven. Listen to me. I need you to understand?—”
My words were cut off as Raven shot from her chair and charged around the desk, the force of her body crashing mine into the wall. Her free arm came up and she pressed her forearm into my throat. Her face was rage, and I knew she was going to release her wrath on me and everything else in herway. She was smart, but I hoped she could outsmart Dad and get away.
She looked at me with those dead eyes as the minutes ticked by. When she spoke, her voice was a low rasp, a sound that penetrated my chest and wrapped my heart in a vise. “You don’t get to speak. I trusted you, and you betrayed me,” she spat.
I didn’t move, my heart breaking into a thousand pieces.
“You’re his son. I let my guard down once. For one person, and it was for my attacker’s fucking son? I bet your pathetic sob story about your childhood was all a ruse to make me care for you, wasn’t it?” She was shaking with rage, and I knew it was a matter of time before the blade in her hand sliced across my throat.
I willed my eyes to tell her none of this was true. None of the things she was saying were what I intended. I willed them to show the love I had for her, even now as she was about to snuff the life from my body.
“You think you’re big shit, don’t you, motherfucker?” Her voice turned mocking. “Oh, what if I make the girl my father went after years ago fall for me? Wouldn’t that be the ultimate fuck you to him? Well, guess what?” She brought her face within an inch of mine. “I’m no fucking girl, and I’m no fucking game.”
She flicked her eyes to my father where he stood watching then brought the knife to my throat. A tear slid out of the corner of my eye. I couldn’t go without saying it. Saying those words that had been in my heart for a while. I needed her to know. She had to know.
“Raven,” I choked. “You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been. I didn’t think anyone was capable of loving me, but you did. It’s okay. Everything is okay, and you’re going to get out of this. Please be happy. Be happy for me, baby. I love you.”
Tears streamed down my face for her. Even with a blade poised to stop my breaths, I loved her with every shred of my soul. Dying a thousand deaths would have been painless if they were all for her.
I grabbed the wrist that held the knife. “Do it.”
Her eyes flashed, and moisture welled in her beautiful emeralds. The sharp steel tip pressed into my skin and blood trickled down my neck. Before I could blink, the warmth of her body was gone, and she dove sideways at my father, pouncing on him like a cat.
She was a blur as she tackled him to the ground, catching him by surprise. He didn’t register her movement quickly enough to fight, and my brain didn’t have time to tell me to move before she whipped the edge of the knife across his throat, red spraying the walls. Gurgling came from Dad’s throat as he fell to the floor, and my senses finally kicked in. I walked the few steps to where Dad’s body lay in a sea of blood. His eyes stared into the void, and his chest was unmoving.
Raven hurried to move herself off him, chest heaving as she stood at his feet. I slowly lifted my eyes to her, the knife hanging from one hand at her side. Her face and chest were coated in crimson splatters, while her nostrils flared. She stared at him, her pupils blown out so much only a sliver of green remained. Stunned, I watched as she spat on my father’s body, unable to believe what the fuck just happened.
Every emotion possible flooded my body and I became lightheaded. I moved toward Raven, but she backed away. “Don’t touch me,” was all she said before she disappeared through the door, leaving me with a dead body. My father’s dead body. I swayed on my feet and dove from the room and into the office across the hall where I dry heaved until spots dotted my vision.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Raven
I grippedthe edge of the sink and watched the water run clear in the basin. Moments before, the white marble had been stained red. I turned the water off and stared up at my now clean face in the mirror.
I’d scrubbed the demon’s blood from my body furiously, the task the only thing on my mind. Since that was finished, I was left with nothing to do now except try to tame the monster that stared back at me.
Closing my eyes, I slowed my breathing and focused on calming my pulse. Ryan’s tear-stained face floated behind my eyelids. A mix of emotions flooded me as I replayed the events. Hurt slashed my chest that he was the son and nephew of my attackers. Unease rested in my stomach that he’d hired a private investigator. The strongest emotion of all was the devastation wrapped around my heart as I heard him say he loved me over and over in my mind.
He likely didn’t love me anymore. I’d killed his father. No matter if he hated him or not, he couldn’t love the person who killed one of his parents. I didn’t regret it, though. I enjoyedevery fucking second. Killing him had lifted a weight from my shoulders that had been there for fourteen years, and I’d known if this day ever came I would be happy.
