Page 146 of Underground Prince

I shook my head, but not to reply to his question. It was because I didn’t want to hear it.

“He said he had you. He told me what he was going to do to you once he finished this evening’s schedule. He said he’d stripped you, prepared you, and you were spread-eagle on his bed. Tied there by his belts.”

Each word vibrated through me, sending my stomach into a hurricane, bile whipping into my throat and threatening to char my skull. “I’m right here. I’m fine.” I held my hands out for effect. “See? I’m here, so come to me.” I sobbed through the pleading. “Drop the gun. Please.”

“Why…” He paused, his expression blank as he sorted through the possibilities until the moment it came to him. “Why are you protecting him?”

“Because.” I scanned the area, remaining still so Trace couldn’t wise up to what I was trying to communicate to Theo. We’re surrounded.

Theo’s cheeks sparkled under the buttery light, the laps of water underneath us our final score. I hoped it soothed. I prayed my presence would calm him and bring him to me.

Trace’s voice, slow and mindful, came from behind me. “What are you playing at, sweetheart?”

Theo’s form tilted as I was whipped back and slammed into Trace’s chest. A half-bitten cry ripped from my lips, my hands already shooting out, imploring Theo to stop. Don’t shoot don’t shoot they’ll retaliate don’t shoot.

The gun jerked in Theo’s hands, but his aim held true. “Let her go, Trace!”

“Not a fuckin’ chance,” Trace said near my ear. “L’il Miss Shortcake here has me most concerned.” His grip on my waist tightened while his spittle soaked the side of my face. “What do you know, sweet girl? What’s your secret?” His hold, while painful, moved up to my breast.

“Trace!” Theo’s finger tensed over the trigger.

“No! Theo, don’t!” I said, struggling. Trace’s other hand flew to my chin, holding my head in place.

“You have me thinking only one of us will get out of this alive,” Trace muttered into my ear at the same time he pulled us toward the water. He said, louder, “You can’t blame me! Between me and your whore, I’m choosing life! And if I have take her with me… well…” His nails gouged my cheek and he licked the side of my face. I tried to catch his skin with my teeth. “She has value. You know that. I’ll sell her and give you half for the trouble. Is that all right with you, dear brother?”

A shot rang out, pieces of shrapnel shooting up from the ground. I screamed, reflexively lifting my feet up and teetering us out of the way. “Don’t buy into his shit, Theo. He wants you to shoot! He wants—”

I cut myself off. Where are they? Theo discharged his weapon—was it Theo’s warning shot? Or someone else at a vantage point? What was going on? Our saviors should be descending. Instead they were…what? Waiting this out? Seeing how much information they could elicit while a gun was flapping around? Wondering if Theo would kill?

“I’m sensing you’re not partial to that offer,” Trace said to Theo. “All right. How about this? Come with me and I’ll let sweet sugar here go. Granted, you’ll never see her again.” He smeared my skin with a wet kiss. “But, well.” He laughed. “Bros over ho’s, am I right?”

“You’re not this,” I said to Theo, though Trace kept me still. But that was okay. My soul swam in my eyes as I reached out to Theo with nothing but hope. “Listen to me. Not him.” I fought against Trace’s grip, urging Theo to focus on what was important. What had us discovering the better things life could still offer, despite our shipwrecked hearts. “One person, Theo. One moment was all I needed to crawl out of my ruin. You. Don’t let go of that feeling. Please.”

Theo shook his head, an answer that had my stomach plummeting into the river below my feet. “You can’t go with him,” I whispered. “You can’t.”

“It’s in my blood, Scarlet, it’s…” Theo bared his teeth, his eyes shimmering.

“What will you do, little brother? Defy our father?” Trace jerked me against him, so hard I was sure he felt my bones rubbing underneath my skin. “Do you want me to give her to Daddy? Because that’s what’ll happen if you don’t drop that goddamn gun and follow me. Be a good boy, like you used to. Do as I say and what Father demands. Keep us from facing the worst and make the appropriate choice. You can still earn his forgiveness.”

“You don’t have to!” I yelled. “There are p—”

Trace smothered my speech with a hand.

“Come on, brother!” Trace roared. “Either kneel with me or shoot to kill!” He wrenched my neck by pulling my hair from my skull. “But know I won’t be traveling to Hell alone.”

I bit into the fatty tissue of Trace’s palm, and while it didn’t get him to release me, it gave me enough air, enough time for noise.

“It’s not inevitable!” I cried, but Trace had me reeling back, pain firing from my pelvis to the crown of my head. I had no doubt Trace could break my neck at the same speed the crack of a bullet could sound out.

“I don’t murder my kin,” Theo said, and quiet trepidation seeped through the ache pulsing through my ribs. Theo hadn’t moved when Trace smothered my mouth and nose. Hadn’t twitched when I chomped on his brother and Trace retaliated by digging his forearm into my stomach so deeply it hurt to breathe. Theo clenched his jaw and everything about his expression turned calm and lethal. It darkened and morphed until he wore nothing but a Reaper’s smile. “Though I’ve thought about it. But that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? So when I leave with you, I will take every opportunity to cut into your skin, to break your bones, to squeeze the blood out of your organs as I hold them in my hands for what you’ve done to her tonight.”

I wanted my vocal cords to burn with my screams upon seeing that look on his face. The masterful, morbid glee that rode across his features as naturally as a seasoned killer’s. Theo was about to become his greatest monstrosity in order to save me. But I would sacrifice myself before I ever allowed that to happen.

So this is what it feels like. Someone else mattered. Another person found refuge in my poor, fractured heart, a space Cassie was willing to share. The broken tissue was merging, sewing up the cracks, and I knew, with complete belief, that I was going to make Theo come out of this okay.

For I possessed something Trace could never imagine. I carried the strength of one very pissed off sister who was forced to leave her beloved behind. And I was not about to meet the same fate.

“You’re giving my brother one fucked up test of will, honey,” Trace said into my ear. “But I know what you’re doing.” He pulled us closer to the edge of the dock. “And that is fine with me. I could use the company before I toss you overboard.”

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