Page 131 of Devour

I’m standing by the bed with the knife in my hand and Ryan’s body behind me. The sheets and mattress are soaked through with his blood. My hospital gown is covered too. I did my best to rinse off my hands, arms, and face in the sink, but I don’t have anything else to change into.

The keypad to my door beeps.

I step back and grip the knife. I don’t care how many bodies I pile up in here, I’ll fight each and every one of them.

Justin pushes through the door. “We’ve got to get the fuck out of here.” His eyes go straight to the bed, and he stops in his tracks. “What the fuck?” He notices the knife in my hand and then the bloody gown I’m in. He’s deciding what to do next. He pulls his hand from behind his back, and he’s holding a syringe.

Fuck. I can’t let him drug me. I can’t be unconscious.

“He tried to use this knife on me.” I don’t want him to know our father helped me in the event that Dad might actually be on my side. “He was going to rape me, Justin.” I force sadness into my voice, prepared to put on whatever show he needs to believe me. “I couldn’t let him. I didn’t think you’d like that.”

Justin stares at me. His fingers tighten around the syringe. He looks back at Ryan on the bed, and I can’t read what he’s thinking. I need him to trust me long enough to get my fucking ankle free.

“He always was a piece of shit.” Justin turns back to me. “I told him to stay the fuck away from you.”

I take a deep breath, hating what I’m about to do.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said.” I lower the knife to my side so it’s less threatening. “Before you left. About what our life could be like.”

“And?” He watches my face. He’s looking for the lie. But he wants so badly for it to be true, I know he’s already halfway to believing me. That’s his fucking delusion.

“I just want us to get out of here, Justin. Take me somewhere far from these people.” My voice cracks, and I don’t have to fake the fear. The syringe is right there in his hand, and if he decides to use it, I’m done. “Please. Just you and me. Like it was always supposed to be.”

Something shifts in his face. The tension in his jaw loosens, and his eyes go soft in a way that makes my skin crawl. He believes me. He actually fucking believes me.

“You mean that?” He takes a step closer. The syringe is still in his hand, but his grip has loosened.

“Yes.” I nod. There are tears on my cheeks. “But we have to go. There’s gunfire downstairs, and I don’t know what’s happening. Please just get this thing off my ankle, and let’s leave and never come back.”

He glances down at the cuff and the chain. Then he looks at the syringe in his hand. He’s contemplating what to do.

“I’m not going to fight you, Justin. You can give us a good life, right?”

“I’ve always been able to give you everything you need.” His voice gets tight. “You’re the one who kept running from it. Running to fucking Axl. Running to anyone but me. You used to, you know? I used to be the one you trusted to keep you safe. I was the one who used to keep you calm when you’d crawl into bed with me after the thunder scared you or you had a nightmare.”

Then he became the fucking nightmare.

“I know.” The words taste like poison, but I swallow them down. I want to kill him just for trying to use our childhood as his excuse for what he’s done. “I was scared. To feel this way. You have to understand that. No one will understand what’s between us.”

His expression changes. He looks at me the way he used to look at me when he’d stand in the doorway of my room. I didn’t understand it then, but I fucking do now, and it makes me want to vomit.

“I’ve tried to tell you that.” He takes another step toward me. “Everyone kept getting in the way. The fucking Ravens. Mom. Dad. Axl. All of them want to keep us apart when they don’t know that we’re made for each other.”

I close the knife, trying not to react to his fucked-up delusions. I show it to him and then let my hand drop. “Axl’s dead.” I look at the body on the bed, needing to remind myself what I’m fighting for, so I don’t lose it and cry at the thought of never seeing Axl again. Then I focus back on Justin. “There’s no one left to get in our way. We’ll leave Mom and Dad behind.”

“Dad’s dead too.” There’s more gunfire, and it makes Justin flinch and glance at the door.

I don’t know if Justin killed our father, but my chest aches at yet another loss. I can’t ask questions about my dad right now. I have to keep Justin focused on releasing me.

“We have to go, Sayl.” His jaw sets. “I don’t know how the Sinclairs found us, but I ran up here when I saw Tate and Thorne. That bastard must have put some kind of tracker in your body. I’m going to have to find it after you’re out.”

He holds up the syringe. “This would be easier if—”

“No. Please.” I back up a step and shake my head. “Don’t drug me. Not after what just happened with Ryan. I’ll go with you. I’ll let you find the tracker. I’ll be yours, Justin.”

He stares at me for a long second. He’s looking at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world and I just gave him everything he could ever want. He’s lost his damn mind.

He sets the syringe on the cabinet and pulls a key from his pocket.