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“LET ME GO!”
Daniel cackled like a mad hyena, his fingers stabbing into my bicep. Without breaking his stride, he stole me further away from the parlour and into the bowels of the house.
I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to go anywhere with him.
“Take me back!”
He can’t be dead!
Just because he lay unmoving and bloody didn’t mean he was gone.
That’s exactly what it means.
I shook my head, dislodging those awful thoughts. He’s alive. He had to be.
I couldn’t tolerate any other answer. I refused to live in a world where evil triumphed over good. That wasn’t right—life couldn’t be that cruel.
It’s always been that way.
My mind filled with images of my mother. My father’s desolation. My broken childhood. Evil had puppeteered us from day one. Why should now be any different?
He’s not dead!
I swallowed a sob.
Please don’t be dead...
I fought harder. “Let me see him. You can’t do this!”
Daniel cackled louder. “Keep begging, Weaver. Won’t do you any good.”
He’s not dead!
I locked my knees, fighting him every step. “Stop!” Looking back the way we’d come, the door to the parlour seemed so far away—a bright beacon at the end of a festering corridor. “They were your brothers, you insane psychopath. Don’t you feel anything?!”
Please let me go to him. He has to be alive...
Please let my twin stay alive...
Let all of this be a nightmare!
I couldn’t cope with Jethro murdered; I’d go clinically insane if they killed V, too.
“I feel relief. I no longer have to put up with their simpering bullshit.” He flashed his teeth. “Cut did us all a favour.”
Cut will die.
He was evil incarnate. He deserved to die in excruciatingly painful ways.
I refuse to believe they’re dead.
“I said stop!” I wriggled harder, only succeeding in Daniel’s fingers tearing into my flesh. Goosebumps covered my skin while ice steadily froze my veins. Every second was endless torture. I couldn’t live without Jethro.
It can’t end like this!
“You won’t win, Weaver.” Daniel tugged harder. “Accept what’s fucking happened and obey me.”
The vacantness I’d endured when Jethro and Kes collapsed hadn’t lasted long. The moment Cut had given me over to Daniel—the exact second he’d delivered my life into his sick son’s control—I’d lost that blanket of numbness.
Agony I’d never experienced cracked my heart into tiny irreplaceable pieces. My every thought bled with murder and death. My wails had mixed with Jasmine’s. Vaughn’s curses and shouts drowned out by grief.
It was a never-ending loop.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s left me.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s gone.
God, I wanted it to stop. I wanted this to end—for the curtain on this madhouse production to fall and for the director to shout ‘cut.’ For it all to be make-believe.
But what if it’s true?
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s abandoned me.
I sagged in Daniel’s hold, bombarded with incapacitating sadness. If it was the truth, what else mattered? Why did I care what my future entailed when I no longer had anyone to fight for?
Vaughn...fight for him.
Tex...fight for him.
My lungs crushed. I could fight for them—but ultimately, they didn’t need me. Not like Jethro had needed me. He’d finally opened up to me—finally let me in and given me a new home in his love. But now I’d been cast out all over again; I couldn’t stomach the empty wasteland without him.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s lost...
I tripped, succumbing to the weight of the boulder on my back, the rock of eternal grief. I didn’t bother trying to stabilise. I wanted to curl up into a ball and never move again.
He’s...dead...
“For fuck’s sake.” Daniel hoisted me on to my feet. “Get a grip! Walk. Do what I say or—”
“No!” My voice ripped down the corridor, frigid with fear. Somehow, my mourning lashed into a violent whip, lacerating my insides with fury. “I’ll never do what you say. You might as well end it now because I refuse to listen to scum like you!” I scratched his hand holding my arm, but just like Cut when he’d dragged me from Jethro’s bedroom, he didn’t twitch or respond. “Never! Do you hear me? I’m done.”
Desperation tore raging holes inside my mind. I wanted to collapse by Jethro’s side and scoop up his blood and feed it back to him—to force him to come back to life. I wanted to hold my twin and tell him it would be all right—to wash away his panic. And I wanted to say goodbye to Kestrel—to send him to the ether knowing how grateful I was for what he’d done.
But I couldn’t do any of those things.
Daniel’s pincer grip caged me, leaving me to rot in his deluded embrace.
