Page 109 of Serpent & Saviors

She whipped her knife out with a quickness that had me floored. Cameron once more seemed at a loss at the feral and unhinged look on Kinsley’s face. I grew stronger with each second that passed.

“He needs to see this first, but it seems fitting, so if you really want one, I’m sure as long as he doesn’t die from blood loss, Andy won’t mind.” I approached the man who had tormented me for far too long. “Here, let me hold it for you since you don’t have the use of your hands.”

I held the results of the DNA test up to him.

“Ooh, we should have him read it out loud,” Kinsley sang, and she cut through the duct tape around his mouth. “Oops,” she giggled as she nicked his cheek, and he winced.

Isabella shook her head, but grinned nonetheless. I could only imagine the guys were going crazy watching, and expected Marcus to barge through the door any second.

“Read it,” I demanded.

I focused on the blood trickling down his face. He cleared his throat but ignored the paper in my hand.

“Victoria, please don’t do this. Think of our son,” he huffed, his chest rattling. I wondered if one of the guys had broken a rib already.

“She didn’t ask you to do anything but read,” Isabella screamed in his face.

He flinched and looked at her as if she were crazy. For good measure, she slapped him several times on both cheeks.

“Ugh.” she wiped his blood on the front of his jeans.

“What do you two get out of this?” Cameron asked.

“Shits-n-giggles, plus I like to stab things. Does the balding scumbag need help reading?” Kinsley replied.

“I read just fine, you stupid bitch,” he sneered.

A loud bang resounded from the window, letting all of us know that the men had heard.

“Not a smart move, Cameron. Somehow, I think you’ll end up losing your tongue for that. I’m not mad, honestly you never knew what to do with it, anyway.” I shrugged. “Now I suggest you read, or you’ll never believe it to be true. And that would be a shame, especially since it pertains to Declan.”

He shifted his eyes away from Kinsley, who opened her phone and pulled up a playlist. Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor. The funeral march bounced off the walls. She shrugged as I grinned from ear to ear.

“It seemed fitting. I mean, he’s dead already.”

My heart soared with love for her. I turned my attention to the man who had been such a huge part of my life. He’d twisted everything and made it grotesque. I took a deep breath, ready to get this over with. I didn’t want to waste one more single moment on him than I had to.

I was proud that my voice rang out clearly. “You always thought you knew everything about me. You scoured my journals looking for a thousand ways to torment me, and you were successful. However, thanks to your actions, I learned how to keep secrets from you. Would you like to know the biggest one I’ve kept?” I thrust the results back in his face.

Finally, he gave the paper more than a dismissive glance. His lips moved as he silently read the paper. A flicker of shock and disbelief crossed his face, and I grinned.

“See, girls, he can read. Now it makes more sense that your attorney asked you to submit to a DNA test, huh? Declan was never yours. He’s always been mine.”

“You fucking slut,” he spat.

“No, a slut sleeps with various men without a care in the world. I’ve only slept with two men in my life. Only one was someone I willingly gave myself to. It was never you,” I sneered, shuddering in revulsion as I thought about all the times he raped me.

He strained against the ropes, his shock turning into full-blown anger. Kinsley stepped behind him and yanked the little amount of hair he had back. She pressed her knife to his throat.

“Watch what you say about my season sister. This is your only warning.”

Something major shifted inside me. The three of us here, in this moment—taking back the power that had once been stolen from us. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t the original men. I caught the look on both the girls’ faces and reveled in our newfound reality. I turned my attention back to Cameron.

“I see you’re catching on now. But maybe you doubt me. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Settle in. You remember that trip I took to Ireland after my mother died? I’ve learned that the universe is a gift giver. I’ve had my fair share of bad ones, rotten gifts, horrible surprises, but on a stormy night when I’d given up all hope, an angel appeared. The funny thing is, he always saw me as the angel, but it was the other way around.”

“Now his tattoo makes complete sense,” exclaimed Kinsley.

“It was one of my finer pieces, I’ll admit. Alek did a good rendition of it,” Isabella remarked, looking proud. “Tell him what happened next.”