His expression shattered.
“You heartless bitch.” His grip tightened, cutting off what little air I had left. “What did you do?!”
I choked—but I smiled.
And let the hatred hold.
I couldn’t speak around his grip. Heat flooded my face as my lungs fought for air. Reed dropped the muffin with a uselessplop, and his fist came at my eye.
The impact burst my vision into black dots. My head slammed back against the paneling as I cried out.
“You’re the reason everyone in my life is dead!” Reed shouted, spit hitting my cheeks. “Mom drank herself to death. Dad let himself get shot. You’ll burn in Hell for killing my son!”
I couldn’t see him anymore—shadows and movement as I gasped for air. Then he let go.
The muffin tin clattered to the floor, the baking mitts following as my hands flew to my throat. I choked, drool slipping from my lips as I coughed, bracing myself against the wall.
Air came back in ragged pulls.
Then his knee drove into my stomach.
The force knocked the breath out of me again as I collapsed, curling instinctively. I swallowed bile and lifted my head just enough to see his polished black shoes beside my face.
I grabbed his leg before he could kick me.
He hadn’t expected it.
He cursed, trying to shake me off, but I held on—then yanked. Hard.
He went down with me, catching himself awkwardly as I surged forward, adrenaline drowning everything else. The spots in my vision faded as I let out my best battle cry and climbed over him. I started swinging.
The first punch cracked against his nose, pain shooting up my arm. I didn’t stop.
I barely registered the hits landing—only the fury behind them.
He caught my wrists after a few strikes, breath ragged. With a twist, he flipped us, pinning my arms above my head. His full weight pressed into my chest, forcing the air from my lungs.
“Cami.” The name came through clenched teeth.
My blood boiled.
I wished he’d lean closer—just enough for me to bite him.
“You’re coming home with me,” he said, voice dropping as he leaned down. Close—but not close enough. “We’re finishing what we started. Mom and Dad are gone. It’s just us. We can be happy. We can have our own—”
The words cut off.
Neither of us had heard the cabin door open.
The crack of metal against bone split through the air. Reed’s body went slack, his weight shifting off me as he collapsed into the cabinet with a dullthump.
For a second, all I heard was ringing.
Then I shifted my attention upwards.
Steel-gray eyes. Hard. Focused.
Erich stood over us, crowbar still in his grip, his jaw tight as he took in the blood pooling across the kitchen floor.