Bastard.
Sick and twisted bastard.
My temper screeched out of control, and for the first time in my life, I gave in to it. I opened my arms to the tornado of loathing and screamed at the top of my lungs. “Fuck you, Daniel. Fuck you! Fuck you and fuck Cut and fuck all of you!”
The world stopped.
Daniel froze.
I trembled.
Then, he slapped me.
My head snapped sideways. His handprint decorated my cheek with blazing fire, and everything spun out of control.
“You little cunt.” He yanked me forward. His inertia gave me no choice but to stumble into him. “Have your little tantrum. Go on, scream and make a spectacle of yourself. But it won’t change facts.” Trailing his fingertips over my flaming cheek, he murmured, “You just contradicted yourself. First you said you wouldn’t obey me, but then you said you’d fuck me...” He chuckled. “I’m taking the ‘fuck you’ part literally.” Digging his fingers into the sides of my cheeks, he kissed me. “You don’t have to listen for me to fuck you. You don’t even have to obey me. Whatever power you had over my brothers is over, Weaver. You’ll see.”
Jethro...
Letting my face go, he grabbed my arm and tugged me down the corridor.
Further and further from Jethro, Kestrel, and Vaughn.
Further and further into hell.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s nothing...
Everything inside shrieked with disbelief. He couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t. I needed to see him again. How could I go on when I didn’t believe what had happened? How could I hope to breathe and exist when all I wanted was to give up like he had?
I swallowed another tsunami of tears. My soul didn’t believe. But my circumstances said otherwise. This was my life now—this endless misery.
“You won’t get away with this.”
Daniel snickered, looking over his shoulder. “Get away with what?”
Murdering my future.
Murdering any chance of happiness I ever had.
“Everything.”
Only thing is...they’ve gotten away with it for centuries.
Every step I died a little more, leaving my beating heart beside Jethro as his body grew cold. The further apart we became, the less human I felt. It was as if the tether binding us would snap at any moment, leaving me smarting, empty, and alone.
He’s dead.
He’s...dead...
It’s...truly...over...
Cold tears stained my cheeks, putting out the fire from Daniel’s slap.
Thick lethargy hijacked my limbs. Sleep...it beckoned me. All I wanted was to fall into its fluffy cradle and disappear.
Daniel dragged me deeper into the house, past foyers and alcoves, and into a wing I’d never entered.
Every step pained me; every breath a blade. My eyes never rose from the monogrammed carpet. I wanted to give up, but an incessant need to fight never left. I forced myself to stand up to him, no matter that it was pointless. “Your father just killed two of your family members. Aren’t you afraid he’ll do it to you? Too many people know, Daniel. The media, online—”
“You think a few fucking tweeters and social media posts can stop us?” He propelled me into his arms with a vicious yank. “I thought you’d stopped being delusional.” His lips turned into a sneer. “Then again, you willingly came back. That makes you a dumb bitch who deserves what’s coming to her.”
I came for him.
But now he’s gone.
I recoiled in his arms. The last liveliness in my heart vanished. I’d witnessed the love of my life die in front of my eyes. I’d been audience to two murders and too many ruined lives. I couldn’t...I couldn’t cope any more.
I sank...
I gave in.
I evaporated inside.
I’m in shock.
Daniel chuckled, continuing to tug me down corridors I didn’t recognise. I stopped paying attention, following like a good sheep, stumbling over a threshold I’d never crossed before.
He shoved me forward. “Welcome to your new home, bitch.”
I tripped forward, arms whirling, mind fighting against vertigo.
A loud slam ricocheted from behind me. A door. A prison gate.
I spun around, breathing hard. I didn’t have any words or energy left. I was sick, terrified, heartbroken. But through it all, I was numb.
I’d accepted my fate, acknowledged the truth, and finally seen what it all meant.
He’s truly, truly dead.
Daniel stalked toward me.
Automatically, my feet shuffled back—not from conscious instruction but some primal need for self-preservation. In reality, I no longer cared what happened. It was as if I watched myself from the safety of the ceiling, peering down at the poor unfortunate Weaver, no longer caring what happened to blood and bone when I no longer inhabited it.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
I want to die, too.
