“Nephew,” Rowan says from behind me.
“The boy belongs to me,” I say, dropping the cunt to face him. “Get control of your men or I’ll be forced to teach them.”
He wars between pride and offense like I thought he would. For someone so encapsulated in mystery, he’s transparent as fuck. Without his control, he’s nothing. Weak men control others. True strength is being able to control yourself. I should know, since I’m the former whenever it comes to Delilah.
I control myself as I stand opposite him, tempering the urge to wrap my bloodstained hands around his fucking neck, killing the cunt who ordered my torment.
The guard finally opens his mouth. He sounds younger than he looked before I carved into his face as he mutters, “I did what I was told.”
Rowan stiffens as I stare at my own face in his mirror mask, demanding, “Who told you to enter my room?”
This motherfucking cunt. It’s why he kept me in the security room, because he has to have power over every little thing. I don’t need the guard to answer, which he doesn’t as he stares at his master, who calmly retrieves a knife from his pocket. I nearly laugh because it’s tiny, clearly unused too, but he holds it between his thumb and forefinger as he says, “I can show you mercy. It’s your choice.”
Another minute detail about his character is revealed without him even realizing. He’s uncomfortable with causing violence. He keeps his hands clean because he’s inept. The mask gives him an air of mystique, one he uses to perpetuate the illusion he’s capable of harm. In reality, he chooses a mental arena.
Fuck, he’s just like Asher.
Asher would never fight like a normal person. Some kid dinged his car with their bike so he made them think he was going to kill them until they agreed to act like a dog. The gun wasn’t even real. It was an empty spray-painted pellet gun he held to the kid’s crotch. He’d hold onto every insignificant slight, then ruin the person’s life. Someone accidentally called him my name, bullied until she developed an eating disorder. We’re identical fucking twins, so it’s an expected mistake. Mom forgot to attend one of his school meetings, so he made her think Dad was cheating on her by hiding a cum-filled condom in the car.
Small chips are fractures to weak egos, so they—Asher and Rowan—have to react disproportionally to soothe themselves.
The guard shakily grips the knife, but I wrap my fingers around his wrist because it will piss Rowan off, just like Asher used to on the rare occasion I’d get into a physical altercation. The mask can’t hide his inadequacy as his shoulders tense while I reach around the guard’s head and force my fingers past his teeth to pinch his tongue. Once I’ve pulled it out as far as it will go, I saw through the muscle with the middle of the blade.
Kid didn’t want them to laugh or look at him. The last one wasn’t enough of an impact, so now they’ll watch this fucker die slowly with the reminder of what will happen to them if they attempt to go near him. Rowan knows he’s nothing too. Both purposes are served.
I drop the knife along with the fleshy stub of his tongue as I look at Rowan. “I’m sure you’ll want to cauterize it so he doesn’t bleed to death. Then you can show how merciful you were towards him after he went against you.” I nod, smiling as though he’s answered. “Of course you will, dear uncle. How else will the others learn not to disobey you?” I turn, leaving him in the hallway and making sure the bathroom door is still closed.
Delilah was right; we can’t do anything without playing their game. Everything I do will be in the Kobalt name until I wipe the stain out of existence. Then when there are no Kobalts left, I’ll walk away as Kane Xandros with my kid and he’ll never know anything close to fear for as long as he lives.
30
DELILAH
Ever since Lennox arrived, the atmosphere has been odd. It’s not comfortable like when I had Kane with me, but he keeps coaxing me out of the room and sticks beside me like a guard. Now he places shoes in front of me. “The fresh air will do you good.”
“You’re a really irritating captor, do you know that?” I snap, pushing my feet into them.
His lips twitch as he dryly says, “I’ll make note to be less irritating the next time.”
“Oh shit, I’ve failed at my goal of putting you off kidnapping people. I’ll need to try harder now.” I drag my feet as we leave the room. There’s no one in the hallway as I hide behind him like a child. He’s not violent from what I’ve seen. He’s still a good place to hide though, because he covers me as he pulls his leather gloves so they’re tight against his fingers.
When we reach the metal staircase, he continues walking through the hallway.
I whisper, “Lenny, where are you going?”
The name differentiates him from his twin. Humans feel emotions, they have likes and dislikes. Rowan will always be a monster, incapable of possessing those things.
“Are you aware you have an unfortunate name, given your circumstances?” he asks over his shoulder as I’m forced to follow him to an even creepier part of this huge house. The walls are all covered in silk paper with rusted sconces, coated in old wax collected over time. Even the windows are older, thinner, so I can hear the waves as the hallway bends to the left.
“What’s wrong with my name?”
“Delilah,” he says, slowing until we’re side by side. “And you suffer from delusions.”
“That’s fucking rude.” I stare at the side of his head. “They’re not delusions?—”
“Of course not, little doe. They feel real to you.” His lips twitch again while I’m caught between a slack jaw and glaring at him. “Come on, a little further.”
I begin walking again while I try to work out if he’s made a joke for the first time since being here. We reach a thin wooden door. Lennox holds it open for me and says, “Walk ahead, in case you fall.”
