Page 82 of Twisted Truths

She raises the gun. Knowing she has to get close to me if she’s going to try to mask my death as a suicide, I kick and scream as soon as she’s near enough, hoping someone will hear me. My foot connects with her hand holding the gun, and it slides across the floor, close to the wall. She shouts in frustration and backtracks to the gun.

Glancing around feverishly, panicking that my time is drawing short, and I’m not sure what else to do, I scream, “Help! Help!”

“You’re gonna regret that, bitch.” When she turns around with the gun in her hand, she’s clearly changed her mind about making it look like a suicide. I’ve pushed her to a breaking point where she doesn’t care.

I close my eyes and wait for death to come. My only regret is not telling Obsidian that I love him one last time. I hope he finds peace.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

OBSIDIAN

Ireach the east wing in record time, racing down the hall and peeking into every room I pass, hoping to find Ariana. A scream echoes from the direction of her bedroom, and I sprint there, finding the door shut and locked.

I hear the commotion inside and consider my options. I want to pound on the door, but if Uma is in there, and she knows I’m frantic to get Ariana, I give her the advantage.

Ariana’s father and brother arrive seconds later. I don’t know where Kol and Asher are. Her dad goes to open the door, and I push him back.

“If Uma has a gun, and we tell her we’re here, you’re an easy shot. I can get in a different way and use the element of surprise. You stay here. Got it?”

It takes him a second of disagreeing with me, but eventually her dad nods then Bastion nods.

“Good. You hear shots of any kind though, you break down that door. We clear?”

When they both nod again, I don’t bother wasting any more time before I run to my bedroom.

As soon as I’m inside the master suite, I head to the bookcase and pull the Poe book to reveal the entrance to the secret passageway. The dark tunnel feels so much longer than every night I’ve sneaked into Ariana’s room.

So much could go wrong here.

If Uma’s facing the secret door, she may see me, and I won’t be able to get the jump on her. What if she’s already hurt Ariana? What if I’m too late?

I push all the what-ifs from my mind.

Through the door, it’s difficult to hear what’s going on in there, but I hear some kind of muffled altercation. Though it spikes my adrenaline further, at least I hear two voices so I know Ariana is still alive.

Slowly, way slower than I’d like, I slide open the portion of the wall just a crack to reveal Ariana’s bedroom. My heart seizes when I see her tied to a chair, struggling uselessly to free herself. Closer to me, Uma’s reaching to grab a gun off the floor. When she has it in hand, she turns her back to me, pointing the gun at Ariana.

“You’re gonna regret that, bitch,” Uma sneers.

“Help me, someone!” Ariana screams.

The panic in her voice and her eyes is almost my undoing. I don’t have a gun on me or anything to go up against Uma, but it doesn’t matter. I will gut that fucking bitch if she harms a hair on Ariana’s head.

Before I can decide the best course of action, the door to the bedroom bursts open and Ariana’s father rushes through. Uma shifts her stance and fires behind Ariana, hitting him. His body sinks to the floor.

There’s no time to waste. I push the secret door open fully and rip the lamp from the bedside table where it sits, yanking the cord out of the wall, and swing it toward Uma’s head. She’s halfway turned to me with the gun raised when there’s a sickening crunch as the lamp hits her skull, and she falls to the floor. A gush of blood rushes from her head.

Her eyes stare ahead, unseeing, and she doesn’t move. I step around her and kick the gun from her hand, then I whip around to face Ariana. Tears streak down her cheeks and relief floods her face.

I rush over to her and undo the binds holding her to the chair. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” My eyes scan her from head to toe. Besides some red marks on her wrists, I don’t see anything.

“My dad,” she says in a broken voice.

Hesitating, I leave her and crouch beside him. Blood rushes from the wound in his shoulder.

“Get me something to press down on this wound.” I check for a pulse, and I’m relieved to find one. Relieved not because I give a shit whether this guy lives or dies after the predicament he put Ariana in, but because I know she’d grieve his loss.

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