Daniel never stopped corralling me around the space. Through blurry eyes, I took in the rich emerald brocade on his four-poster bed, the priceless antiques, and moss-coloured walls. The shades of green looked like we’d traded indoors for some woodland glen.
He was the hunter, raising his shotgun to shoot the dismal deer.
I’m that deer.
His hands outstretched; face alight with manic lust. “You’re all mine now, Weaver. Locked in my room, bound to my rules, at my mercy. Fuck, this is gonna be good.”
My ears rang with his voice. My eyes smarted with his appearance. I wanted to leave—to chase Jethro into the stars. Suicide didn’t compute. Taking my own life didn’t register. It wasn’t a matter of life and death, killing or surviving, but about transcending from one world to another.
He’s not dead.
He’s just...evolved.
And I didn’t want him to leave without me.
We were a pair. A duo.
I’m done with this existence.
My mind was gone—unfocused and slow. But my body still wanted to survive. My feet tripped backward for every one of Daniel’s, but there was no finesse. I moved like a robot with no one at the controls.
From my sanctuary in the ceiling, I pitied the delusional girl below. Why was I backpedalling? Why prolong the inevitable? The sooner Daniel caught me, the sooner he would hurt me and ultimately send me to Jethro.
Let go.
Let it happen.
The numbness inside would block external pain, surely.
It was best to stop everything. To stop thinking, stop breathing, stop surviving.
My knees locked. I stood steadfast.
Daniel quirked an eyebrow. He stalled when I didn’t continue our morbid dance. Cocking his head, he searched for a trap. “Giving up so easily, whore?”
I didn’t respond. Not a whisper of a shrug or a flicker of an eye. I stared right through him—at a new dimension that promised a fresh beginning with Jethro and an end to hardship.
Daniel growled under his breath. “You’re seriously just giving up?” Stomping forward, he grabbed my hair, fisting it in his sweaty hands. “You’re not going to fight me like you did my brother?”
I was right.
No pain registered. No agony or discomfort.
My senses were meaningless decoration.
“Fight back! Where’s the fucking sport if you just give in?”
He tugged my hair, raising my eyes to his. If I focused, I would’ve brought his putrid face into vision. I would’ve cringed at the sharp bone structure, small black goatee, and swept back dark hair. If I still had my sense of smell, I would’ve inhaled his musky excitement, unable to be hidden beneath thick notes of aftershave. And if I had sense of touch, I would’ve felt his body heat infecting mine, seeping into me like a disease.
But I had none of that, so I noticed none.
All I saw, heard, felt was a void: nothing but silent wind across my face and emptiness before me.
His mouth twisted with rage. “Fuck you, Weaver. You’re mine now. What do you have to say for yourself?”
The burn in my scalp chased away the icy tears on my cheeks. My heart had given up the moment a bullet slammed into the love of my life. If he wanted a reaction, he wouldn’t get it.
Not this time, you bastard.
Nothing.
I have nothing.
“My brothers are dead. How does that make you feel?”
Nothing.
I feel nothing.
“Answer me, cunt! Tell me how much you don’t want me to touch you. How much you’re afraid of me!”
Nothing.
I care about nothing.
Jethro was gone. I’d never seen anyone die before. Never been to a funeral or witnessed a pet succumb—even my own mother just vanished rather than died. My first participation in death and it’d been two men who’d captured my affection, turning me into a completely different person.
The old Nila died the day she entered Hawksridge. But this new Nila was a fading photograph, vanishing piece by piece while her lover bled out on priceless carpet.
Daniel threw me away from him. “Snap out of it!”
Vertigo caught me in its sickening embrace. For once, I didn’t fight it. I tumbled to the carpet, letting a whirligig of rollercoasters and nausea take me, thanks to my broken brain. Normally, it was the worst kind of punishment, but now it was better than facing reality.
Vibrations in the carpet alerted me to Daniel’s closeness. He towered over me, rage painting his face. “Pay attention to me, Weaver!” His boot shot like a black meteor, connecting with my belly.
Air exploded from my lungs.
Pain crept over my senses—pain I didn’t want to feel because it reminded me I wasn’t dead...wasn’t free. I was still here—in this pointless game of madness and deception.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
I’m all alone.
Daniel kicked me again.
