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CHAPTER 1

The gunshots echo in my mind as I stare out the n at the pool Cri face down in the water I recognize Sean’s form, the sweep of his shoulders and his thick dark hair The hardened stiffness of his stance, the rerief he bore, is now absent as he floats, listless

There’s nothing surroundingwalls lined with bookcases The scent of expensive rugs and feather filled furniture alludes et sucked into the void that holds me firmly at its center Vic cackles behind me, but it sounds like static into ice

All this ti, to have the ability to be a cold, sadistic bastard if required I wanted to patch myself up and shut the world out, but as I tried to learn those things from Sean—I fell in love with him It wasn’t supposed to happen I knew I couldn’t bear to have ain Now that the ined I don’t fall to the floor in a hopeless heap, unable to control h h ht woven from the last cobwebs of my shattered soul The delicate nature of it instantly turns to steel

The effect is like sla to e The spider-web-thin cracks that have covered ins and I know I’m about to tumble beneath the surface of my mind, to whatever darkness lies beneath

Emotion drains from my body as if poured out hastily The fear vaporizes and is swept away like a cloud of s left after that point The voice in my head, the one that tells me to hope and press on noatThere’s a void in her absence, an eht pulled under and drowning The water was a noose aroundThere was no way out, but when Sean was there, the dreaht it feels like that drea the living, but I’ve already perished I’est thought occurs—I’m not afraid

Shifting lance out of the corner of my eye at the man responsible forHe’s too close, grinning at me with that bloated snake of a mouth His shaved head has a halo fro hiether sloaiting for me to fall apart before his eyes

Miss Black, who has been unconcerned so far, unsteeples her fingers and lifts a brow Lips slightly parted, she leans forward fro on a desktop for someone like Black The wo, but she recognizes the change in me It takes a wo point Black reain to watch how I play out my hand

I’ coeance is a basket full of puppies compared to Mel’s And Henry—who the hell knohy he’s so fucked up, but I can’t blaht when he nearly killedon behind their eyes when a person breaks

That moment is now I sense it Shard by shard,re silence, the e There’s no sensation of heat or cold againstnitively I recognize the fact, but I still can’t process it

Instead, I stare at my brother and realize he doesn’t knohat just happened He doesn’t sense the newly formed soulless creature in front of him He expects me to cry, to lash out in hatred, and fall to the floor in a cruiddy as he waits, but the moment never comes

Marty clears his throat and tucks his chin at the saether I can think with calculated cal The person who canher heart ripped out is not a life worth saving I make no atte onto the shards will only cut hts snap into place like a plastic puzzle The path I want to take is clearing, but I need a few ether and make sure it works

I buy tilare into his brown eyes “You fooled ain”

Vic practically squeals with delight and presses his callused fingers to his mouth to contain his exciteht That high pitched squeal would send

Vic throws his arerly on my arm as if we are old friends I don’t shake him off He catches e of sorts What if I gave you the chance to pay him back for his lies? For his deceit?”

There’s no way out of this room other than to walk out with them, so that’s what I need to do It should pain me, and I should feel torn, but I don’t Betrayal doesn’t strangle ertips, not anymore

I hold M

arty’s gaze while I answer my brother, “How?”

Vic grins as he glances between us He retracts his palm fro a slow circle around us He lifts his fingers and rubs his chin before purring, “An eye for an eye It’s only fair, and that’s what life is all about, isn’t it, Masterson? Fairness Nothing elseunjustly mistreated” He stops behind me and takes a step forward

I should want to run, to panic, but I don’t No emotion is present, and it see

Is this how Sean felt all day, every day? It’s like there’s a protective layer surroundingme in This is what I wanted from the moment my parents died A protective box, a wall around me that no one can penetrate The only proble s Rather, it’s as if I boxed myself into a coffin and I pulled the lid shut I should be terrified of that thought, but it doesn’t make my heart race or my skin sweat The wall around me is what separates the people froave in, why he did what he did with the call girls—why only certain things ain

All this tis froht so fiercely to keeplike hi like this

Vic’s hands land softly onin circles on my bare skin He purrs next to my ear, “And seriously, Avery—how many times can the same man lie to you without consequences?”

I don’t shake hih I know I should Instead, it’s just there, another dead sensation Miss Black continues watching in silence as Vic stands behind me

I stare at Marty while he holds aze, expressionless “It’s been too many times”

Marty flinches slightly atto speak, but they fall on deaf ears A storhts swirl like dust rising frohts twirl and float