My arm instantly falls at her words. The woman my brother loves more than anyone—more than me.
“You love your brother.”
I snarl at that but don’t move. “He’s ruined everything. He always has.”
“And yet, you still love him.” I don’t acknowledge her words, unable to find any of my own to adequately fight off the certainty in hers.She’s right, fuck her.And I hate Mateo more because of it.
I do love my brother more than he’s ever known, more than I’ve ever been able to express—and he’s taken everything from me, effectively pushed me beneath the waves and held my head there because he sees me as the problem.
“Go home, Valentina. Try and rest.”
“I don’t have a home. Not anymore.”
“Please,” she pleads, and I sag under the weight of the word. Faith sees me as human—something only one other person does—and even though I want to fight her, I can’t.
How can I be truly evil when she sees something more in me?
“I’ll come by later to hang out.” She offers me a small smile and then her back as she walks toward the house. It’s a simple gesture, but one I don’t fail to notice:she’s not afraid of me, of what I might do, of the evil I so clearly revel in.
She offers me her back, even as I hold a gun that could kill her, because she believes I’m capable of more.
In the distance, I hear tires whirring over the sandy drive, but I barely notice. Exhaustion settles in my bones, and I turn to leave.
Before I can, a form materializes in the shadows of the house, its tall frame bleeding into the darkness. I blink, trying to make out the features of the wraith-like figure, their height, their enormous build all I’m able to distinguish from this distance. My heart jumps to my throat as a silver gun glints in the waning light, gripped confidently in a tan, vein-covered, hand. My eyes remain fixed on the darkness surrounding their face, watching them watch me, the heat of their obscure gaze a magnet for my own.
And then, they inhale, just a small motion that makes the gun bob, and I do the same, some invisible string pulling us together in this moment. I raise my own gun—not to kill them,but to fight for my last breath. Peace and calm race through my veins at the realization that it’s finally over.
I glance over to the window a final time, staring at Adalene, willing her to hear everything I’m unable to say.
The crack of a bullet cuts through the air, and I don’t bother moving. My pain’s almost over, and I can’t feel the least bit sorry about it.
A heavy grunt fills my ear, and the familiar smell of mint and cigarette smoke fills my nostrils. Instead of a bullet ripping through my heart, I’m shoved to the ground as a body shields my own.
“McCrae—” I pause, a warm pool forming beneath my body, and I instantly wonder if the bullet found me after all.
“You’re safe,” McCrae pants before slumping, his full weight pressing down on me.
“What are you—” I ask, pushing at him. I pull back as my fingers become coated in something slick, and I stare at them.
Blood. Oh God, McCrae.
“Help!” I scream, unable to push off his limp body. “He’s been shot! Help!”
TWO
VALENTINA
September 11th, 2025
“Valentina?”Feet pound near the ground at my head. Panic consumes me—where’s the shooter now? Is he coming to finish the job?“What the hell?” It’s Mateo’s panicked voice from somewhere above me, and I continue to lie there, frozen, locked in a terror-filled nightmare with nowhere to go.
He was shot.
McCrae took a fucking bullet for me.
“Help him,” I plead, fear lacing every word. If he dies because of me, I don’t know what I’ll do. He’s my lifeline, my savior and safety—he’s everything everyone else is not.
“Shit, he’s bleeding bad. Careful,” someone hisses, and I fight off a sob. Warm liquid pools around my body, a contrast to the normal liquid I prefer to drown in, and panic punches through my system.
