Page 169 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

Fuck my life.

The moment I could move again, I was going to burn everything down.

Another sharp sting in my arm and darkness swallowed me whole.

When I came to, everything was dark. The sack was still over my head, the inside of it damp against my mouth with every breath. A hard chair dug into my back, my wrists zip-tied behind it. I tested the bindings. The edge bit in thin and hard, but no give. More ties held my ankles to the chair legs. My right boot brushed the chair leg, and I felt the sheath still there—a hard line against my ankle. They hadn't found the knife. Sloppy. Unfortunately, trussed up like this, I couldn't reach it.

I kept my breathing even and took stock. The air reeked of concrete, old oil, and stale exhaust. Indoors. Somewhere closed and industrial. A dull, persistent throb pulsed through my head. My mouth tasted of metal and chemicals. Beneath my skin, my cat was awake but sluggish, still fighting the drugs.

I couldn’t shift. Not yet.

Then a door creaked open behind me. Slow footsteps scraped across the concrete, coming closer.

The sack was ripped off my head hard enough to take some hair with it. Harsh light stabbed my eyes. I blinked rapidly until the blur began to sharpen.

When my vision finally cleared, I was staring straight down the barrel of a shaking handgun.

Lia.

Shock hit me like a gut punch. For half a second my brain refused to process what I was seeing.

My cat hissed inside me, fur up, claws scraping uselessly against the drugs.

I forced my expression to stay neutral and tilted my head slightly, keeping my voice casual despite the gun aimed at my chest.

"Why?"

Her grip tightened on the gun. For a beat I thought she might pull the trigger right there. Then she laughed, sharp and ugly.

"Why?" she echoed. "You really don't know?"

"No." I held her stare. "I don't."

That pissed her off more.

"You don't deserve him."

The words hung in the air between us. I'd expected this to come back to Jackson. I just hadn't imagined she'd be willing to kill for him.

"What?"

"You heard me." Her voice rose. "You don't deserve Jackson."

I stared at her for a long moment, letting the silence stretch. She took a step closer. The barrel hovered near my chest.

"I've loved him since we were kids," she said. "I was right there the whole time. Waiting. Supporting him. I understood what he needed as a future alpha. Then you showed up and he looked at you like you hung the fucking moon. Like I never existed."

Her hand shook harder. "I waited years. And you just took him."

My gaze swept the warehouse again. Dim corners, distant drip of water. No easy exits.

“Gotta admit, I underestimated you,” I said.

“It never had to go this far,” Lia answered. “This is your fault.”

"Uh-huh. Where's Naomi?"

"She'll be here soon. Don't worry."