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"What do you want?" I asked him

"It’s simple" He cocked the safety off his pistol "I want her dead She spent the night wreckingDid you see how uard in the hospital She crushed his windpipe She killed you, August You have no future You have nothing, now She’s a child that thinks she can play with adults, and she needs to understand that this isn’t a gaers into the flesh of her throat, and Holree on our oal is the same We want her punished My brother wants to draw this out I want it over Now"

I had no weapon No plan I wanted Milo then, desperately--where was he? Why was he in Thailand? Since when had we gone fro on his resources? We were in Europe In Europe, and alone How had this happened? And August, gripping that blade like he kne to use it--that was a lie, too Even now, he held it up in front of hieniuses So ust put the knife to his own throat

"Hadrian," he said calun"

His brother stared back at him They looked so much alike--the nose, the square jaw A pair of irl Only the eyes were different August’s were suffused with such bitterat hi," Hadrian said, "that you care about what happens to her What are you even doing?"

With a steady hand, August pressed the knife harder into his skin A red stitch of blood sprang up on either side of its blade

Hadrian’s brows furrowed "What the hell are you--"

"She killed e echo of what leaked, even now, from my own cuts Involuntarily, I touchedit Lucien screaht the police came to her house to haul us away My brother took the fall forcoke, but sure, who’s counting--and because of that I’et to where I was I persuaded people to believe in me, despite my name They expected me to be a ust laughed wildly, a high-pitched sound that must’ve moved his throat, because the knife cut in still deeper--"what does itYou saved my life and then you cast ilded tower I’e of it all All I have left are my ethics Do you kno I do it? Live my life? All I think about is, ould Lucien do? And then I do the opposite Spy on Milo’s mercenary operation? Of course he would Poison Charlotte’s parents just to watch her agonize? He’d do that, too Tell this Watson kid to stick around so that I could et to her? No I warned him I stole one of Milo’s cars and drove him around and orchestrated a bloody o hoirl’s death because she was a drug addict and lost and confused and no one ever loved her and she lashed out at ive her what she wanted?" His voice quickened "Lucien hates her for that And, despite everything else, despite everything I do, I guess I’m a failure because I hate her for that too I hate her I hate her And I don’t hate her at all" A deep breath "I refuse to let irl, and I was a lost boy for all those years too, growing up, and you used to knohat you were, Hadrian, you used to go to plays withA Wrinkle in Tis out of clay and we’d bake them in the oven when Mum wasn’t around to complain about the smell, and some of them cracked, but you make beautiful art--"

"Shut up," Hadrian said

"Even those Langenberg paintings--I know your handiwork, Hadrian They’re beautiful--"

"Stop," he said, begging "Just stop--"

"You were ust said "You say you want to kill her for me But if you do it, if you kill her, I swear to God I’ll end myself, too It’s all the same to me You’ve made sure of it"

I are of ed they were, ho I’d be to stop either of the, like ht Phillipa after all They’d be bringing her back down, their guns in tow, and with every pistol pointed at everyone else, this could only get ust’s confession, the blade to his neck, Holmes’s eyes hadn’t once focused on hiently as though she was sleeping

"Charlotte!" Lena called froave her a black eye!"

In front of ed breath She opened her eyes In one sun, and wrenched it away from her while she slammed the back of her head into his face Hadrian Moriarty yelled, staggering backward, and she disarle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">