His boot crunched against my belly, sending white-hot agony up my chest.
Agony.
And with agony came life.
You’re not alone.
Vaughn. My father. I still had family who mattered. People I couldn’t abandon.
I’m not dead.
I don’t have the luxury of giving up.
Jethro and Kes had been murdered by men who’d polluted the world for long enough. I’d made a promise to my ancestors to end this. I now made a promise to them.
I will kill your family.
I will end this once and for all.
My eyes shot wide. Energy zapped into my limbs. Agony made me reckless, granting false courage. I was stronger than this. Hadn’t I proven as much with what I’d lived through? Each debt I’d endured, I’d evolved from naïve little girl into a woman.
I’m braver than this.
Scrambling backward, I put as much distance between Daniel’s next kick and myself as I could.
He placed his hands on his hips, laughing coldly. “Finally decided to play, huh? Took you long enough.”
Coughing, I held my bruised belly and forced myself to stand.
He didn’t approach me, giving me time to regroup. He enjoyed me fighting—he wanted me alive and screaming.
Bastard.
“I’ll kill you,” I whispered, wincing with every breath.
He chuckled, moving toward me. “What did you say?”
Standing taller, I locked eyes with him. My ribs bellowed from his kick, but steel entered my tone. “I said I’ll kill you.”
He ran a hand through his dark hair, smiling. The evil tainting his soul suffocated him—he wasn’t attractive even though outwardly he had good bones and sex appeal. To me, he was a troll, a stinking pile of excrement.
“I’d like to see you try.” He closed the distance between us one boot at a time.
I parried backward. “You won’t see it coming.”
“You won’t be able to get close enough to do it.” He winked smugly. “You’re nothing compared to me.”
I bared my teeth. “It’ll happen when you least expect it.”
“It will never happen.” He flexed his muscles. “I’m invincible.”
“You’re human.”
And that makes you killable.
Every word filled me with power. Conviction and confidence shoved aside my numbness and grief.
Jethro and Kes were dead. But it wasn’t the end for me. I had a purpose. I would complete that purpose.
“Want to know why I came back? Why I didn’t run or hide?” The snow in my veins made its way into my heart. “I came back to ruin you.” Spit pooled in my mouth. If I’d been braver, I would’ve spat it all over his face. “I came back for him, but that’s over now.”
I’ll avenge him, so help me, God. Kestrel, too. And myself. And my brother. And my mother and grandmother and generations of Weaver women.
This was the beginning of the end.
The Debt Inheritance was null and void—Cut had seen to that. It was time to slaughter the Hawks and extinguish a dynasty of torture. Every second made me stronger, filling me with a strange acceptance. Happiness wasn’t my life path—but destruction was. I would be that instrument of destruction.
Daniel shook his head, positively glowing with insanity. “You came back to watch him die? How thoughtful.”
“Wrong. I came back to end this.” Darkness settled around my soul, blotting out any remaining light.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
But I’ll keep my promise.
I hadn’t been able to save Jethro, but I wouldn’t abandon him. “I made an oath to myself.” I narrowed my eyes, glad that they’d stopped watering—that I could look at him with strength rather than terror. “Want to know what that oath was?”
He stiffened. “Don’t want to know anything about you, Weaver.” He licked his lips. “Scratch that. I want to know three things and three things only.”
I shivered in disgust. “My oath was to destroy you. To end your father. To end you. No matter what you do—”
He shot forward and slapped a hand over my mouth. His palm silenced me, sending my heart chugging with hatred. “Ah, that’s fucking rude. You were meant to ask what three things I want to know, not spout ridiculous bullshit.” His golden eyes—so similar to Jethro’s and Kestrel’s—glittered. “Go on...ask me.”
His fingers pulsed on my cheeks as I shook my head. I couldn’t speak, but it didn’t stop me from screaming with every molecule.
Never!
His temper eddied around us. “Fine. Don’t need you to ask, ‘cause I’ll tell you anyway.” He crowded me, pressing his body against mine. “Three things, bitch. I want to know how your screams will sound in my ears.” His fingers dropped from my mouth, tracing my lips with his salty touch.
“I want to know how your tiny hands will feel fighting me off.” His palm drifted down my throat, over my diamond collar, to my breasts.
