Page 140 of A Wild Darkness

“Absolutely not.” Sebastian stands to protest.

“Unfortunately, you don’t have a choice,” Silas scolds, then he turns his beady eyes on me. I squeeze my eyes together, trying to refocus my vision. He continues challenging me. “You seem to me like you’re soft. Not the type of woman who’s a vicious serial killer. Are you like-minded like us? Or are you simply along for the ride?”

Sebastian’s arm shoots out, shoving Silas to the side, preventing him from getting too close to me. “I thought we weren’t allowed to kill other members?”

“First, you do not want to do that again,” he threatens Sebastian, but Sebastian doesn’t back down, stepping in front of me. “And second, things changed as soon as members began disappearing into thin air,” he argues. “The way I see it, it’s either you two or him. My assumption, given his track record, is that he is the one who has something to do with the unrest. But I need to be sure, and that is why his life needs to end.”

Sebastian takes a breath—his jaw clenches with anger. He opens his mouth to speak, but my hand darts out to grab his shoulder.

Shit. What am I doing?

“It’s all right,” I whisper. “I can do what he’s asking.”

Sebastian shakes his head, his eyes wide with panic. “You shouldn’t have to do this, Annabel. We’ve already proven ourselves to this group.”

Our desperate eyes locked on one another. “I know. But we have nothing to hide. We want to belong to a group of like-minded people, right? The support and protection of the community are important to us,” I croak out, air trapped in my throat as I swallow my terror.

Sebastian’s eyebrows knit. “You shouldn’t have to prove anything to him.”

I force a smile, my tears pooling beneath my eyelids. “But I do.”

“As much as I enjoy witnessing the pain of you two obsessive lovers, we don’t have all night,” Silas warns. “She needs to do it now, and that’s final. If she doesn’t…you do not want to know what will happen.”

From the corner of my eye, I catch Sebastian’s hands balling into tight fists at his sides. I wish I could express to him how much his protection means to me, but right now all I have is myself. We need to get to the last event so we can eliminate every one of them. And if I don’t kill this serial killer lying on the table, it might bring this entire operation down.

“I need a gun,” I demand, turning my attention to Silas.

He waves Clara over. She steps forward, handing me a handgun, a lot like Sebastian’s with a silencer screwed onto the barrel.

With heavy steps, I walk around to the front of the table, my back to the group. Sebastian’s focus burns holes through my skin as he watches in frustration, unable to help me. The man’s garbled sounds become louder the closer to his head I get. My fingers grip the handle of the gun as I take the position directly behind his head. Even though this man is a serial killer, a monster, it doesn’t mean I’m at the point where I’m comfortable looking him in the eyes when I blow his brains out.

My hands shake at my sides. Not from holding a live firearm, I grew up around guns, and my dad taught Lux and me how to use one for safety when we were in high school.

“Annabel,” Sebastian’s voice captures my attention. My eyes dart over to him standing by the table about ten feet from me.

He gives me a confident nod, mouthing the words, You can fucking do this.

The room falls silent. It hits my chest with a powerful weight.

I suck in a deep breath and line the barrel of the gun up with the back of the man’s head. Then I rub my lips together, fight to keep my shaky arms still, and quickly filter through all the tips my dad taught me.

His voice plays in my head like a recording.

“Never take your eyes off the target.”

“Don’t forget about the force from the kickback.”

“Breathe in first, and as you’re blowing out, gently pull the trigger.”

I plant my feet shoulder-length apart onto the hard cement floor, stabilizing them, my eyes bore into the man’s dark hair, then I suck in another deep breath.

Hold for one…

Two.

Three.

I exhale, pulling the trigger.