Broken enough to kill.
My fingers tighten on the handle.
I could do it.
I’ve learned how. Where to cut. How deep.
Gabriel taught me that.
Forced me to watch his kills.
But Baba taught me something else. Something Gabriel tried to beat out of me in that closet room.
My humanity.
“No,” I say.
The word comes out steady. Strong.
Gabriel’s face darkens. “What did you say?”
I pull the knife away from Emir’s throat and stand. I face Gabriel.
“I said no.”
His jaw clenches. That vein in his temple throbs.
“You’re refusing me?”
“Emir didn’t do anything wrong,” I say. “This is training. Not an execution.”
Gabriel moves fast.
One second he’s five feet away. The next his hand is around my throat. He lifts me onto my toes. My knife clatters to the floor.
“You don’t get to decide what this is,” he hisses. “You don’t get to say no to me.”
I claw at his hand.
Can’t breathe.
Can’t—
“You’remyresponsibility,” he says. “Your life. Your choices.Everything.Mine.”
Black spots dance at the edges of my vision.
Emir scrambles to his feet behind us.
“Boss—”
“Shut up,” Gabriel snaps.
His grip tightens. My lungs scream.
This is it.
He’s going to kill me because I wouldn’t kill for him.