I closed my eyes as he kept going, lower and lower and lower.
My teeth clamped on my bottom lip as he cupped my core with rancid fingers. The thin knickers and t-shirt I wore from sharing Jethro’s bed left me vulnerable. “And I want to know how your pussy will taste on my tongue.” Without any warning, he plucked me from the carpet and threw me against a wall.
My shoulder slammed against a portrait of waxy fruit. I slithered to my knees. Pain flared, fear swelled, and vertigo did its best to steal me away.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
Don’t you dare give in.
“I’ll show you that I get what I want. I’ll teach you to fucking respect me.” He towered over me, fists clenched. “Isn’t that what you think of me? That I’m some spoiled brat who was the ‘mistake’? That I was never good enough for this family or to have my own Weaver to torment?” His voice deepened with rage. “Saw the tampered video, Nila.”
I struggled to stand, never taking my eyes off his boots.
He stood poised, ready to kick. “Always knew Kes was a pillock, but I never took him for a fucking dreamer. Anyone could tell that wasn’t you with Cut. And it was a fucking mockery to believe I’d buy the badly spliced images of me with some whore. He couldn’t even overlay your face onto her body right. Not to mention the fact I remember the night I disfigured that bitch and Jethro tried to save her.”
His hand lashed out, grabbing my hair. “She could’ve survived if he’d tried. He killed her—said it was what she wanted. That it was the only way she could live with what I’d done. I call fucking bullshit.”
He shook his head, eyes wild. “He’s always been a pussy, and Kes was always a fucking sap. Jet drugged and lied to us—but fool on him. Cut will make you repay the Third Debt. Kes screwed up with that shoddy film—it could’ve been the best-edited video in all of bloody Hollywood, and I wouldn’t have bought it.” Slowly pulling me to my feet, he hissed, “Know why?”
Kes had been a true friend. Jethro had been a true lover.
They’re dead.
They’re dead.
Two friends gone.
My heart cracked all over again, but instead of sinking into depths of despair, something happened. My temper warmed, growing brighter and stronger, nudging aside grief.
Something was changing...building, evolving.
“Answer me!” Daniel shook me. “Tell me why I would never have bought that fucked-up video.”
Temper turned to rage, which turned to fury, creating a bubbling concoction of revenge.
I stood before him proud and undefeated. “I know why. Because you’re a sick, deranged pervert who remembers things like rape and torture.”
He barked with laughter. “Well, fuck me, you do understand.”
Breath by breath, I sold my soul to the churning anger inside. I gave up my innocence. I traded all resemblance of peace and purity, letting the blackness consume me.
Jethro had confused me—making me believe the debts were liveable. That, in the end, we’d win because we deserved to. His kindness outshone his cruelty, mixing the messages he sent.
But Daniel.
There was no more confusion.
I knew as surely as the sun would rise, Daniel would rape, maim, and kill me. There was no compassion or affection inside him.
That fantasy was done.
But with that knowledge came clear-headedness. I no longer wanted to fight hate with love or pain with tenderness.
I meant to meet Daniel in the abyss and kill him before he killed me.
“I know enough to destroy you, Daniel Hawk.”
My heart beat for the last time, frosting over—protecting itself for what I would do. I’d never planned on becoming a villain. But I’d never planned on losing my soul-mate, either.
Daniel snarled, “You’re a dead woman.” He squeezed my throat below my diamond collar, wedging me against the wall. “I mean to fill your final days on Earth with suffering. You’ll see. You’ll beg me to kill you before I’m finished.”
I gasped. Every instinct urged to scramble at his tight fingers. But I didn’t beg or plead. The numbness turned to coldness, and I understood my predicament better than ever before.
I’m a killer.
I just needed a weapon to fulfil it.
“Buzzard!”
Daniel froze, turning to face the door. His hand never let go of my throat, anger filtering through his grip.
I couldn’t turn my head, but in my periphery stood my second target. The man I would kill after dispatching his youngest son.
Bryan Hawk.
“Let her go for a moment. There’s a good boy.” Cut tapped a key against his chin—the key which no doubt unlocked the entrance to Daniel’s bedroom. Inching over the threshold, he came further into sight.
