A hand lands on my shoulder, and I stare up at the man who raised me. His expression matches how he looked at me when he taught me to ride a bike. It’s repulsive. “You’re my greatest accomplishment, daughter. You’ve done a great thing today. Because of you, our legacy will live on.”
Fuck that.
I draw my fist back and crush his temple. My quick movements catch him off guard, and he stumbles slightly. I land another direct hit before I’m grabbed from behind, my arms wretched at odd angles.
“Let go of me!” I scream, not caring who will hear me. “Fuck all of you! You’re fucking monsters!”
The lights cut out, and everything goes silent for a split second. Lips brush against my ear, and I writhe to get free. I’ll pull my shoulders out of socket if I have to. I will not be sold off like a fucking cow.
“There’s my fighter.” X’s lips brush the shell of my ear, and I still. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Fix the goddamn lights!” Dad bellows from the stage, but we hide in the cover of the shadows. Gunshots fire from somewhere in the crowd, and all hell breaks loose. X drags me through the bodies, fighting toget on the stage and out a side door. When it closes, the shouts and commotion go silent. X doesn’t stop running until he’s taken me down two more hallways and through another door into darkness. He locks it behind him and pulls me into his chest, shoving the mask off my face. His lips crash into me, and I welcome the pain from the beatings because it’s him. He found me. He didn’t leave me, and he wasn’t taken.
I bury my head in his chest and grip his shirt with both hands.
It’s over. The nightmare is over.
Thirty-Five - X
I’ve never felt anythingso good in my life as having Puppet back in my arms. We could hide out here, stay until the chaos outside dies down. I could abandon my blood lust for Darius and November.
I could choose Puppet.
But I can’t. Because until I see their cold, dead bodies, I won’t stop craving the feeling of killing them. It’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. What I’m about to do is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
“You have to stay here,” I say, my throat tightening around the words.
She pulls back and glances up at me. “What? Why? Where are you going? Let’s just leave.”
I run my hands from her shoulders down to her wrists and bring them to my chest. I kiss the inside of each one and let her hands rest on my chest while I unclasp the collar and let it fall to the floor.
“I have to finish this.” I tuck her hair behind her ear and spot the bruising across her cheek and lip in the dimly lit room. “They have to pay.”
Her hands fist my shirt, and tears well in her eyes. “Let someone else handle it. Why does it have to be you?” she asks. I’ve never seen my puppet cry. Even after what Seth did, she never broke. But here, hiding in the darkness with me, a perpetual monster, she’s breaking.
And it cuts my goddamn heart out.
The gunshots outside grow louder. They’re getting closer. People are trying to escape. Darius could be escaping right now.
“It has to be me. I’m the only one who knows the truth. They took my brother from me. Killed him. And I have to do this for him.” I hope she understands. She can hate me if she wants. But she’ll be alive and safe.
“Scott knows your name,” she says. “Your real name. He told me when he—” Her voice fades away like what she’s reliving is too painful.
My jaw clenches to the point of agony, but I keep my fingers soft against her skin.
“He called you Lima. Dad could already know who you are,” she finishes.
I take her chin between my finger and thumb and angle her head up. “Tonight was the first time I gave anyone my name. You were the first person I ever told. Scott and your dad are chasing a ghost of a man. If something happens, take this.” I pull a folded paper from my pocket and hand it to her. She shakes her head, and I force her fingers to curl around it. “You’ll be safe. There are men there to protect you. Then, when I find you, I’ll answer all your questions.”
I kiss her deeply and wish I had time to prove to her what she has made me feel. I wish I had the courage to tell her exactly in words what I feel for her. I still hadn’t fully grasped it myself, not until I showed up here and saw her leashed like a fucking dog.
“You’ll come back,” she says, like she’s trying to convince herself.
“Always,” I respond, forcing myself to step away and unlock the door. I flick my mask on, a special touch that was my idea for the night. They have night vision, but the exterior has blue neon X’s, so we know who the targets are.
“Don’t open the door for strangers,” I say, repeating what I told her that first night I chased her into the woods.
She reaches for me, but I close the door, adding a physical barrier between us. I shove down the part of myself that makes me human, the part that feels affection for the woman I’m leaving behind.
