Page 127 of A Taste Of Darkness

A constant hum sounded through the halls, sounding like an old refrigerator, so I tried to ignore it.

“Do you want to split up?” Kai asked, to which I shook my head.

“While being away from you sounds great, I think it’s smarter if we stick together.” Once we found Adriana, one of us could take care of her while the other one checked on Sterlie and Flora.

Well, I was going to take care of Adriana while Kai checked on the girls because I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let him kill my sister. I wanted to do the honors. Except if Adriana hurt Flora, I wouldn’t have even had a second before Kai rid my sister of her life.

“After today, I’m going to need a break from you,” Kai muttered like it wasn’t me who needed the break from him. He showed up at my apartment, forced me into his car, and followed me through these halls, so it was me who deserved a break from him.

“You make it sound like we’re a sixty-year-old married couple.”

“Neither of us is sixty, and marrying a child is illegal.”

I stopped in my tracks, cocking my head at him. “I’m not a child.”

“Sure acting like one,” he said.

“What is that supposed to—Wait, never mind. I heard it.” I walked past him, sighing to myself. “It’s all your fault, though. You’re bringing out the worst in me.”

“Aw, that’s the first ever compliment you gave me.”

“I’m starting to understand how you’re married to Flora.” She was also counting how many times I complimented her.

We both fell silent as we approached the end of the hall, now having to decide which way to go. Perhaps we should’ve split up after all, but then a shot fell, coming from the left hallway.

Kai and I turned left, making our way from door to door, listening out for the slightest of sounds. They had to have been behind one of these doors… unless it was a trap.

Nearly at the end of the hall, there was one door that leaked blood from underneath. There weren’t a lot of sounds coming from inside, but the blood even caught Kai’s attention for a moment.

I suppose because it was too quiet behind the door, we both agreed to keep on walking, when all of a sudden, I heard Sterlie’s voice.

“Shooting another one of the screens isn’t going to make the cameras work again,” she said, and while it might’ve been unnoticeable to Adriana, I heard the tremor in Sterlie’s voice. “I assumed you learned the first time you tried, but clearly, you didn’t.”

Kai looked at me, then back at the blood on the floor. He didn’t need to say it, I could read the worry in his eyes.

If Sterlie was in there, making snarky comments to an armed person, she must’ve given up. The only reason I knew would’ve made Sterlie give up was if something happened to Flora. I suppose Kai drew the same conclusion.

He didn’t wait to do this together. He stepped forward and busted through that door.

69

SHOCKING TRUTHS

Sterlie Adams

Flora was slowly waking up. I could feel her hand grip mine softly, and she made a few, pain-filled noises, but she hadn’t opened her eyes yet.

Adriana was pacing back and forth, stepping over the dead bodies like they weren’t even there.

“This is all your fault,” she said, swinging her gun around. “If you hadn’t been there, all this would’ve never happened.”

She sounded angry, but frankly, if she hadn’t been angry at something, I wouldn’t have known why she was doing this in the first place. Granted, I didn’t know either way, but anger made people do stupid things. However, that didn’t justify her most recent doings.

“If who hadn’t been where?” I asked.

She stopped pacing to look at me, rolling her eyes like she couldn’t believe I was asking questions. “You. If you hadn’t been in Palermo.”

“Excuse me?”

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