Daniel gathered me close, spinning me around so I squashed against his front. His breath wafted in my ear as his hand fisted my breast like I was a trophy to be touted.
I didn’t care. My body was as numb as my soul.
My eyes widened as a red-faced, tear-stained Jasmine rolled in behind her father. If I hadn’t locked away my pain, I would’ve burst into tears and shared her grief.
Why was she here? How could she stand to be around her father after what he’d done?
Two of her brothers, gone.
Half of her family obliterated by the man who should’ve protected them from everything.
He’d tried to kill her, yet she willingly breathed the same air as him.
Why?
“What are you doing?” Daniel grunted, kneading my breast. “You said—”
“I know what I said.” Cut prowled closer, his gaze taking in my dry eyes and balled hands. His jaw ticked, but that was the only sign of emotion. “Something has come to light.”
Jasmine looked at me. Something didn’t seem right. Her cheekbones sliced through pale skin, her normally sleek bob messy and tangled. But she had an edge about her speaking of unpredictability and almost...deranged mania.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
Of course, she wouldn’t cope.
“Get out!” Daniel took a step back, hauling me with him. Our legs entwined, but I didn’t fight. I had the power to kill him, but we had to be alone. That was the only way.
Cut tucked the key into his pocket. “Buzzard, listen—”
“No, listen to me.” Jasmine shoved the rims of her wheelchair, barging past Cut and coasting at supersonic speed toward us. “Let her fucking go, Dan!”
Daniel flinched.
Jasmine cursing was wrong—as if she’d never sworn in her life. She looked too perfect to stoop so low. However, the unhinged glint in her bronze eyes and whitewashed face held no hint of weakness from watching two brothers die.
She looked livid rather than heartbroken.
What is going on?
Daniel’s gaze swooped to Cut. “What the fu—”
“Do as she says,” Cut ordered.
I swallowed as Daniel tweaked my nipple. “Like shit I will. She’s mine. We’ve all decided.”
“Listen to your father, child.” Bonnie appeared, entering the room and resting two hands on her walking stick.
Shit, they’re all here.
My hackles rose.
In my melancholy and newly budding fury, I’d forgotten about Bonnie. I’d counted only two victims. Two men who would suffocate in dirty graves, eaten by worms.
I have three targets.
Three lives to steal to avenge so many others.
Daniel stepped back, dragging me with him. “No chance. Get out. The lot of you. The door was locked for a motherfucking reason.”
Bonnie growled, sounding like a grizzly bear about to teach her cubs a lesson. “Drop her. Don’t make me say it again.”
Drop her? Like I’m some dog’s chew toy.
The bubbling darkness inside wanted to strike and rip out her voice box. I wanted her bleeding at my feet.
Just like him.
Jethro’s blood stained this house.
Hers will, too.
“This is bullshit,” Daniel spat, shoving me away from him. The moment I was free, Jasmine rolled toward me and captured my wrist with cold fingers.
My stomach churned.
I didn’t like this turn of events. I didn’t want any more confusion. Daniel was black and white. I was black and white. Death or life—those were my two choices. This scuffle was a grey area and if I let myself lose my cut-throat mentality, I wouldn’t be able to continue.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s not coming back.
The grief threatened to wash me away again.
“She’s mine. I’m the oldest.” Jasmine spun her chair, dragging me to face Bonnie and Cut. “You agreed. Tell him.”
I looked over my shoulder at Daniel, hating the fact he was behind me. I didn’t want to take my eyes off the little creep.
You’re a dead man walking, Buzzard.
My mind raced with images of my pilfered dirk sliding between his ribs. Of slashing his throat. Of cutting off his balls.
“You have a valid argument, Jasmine.” Bonnie nodded. “And we’ll discuss it further when the mess of today is over with.”
I swallowed a gasp. The mess of today? She talked about the murder of her two grandsons as if it was an inconvenient mishap.
Who are these people?
“No, I want to hear that she’s mine. Right now.” Her fingernails dug into my flesh, breaking my skin, imprinting crescent moon cuts.
I didn’t flinch.
Jaz’s eyes met mine. They were just as lifeless and cold as me. A switch had triggered in both of us, leaving us lost in this new world.
