Page 78 of Fixation of the Mind

Rion’s voice held obvious contempt. Neil reacted by digging the gun into the side of my head. “Don’t play around with me, boy. I already had a light play session with the girl, but I’m always up for a good playdate.” He bent down to lick the shell of my ear, and I gagged. “Maybe the next one can be more… physical.”

“Leave. Her. Alone,” Roux’s gruff voice ordered, the warning laid down in front of everyone.

“You know, boys...” He took my chin in his hand and forced me to look at him. “I’m a little disappointed. All this fuss over some pussy. Average at best, I’m sure.” He tutted, let go of my head, keeping the gun at my temple.

Ravi took a step forward, ready to go for me, but I shook my head. We needed to wait for the right moment. It was the only way we would all get out of here alive.

Rion grabbed Ravi back, asked again, but this time it was smooth and controlled as he bowed his head. “What do you want, Uncle?”

Neil liked that, cooing to his nephew, “Now, that is more like it.” The pressure of the metal against my temple lessened, and I could finally breathe. “I thought about a lot of things after last night. I thought about killing Miss Rose right here, having it disguised as a suicide, then burning the building down to erase any evidence to the contrary.”

The boys stiffened as Neil laughed, waving around the gun like an idiot before putting it back to my head. “But then I realized that you three would become rebellious, want to take revenge, blah, blah, blah, and I couldn't waste your talents, talents I cultivated, like that." Neil's smile turned cold, "I knew I couldn’t get rid of you like your parents, especially with Maria always up my ass about your potential, so I had the perfect idea. I’m going to fake her death,” he pointed to the body bag, “with your cooperation, of course, and take her with me to a safe house. There she’ll stay in order to keep you three in line. Think of it as insurance so that you do what I say when I say.” His free hand caressed my head in a way that felt creepily personal. “Or else someone will have to pay.”

Take me with him? Did that mean we were going to be separated? We were never going to see each other again unless their sick uncle said so? Darkness filled my heart, hardening it. No. I refuse. I won't do that. I won't let him separate us. We need each other.

“We’re not just going to let you take her,” Ravi answered this time, looking at me as he rubbed his nose with two fingers. The signal.

Neil tutted. “Oh, Ravi, you should keep quiet. You're not the smart one. Let the big boys talk.”

Ravi’s whole face went dark, his eyes turning into slits as he leaned forward to come toward us. Rion pulled him back at just the right time, whispering in his ear, and Ravi calmed down a bit.

We’ve got to think of a way out of this. Think, Layrin. Think. Do not let this man tear us away from them.

“Now, I am not a heartless man. I know that I can only get so much out of you three with only fear alone, so if you do something extraordinary, I will let you come visit. What do you think? Thirty minutes every six months? That should be enough for one of you to fuck her and get back to work?”

No. I can’t let this happen. My stomach churned and my chest tightened, making it harder and harder to breathe. My mind circling around the idea of not seeing them, not being with them, the only people who have ever cared about me. Glancing at the guys, I begged them with my eyes. Tell him no. Tell him that you won't do that, won't accept that deal. This is your moment, your chance, to get back at your uncle and get rid of him for good. It's just you three, me, and Neil. We’re already in the forest reserve. Just tell him no.

Rion was the first to look at me, to stare into my eyes like he was trying to tell me something, but he was too good at having an unreadable face. He lifted his hands, then dropped down to his knees and whispered, “Sorry, Rin. We can’t lose you.” Then he looked at his uncle. “Okay. We’ll do what you say. Just untie her. Her ankles already look like they're bleeding.”

Roux and Ravi’s heads snapped to their brother, questions in their eyes. It only took a second for them to lift their hands and knelt in submission. All of them giving me up without a second thought. I stared at their bowing forms, static filling my head as my heart dropped into my stomach.

Neil squealed with glee, then complied with his request, yanking on a string that unraveled the bindings on my hands and legs. He kept the gun to my head as he yanked me up to stand. “That's right. You three look so good groveling on your knees. I think this will be a new family tradition.”

What were they doing? My nostrils flared as my body heated from the inside out. Did they think they were the heroes? Giving up the girl so she could stay alive? They were murderers, killers, assassins. They were the villains that would stop at nothing for their desire, their obsession. This was wrong. All of this was wrong.

Was everything they’d told me a lie? The darkness crawled around in my mind, filling every crevice with doubtful thoughts. I could feel my sense of self bending, stretching so thin I could feel the cracks.

They thought they could say all those things, do all those things, then take it back like nothing had happened between us? They thought they could leave me in the dust? My body began to shake. Violence licked at the back of my head, stealing all the pain and using it to fuel my hate.

Neil’s gun kept tapping my temple as he talked, but I couldn’t hear a word he said. My ears were filled with the pounding of my heart. Did they think they could leave me after everything?

The more my mind fixated on them and their kneeling frame, the crazier the thoughts became. I was going to be alone again… They’d promised… They’d promised it wouldn't happen, that they would always be with me. Did they lie to me, again!? Why did they convince me to trust them just so they could betray me!?

No. I was not going to let that happen. I would rather die.

Something inside of me snapped. The darkness urged me to show them who they were messing with, show them all how serious I was, how dangerous I could be.

A cold fury of focus took over my mind, pulling up the move Roux had taught me when we trained with guns. I slammed my heel onto Neil’s foot, causing him to lose his balance for just a second. I balled my fists, smashing them into his crotch, disabling him enough to break his wrist and twist the gun out of his hand. Turning it on Neil’s bent form, I shot him.

Swiveling away, I heard his body crumble to the floor, but that didn't matter. He meant nothing to me. No, I was on a mission. I was going to show the Ambros triplets who they’d fucked with. Who they pushed over the edge.

Stomping toward them, I pointed the gun right at Rion’s head and screamed, “You think you can leave me?!" My chest heaved, my mind tilting off kilter as my body shook. "No, you can’t leave me alone. Not again. The only time we will be separated is in death.”

My breathing came out hoarse and erratic, my eyes wide as I moved the gun from Rion, to Ravi, then Roux, all of them staring up at me from their knees. How dare they! How dare they try to make me go back to being alone! Alone and weak. Well, who’s the weak one now?

They wanted me so badly that they’d lied and manipulated me. They’d taken care of me and protected me. They’d killed people for me. They had done all of those things, yet it was so easy for them to throw me to the wind. Well, I would show them what true obsession was. I would show them what happened when my mind and heart were fixated on someone.

As my mind sunk further and further into the darkness, covering myself in those dark and disturbing thoughts, Rion grabbed at the gun. I was prepared to yank it back, but he did something unexpected, jarring me out of my own despair. He tugged the gun forward, resting his forehead against the barrel. Smiling up at me, his velvety words plunged in deeper than my toxic thoughts.

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