So I go darker.
I grab her wrist and yank her up. “I said I was sorry. I won’t keep begging. You either forgive me, or don’t. But we’ve got blood between us now, and I’m not walking away again.”
She blinks, stunned. “Damn. Someone finally grew a pair.”
“Life forced me to.”
“You know what it’s like,” she says, voice cracking, “watching your sister vanish after you waited yourwhole lifeto be seen?”
“I do. But I’m done hiding. So here’s the deal, ” I square my shoulders. “We either put this shit behind us and take down the monsters that built our pain… or we keep bleeding separately and let them win.”
She stares at me. Then down at her wrist.
“Let me go, drama queen. We’re pale. We bruise easy.”
“Right. Sorry.” I release her but don’t move back.
Her silence stretches a second longer.
Then… “You owe me a lot of sister time.”
“I’ve got forever if you do.”
A crooked smile ghosts her lips. “Let’s burn Bash’s empire to the fucking ground.”
And just like that, we’re good again. Not perfect. Not healed. But ready to make the world pay.
Together. Like Devils.
Her eyes land on mine, sharp as blades, and that smirk curls like a loaded gun. “Second, take a step back. I can smell your breath, and it’s giving fish and coffee. Nasty combo, bitch.”
She’s teasing, half a smile bleeding at the edges of her mouth, but I don’t move. She steps back first, and I win.
“You bitch, I did not.” Her brow rises like a loaded verdict.
“Okay, fine,” I grunt. “Yeah, I did. But so what? You didn’treallysmell it.” I kick at nothing. Dust. Guilt. Nerves. “So… what now?”
“I think I like this new version of you,” she says. “But enough bullshit, it’s time we stop pretending. You want your memories back? All of them?” Her voice shifts, low and dangerous. “There’s a way.”
I blink. “A way? To remember…everything?”
“Yes. But it’s not like reading a journal. This isfeelingit. Reliving it. Bone-deep pain, no filter.” She steps closer. “Mrs. Kaia taught me how to unlock it when the time was right.”
My pulse spikes. “So… if I go through with this, I’ll know what really happened to me?”
She nods, dead serious. “Yeah. But you’ll need backup when it hits. Because this shit? It breaks people. And you’re already cracked, sis.”
The Devils are out handling business. I don’t need to ask where, they're probably bleeding someone dry. But Ryan and Fred? They’re here. Loyal. Unhinged in all the right ways.
“They’ll be enough,” I say, jaw tight. “You. Mama. Them. No one else.”
Gaia’s eyes flash. “Good. Because if you even think about calling that snake Cressida, I’ll knock your ass out myself. Something about her smellsrotten,and I don’t like it.”
“I haven’t seen her. Or Crew.”
“Who the hell is Crew?”
“Security on campus. Ran into him once, literally. Now he’s… around.”