“You belong to me, Nila Weaver. You’re the reason my two brothers are dead.” Yanking me down to her height, she hissed, “You’ll pay. I’ll make you pay so damn much for what you’ve done.”
What?
A cloud worse than numbness consumed me.
She’d lost everything back in the parlour. She’d even lost herself.
Who was this woman? Sure, Jasmine had never been ultra-friendly with me. In fact, she’d asked me to die the last time I’d visited her to save her brother. But I’d never seen someone so remote and vastly changed.
Then again, what did I expect? Why would she soften toward me now that the worst had happened?
Cut jumped in. “We’ll discuss it at greater length. But I do agree; Daniel doesn’t get full rights to her. You are my daughter and the successor matriarch. You know our empire inside out, whereas Daniel is yet to be trained. It’s only fair that you have joint ownership of the final debts, and the pain she is required to pay.”
I bit my lip, unable to tear my eyes away from Jasmine.
What did this mean? Would I have to dig four graves instead of three? I never wanted to kill Jasmine. But I would if she gave me a reason.
It was me versus them now. I wouldn’t back down again.
I’m done being tortured.
It was their turn.
Daniel stomped forward, throwing his hands up in a bad boy tantrum. “But, you fucking promised.”
Cut sniffed. “I promised nothing. You will still inherit, but as I’m tearing up all the rules lately, there might be a dual inheritance. Primogeniture is over. I’m looking at all bases now.”
“But that’s not fair! There are rules, contracts!”
“Yes, and if I’d followed those rules, you wouldn’t have her either, you fucking ingrate,” Cut snapped. “I need a few days to unscramble this shit-storm. Then we can proceed correctly once the documents have been amended.”
Wait. Documents? What amendments?
Daniel laughed, slipping beside me and wrapping his hand in my hair. The long strands tangled around his wrist, providing a perfect rope to jerk me away from Jasmine.
Only, she didn’t let go. Her nails dug deeper into my wrist, keeping me pinned between the two fighting siblings.
“Let her go. She’s mine!” Jaz slammed on her brakes.
“You can have her when I’ve taken what I want.” Daniel yanked me toward him.
I cried out, tripping and swaying, two parts of me caught by two Hawks.
Oh, my God.
I was a piñata in the middle of a feuding family—tugged and devoured and ultimately beaten until I’d split open and die.
I laughed out loud at the insanity stinking up the room.
Jasmine was as bonkers as the rest of her bloodline. She would have to go, too.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He was good where they’re all bad.
“Quit it!” Cut roared at the same time as Bonnie screeched, “Behave yourselves!”
The Hawk siblings quit squabbling like brats. We looked at Cut and Bonnie, panting hard, trapped in a cycle of idiocy.
“For fuck’s sake.” Cut dragged a hand over his face. “You’re acting like two-year olds. I have a good mind to take the strap to both of you.” His gaze fell on his children, searing and intense. “She’ll be locked up until we have a family meeting. Then we can decide who has her first and what punishments shall be divided.”
Jasmine sneered, “See, Dan. Let her go.”
“You let go first.”
“God, you’re such a moron.” Jasmine relinquished her hold. Instantly, blood seeped from the slices she’d given, trickling down my wrist.
“You’re just an invalid who’s never been laid.” Daniel threw me away. “You always had it so easy, sister. Ever since your ‘accident.’”
My ears pricked. The aura of mystery surrounding Jasmine only grew thicker. I wanted to know everything about her before I ended her. Just like I wanted to know everything about Bonnie, Cut, and Daniel. I would wear their history like a talisman. I would be the last person to know their tales before they faded into obscurity.
Jasmine sniffed. “You’re pissed that your worthless invalid sister has won. I’m the eldest now; therefore, my word is law.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Jaz,” Cut said.
Daniel ignored him. “That’s not it at all.” Slamming his hands on the handrails of Jasmine’s chair, he hemmed her in. “Now I have two women on my shit list instead of one.” He dragged a finger across his throat. “I’d watch out if I were you.”
Pushing off, he deliberately shouldered Cut out of the way, scowled at Bonnie, and stalked from the room.
The moment he disappeared, my muscles quivered. Somehow, I’d avoided whatever would’ve happened. I’d slipped into shock and come out ready to murder. And I’d been given to yet another Hawk who hated me.
