Page 67 of White Noise

The way he says it is so casual it makes my skin prickle.

“Void was a person. Not a fucking problem!”

“Void, was a fucking parasite.”

“He was still a person.”

Silas’s jaw shifts.

“He was a pervert with a credit card, Saga. That’s all. He paid to watch shit he had no fucking right to think belonged to him, then sat in that pathetic little room pretending access meant permission.”

“And that gave you the right to kill him?”

Silas holds my stare for a long second. His face is a mask of absolute, terrifying stillness, the kind of silence that precedes a slaughter.

“No.”

The answer is so flat, so devoid of remorse, that it knocks the air out of my lungs. I expected a justification, a boast, or even a cruel laugh, but there is nothing.

He doesn't defend the act because, to him, the act wasn't a crime—it was maintenance.

Silas holds my gaze with the detached hunger of a god looking at a piece of property. Then, his mouth curves into a slow, sadistic smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

“But the fact that you are fucking mine did.”

A sharp laugh tears out of me before I can stop it.

“I am not yours.”

For the first time, he goes completely still.

Not offended, or even surprised. Just focused. The kind of focus that makes the room feel smaller.

“Oh, little echo.”

His voice drops lower, all the amusement gone from it now.

“You are.”

I fold my arms across my chest and lean back against the desk, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me step away from a fucking screen.

“Go fuck yourself.”

Something dark flickers through his expression.

“Keep talking.”

“Gladly.” I lift my chin. “I don’t belong to you. You don’t get to decide who talks to me, who watches me, who pays me, or who gets to fucking breathe because you’ve decided I’m some thing you can claim.”

Silas listens to every word without interrupting. That scares me more than if he snapped.

When I finally stop, he tilts his head slightly.

“That make you feel better?”

My jaw tightens. “Not yet.”

His eyes stay locked on mine.