Page 410 of Coal Hearts

The vision ended.

I shook my head.

The rush of nausea crashed over me, remembering, realising...

I have siblings.

Not just the one I’d begged to accept me, but...

More.

Others.

Brothers and sisters all bred by the same monster who’d sired me.

I’d lived with them at the same estate where I’d gone to visit my eldest brother.

I’d once looked at them the way Ily looked at Peter.

That same despairing, harrowing look of wishing you were stronger, bigger, better—not to get yourself out of hell but to save all those in there with you.

“Henri...I’m waiting.” Victor tapped his watch.

I made a split-second decision.

The only choice I could as the monster inside me grew longer fangs and sharper claws. I shuddered on the drawbridge as my clothing felt too tight, and my feet ached to run.

Whatever creature lived within me woke up again.

Only this time...it didn’t want to dine on tears.

It wanted to dine on death.

Raising my gun, I pressed the trigger.

Ily cried out and staggered back, taking Peter and Rachel with her. Pressing her forefinger to the splodge of bright orange on her upper thigh, she looked at me as if I’d just shattered her already broken heart.

“There.” I lowered my arm. “I shot her. My colour is on her skin. No one else is to fire at what is already mine.”

Victor pursed his lips, watching Ily wince as she prodded the bruise I’d given her. “Unfortunately, Henri...today the rules are slightly different.” Looking at his guests, he raised his voice. “My island is large and can be quite dangerous if you don’t know the terrain. There are loose rocks by the cliffs and blowholes by the ocean. The caves burrow through the island like worms through soil, and some footing is unstable. The forest is wild, and if I believe my land keepers’ remarks, there’s also quicksand in the marsh. The tides come in fast, and if you’re caught in a part of the cave system that gets cut off at high tide, then you might very well drown. But!” He grinned. “The stakes are worth it, gentlemen, because...my own personal favourite, Rachel, is available to anyone who can fire the most shots at her. And Henri’s—the forbidden jewel that started a war—is also free game.”

“What?” I choked. “No, she’s—”

“The winner is whoever covers the jewel of his choice in as many paint bullets as possible. Empty your clip at them, my friends. Cover them in bruises. Your choice of what to do with the jewel you win is entirely up to you.”

Pulling a pistol from his waistband, he aimed it at my heart. “Any objections, mon ami?”

I shot Ily a look.

She gave me an unreadable stare back.

Her hate for me cloaked the entire drawbridge, but I didn’t care.

I would fight for her...like I fought for a sister I didn’t remember.

I would protect her...like the wife she would never be.

I gave her a nod; she looked away.