One of the Reapers approaches him. “We need to move the body.”
“No.” Axel’s voice is barely a whisper.
“Sir, we need to—”
“I said no!” Axel’s head snaps up, and there’s something wild in his eyes. “You’re not touching him!”
The Reaper looks at Revan, who nods. They move away, giving Axel space.
I walk closer, my boots echoing on concrete. “Axel.”
“You killed him.” Still not looking at me.
“He was going to kill me.”
“You don’t know that.”
A laugh escapes me, sharp and bitter. “I don’t know that? I was right outside the warehouse, Axel. I heard him say it. ‘We kill her.’ Those were his exact words.”
Axel’s jaw clenches. “Maybe he didn’t mean—”
“Stop.” I crouch down beside him, forcing him to look at me. “Stop making excuses for him. Stop rewriting history to make him into something he wasn’t.”
“He was our dad—”
“He was a monster.” The words come out fierce, final. “He killed Mom. Slowly over years. He turned her into an addict just so he could control her. So she’d need him. And when she wasn’t useful anymore, he gave her enough pills to stop her heart.”
Axel flinches like I slapped him.
“You know I’m right,” I continue. “You’ve always known. That’s why you worked with him—because you thought if you were useful enough, valuable enough, he’d finally love you the way you needed.”
“Shut up—”
“But he never did, did he? He used you. Just like he used Mom. Just like he tried to use me.”
Axel’s breathing is ragged now, tears finally spilling over. “You didn’t have to kill him.”
“Yes, I did.” I stand, looking down at my brother—this man who should have protected me, who should have been on my side but chose our father instead. “And you helped him. You set me up, brought me here, played your part in his game. So don’t you dare try to make me the villain.”
“Lexi—”
“You were supposed to protect me… like how I protected you.” My voice breaks on the words, the first crack in my armor. “You were my big brother. When Dad left and Mom died, you were supposed to be there. But you weren’t. You were too busy chasing your own drugs, your own demons. And now you want to cry over the man who destroyed us?”
He looks up at me and I see the moment he realizes I’m not the little sister he remembers. I’m something else now. Something harder.
Something he created by his absence.
“Save him or save yourself,” I say quietly. “That’s the choice you have. You can stay here with his body, mourn the father who never loved you, let the cops find you and ask questions you can’t answer. Or you can walk away.”
“I can’t just—”
“Yes, you can.” I straighten, putting distance between us. “You’ve been walking away your whole life, Axel. This is just one more thing to abandon.”
The words are cruel. I know they’re cruel. But I’m fresh out of mercy.
“You can bury him,” I say, turning my back on him. “That’s more than he gave Mom.”
I walk toward where Koa, Revan, and Atticus are waiting by the exit. They’re watching me, and I can see the questions in their eyes. The uncertainty about who I’ve become.
