Page 124 of The Ashes of Summer

Jacob's smile widens, and honestly? It's terrifying.

"What happened?" I ask reluctantly, and I keep every trace of concern out of my voice. Because although Kurt meant something to me when his name was Benny, he was the one who fed Jackson every detail of my life.

"It doesn't matter, baby." Jacob doesn't look away from me. "All you need to know is that he's gone."

There's no flinch in him when he says it. No shadow. Nothing at all moves behind his eyes—and that tells me more than an answer would.

Which means Kurt didn't die of a single gunshot. It means it wasn't quick.

And knowing Jacob, I can only imagine what that room looks like now.

There's a beat of silence between us before Adelaide speaks again.

"He said he's waiting for you both to get back there."

Jacob lets out a slow breath through his nose. "Perfect."

"No."

Both of them look at me.

"We need to think about this. The longer he's there, the more time he has to get out. Let Carter kill him. End it all now."

Jacob breathes out slowly. "Summer⁠—"

"No." My voice climbs and cracks halfway through it, and I don't care. "He needs to die now."

Because every minute that man breathes is a minute the world can still hand him back to me.

"There are still women there, and we're getting them out first." He squeezes my hand. Trying to make me see it.

And I do see it. The second he says it, I see all of it.

"The warehouses," I whisper. "Sarah."

The images slam into me. The cages. The smell. Women staring at me with completely dead eyes, past me, through me, like I was already gone.

My hand goes tight around his without me telling it to.

"We'll get them out. And then you can watch the life leave Moore's eyes."

His voice is quieter now. More dangerous somehow.

The brutality of it should probably frighten me.

Instead something in my chest unclenches for the first time in days. Because I know he means every word.

Adelaide shifts awkwardly by the door. "Carter thinks Jackson's men are already trying to clean up evidence and move the women."

Rage tears across Jacob's face. "Fuck."

A long moment passes. His eyes move across the ceiling, tracking something none of us can see, teeth working at his lower lip.

"Then we go now."

Adelaide blinks. "Jacob, you've literally been shot."

"I don't give a fuck." Raising his voice costs him. The pain of it whites across his face, his breathing turning uneven again.