Cut shook his head, looking at his mother. “They never fucking learn.”
Bonnie laughed. “Neither did you, dear. Not for a long time.”
He wrapped an arm around her brittle shoulders. “I can’t imagine ever being so terrible.”
My fingernails dug into my palm as I witnessed a seemingly normal bond. How could evil have so many layers? How could it be so obvious one moment, then hidden by family ties and hierarchy the next?
Bonnie tapped her cane against Cut’s foot. “You’re not forgetting what you did, are you? Because I have news for you—you were worse. A lot worse.” Moving forward, she dislodged his hold. “But I straightened out the mess you made. I put things right. I have every faith you will, too.”
Cut nodded. “Damn right, I will.” His eyes strained but apart from a few cracks in his smooth veneer, I would never have guessed he’d pulled the trigger on two of his children.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
All because of me.
Inching closer to Jasmine, I whispered so only she would hear. “He tried to shoot you, but Jethro saved you. Do you have no shame?”
Her eyes zeroed in on mine. Thoughts and emotions flickered over her face but she didn’t reply.
Her betrayal hurt. Jethro and Kes had loved her. They’d died for her. Who could claim to love them in return yet continue to be in the same house as the man who’d shot them?
My stomach twisted. “You make me sick.”
Her hands tightened around the rims of her wheels. Shutters slammed over her eyes, but still no response.
Tears stung but I had nothing else to say. Only one promise that she might as well hear, so she’d know who truly loved her brother. “I’ll kill you for this. Just like I’ll kill them.”
She sat taller. Locking eyes with me, she said icily, “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Raising her voice, she pointed at the door. “Your fate will be discussed and decreed. Go to your room. Leave us.”
I rubbed my wrist, smearing the blood she’d conjured. When I didn’t move, she herded me with silver wheels toward the exit.
“I said leave.” She didn’t stop, pushing me between Cut and Bonnie.
My skin crawled as Cut reached out, gathering me to him. He brushed aside black hair that’d stuck to my clammy cheeks. His golden eyes shone with power. “I’m afraid our timeframe has accelerated since you’ve arrived. Emma was in my control for a delightful length of time. I’d hoped Jethro could manage the same. But...I raised lacklustre sons and have to hope my daughter can do better.”
Jasmine nudged against the back of my thighs. “Let her go, Father. She has to be trained in obedience.” Her legs remained covered with a rose-coloured blanket, but temper flared her cheeks. “That was her issue with Jet. She never listened. I’ll teach her otherwise.”
How did I judge someone so wrong? All this time, I thought Jasmine was half-way sane—a crutch for her brother and stronger than all of them combined. But she was just as diabolical.
“If anyone can do it, it’s you, Jasmine.” Cut released me. “I have no doubt.”
Bonnie smiled, leaning on her stick. “Jasmine is an exemplary student. She’ll rise to the challenge.”
“You never have to doubt, Father.” Jasmine’s frosty voice sent goosebumps over my skin. “I’m ten times the man my brothers were.”
Who was this person? This cold-hearted harpy who didn’t care. How could she sit there and speak to the man who’d killed her brothers, let alone agree to torture me.
He’s dead.
He’s dead.
He’s free from this insanity.
I couldn’t control the frothing animosity any longer. My lips pulled back. “You’re all monsters. Every single one of you. You’ll all pay.”
Cut sighed, “You were told to leave, Ms. Weaver. I suggest you listen.”
Bonnie swatted the back of my calves with her stick. “Move, you little guttersnipe.”
“Wait, Grandmamma.” Jasmine wheeled herself in front of me with a few expert manoeuvres. “I have something else I want to say.”
The room sucked in a breath, all of us waiting.
Her gaze fell on mine, dead and empty. “You, Nila Weaver, are the reason my best friend is dead. You are the reason I am now sister to only one brother. And you are the reason my family is falling apart.” Her face darkened, manicured eyebrows shadowing angry eyes. “I asked you once to let the debts take place. I asked you to give your life for him—like it has always been. But you didn’t listen.”
Rolling away, she waved at the door. “Go to your room and think about that. Because this time, I’m not giving you a choice.
“This time, I’ll make you pay.”
