Her chest tightened like a vice.Jonah’s not dead, she told herself, repeating the mantra with every step.He’s fine. Edward’s lying. Jonah’s not dead.
But Edward’s words burrowed into her mind like worms.
“You wanna know what I think?” He crackled through the system, alive with sadistic glee. “You would’ve liked watching them burn too.”
Ruby shook her head violently. “I would never.”
“Oh, but you did,” Edward purred. “Bet you secretly loved being a TCA agent. A job well done. A villain put down. Innocent humans saved. Doesn’t that sound heroic?”
“Fuck you!” Her scream reverberated through the empty aisles, raw and feral.
Edward’s laugh spilled out of the speakers. “How eloquent.”
Her rage boiled over. She tore the management office’s door off its hinges and hurled it across the store. It collided with a shelf, sending cans clattering to the floor. Somewhere in the chaos, something spilled, the sound sticky and wet.
In the wreckage sat Edward, lounging behind a desk in the management office. His feet were propped up, a microphone in one hand, his other waving at her like a mischievous child caught in the act with a smug grin.
Ruby didn’t hesitate. She surged forward, her hand closing around his throat with crushing force.
“Why are you so weak?” she hissed, lifting him effortlessly before tossing him across the room. He crashed into a filing cabinet, the impact rattling the structure.
When she approached him again, he trembled. For one fleeting moment, she thought he might be scared. But as she drew closer, she realized his shoulders were convulsing with laughter. Tears streaked his face, but not from pain or terror.
He tilted his head back, still laughing, his eyes glinting with triumph.
Something inside Ruby snapped. Decades of therapy, of fighting to maintain her humanity, unraveled in an instant. Pure, unbridled rage coursed through her veins, hotter than any fire she’d ever conjured.
Ruby’s kick sent Edward flying backward, his laughter trailing off as he bounced off of a display rack. The sound of falling items and splintering wood filled the air, but he kept laughing, the grating sound cutting through her fury like a blade.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the nearest sharp object—an improvised weapon from the carnage she’d created—and lunged at him, pinning him to the ground. The blade pressed into his chest, drawing a thin line of blood.
“Where’s Jonah?” she demanded, squashing the desperation she felt with anger.
Edward’s head lolled to the side, his lips curling into a mocking grin. “Who?”
Her nostrils flared. Fury overtook her rationality, and she twisted the blade just enough to make him flinch. His body tensed, his lips twitching in what might have been pain—or amusement.
“Fight back!” she screamed, spittle spraying from her lips.
Edward tilted his head, his expression one of casual curiosity. “Should I?”
He made a half-hearted attempt to kick her, but she sidestepped it easily.
Her anger boiled over, and she slammed the weapon into him again. And again. The sound of his bones cracking beneath her strikes echoed through the empty store. “DO SOMETHING!”
Edward coughed, blood bubbling at the corners of his mouth. Despite the damage, his voice remained steady, maddeningly calm. “What would you like me to do?” He gasped, his chest rattling, then added, “Should I tell you how I turn them? Let you in on the whole secret?”
“No!” she spat, her face inches from his. She hovered over him, her chest heaving with each labored breath. “I want this to end.”
Edward’s bloodied lips twisted into a grin. “Me too.”
Before she could react, he moved, swift and sharp, twisting out of her grasp just enough to knock her back a step.
"Unfortunately," he rasped, dripping with mockery, "that won’t happen."
Ruby snarled, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him into the nearest surface—a display rack for discounted swimwear. Metal hangers clattered to the floor, and a thong bikini bottom landed on Edward’s shoulder.
“Who else did you tell?” she growled, her fingers digging into his shirt as she shoved him harder against the rack.
