Reagan loves me, wants to make sure I’m happy, and live a fulfilling life.
Thing is, I am. I love what I do.
I love being the Grim Reaper for people who should never shadow the Earth and put millions of people at risk.
I love revealing their weaknesses and ignoring them because it’s who I am.
I could never forgive in the first place after Reagan’s father killed my whole family, so why someone else thinks I’m going to forgive their sins is beyond me. It’s what I was made to do. I’m the invisible keeper of the country to protect and keep safe.
And with Stormi, it is personal. She tried to take away my sanity and one of the few people that I have ever loved whole-heartedly in my life.
It’s all my heart has room for.
Breeching through the woods, Stormi still isn’t in sight, making my heart beat a little more easily. I still make my way towards Reagan’s house because when I know for sure she isn’t near my sister, I’ll be more at ease.
It only takes me another minute to hit my sister’s front door, throwing it open and calling out for her.
“In here,” she calls back from the kitchen as I stride breathlessly towards her voice. My nerves are shot, I feel light-headed, and my sister sounds fine.
Rounding the corner, I see Reagan standing at her kitchen island, her hair pulled back in a ponytail as she moves aside to put a blubbering Stormi on full display.
I don’t stop the next words out of my mouth, nor do I stop my arm that rises and the index finger that points accusingly at her.
“You,” I roar, marching in their direction.
Stormi leaps off the stool and goes behind the island, countering my actions by going the opposite way.
I forget my sister is even in the room if Huck is around because I lock my concentration in on the blonde who now has that fear glossing over her eyes.
“Marty!” Reagan shouts. “What the fuck are you—”
“I will kill you, bitch,” I fume, still circling the counter like a caged animal. “You’re going to—” A pair of hands grip my arm, and I flinch back, finding Reagan peering up at me with panic in her violet eyes.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Her focus flicks to my shirt. “Fuck, Marty, you’re bleeding!”
I mom-arm her, pushing her back from Stormi because I don’t want memories to flood her.
From the nightmares she’s been experiencing due to the attack, I don’t want Stormi sending her into a state of shock.
To have more PTSD in her life because I was the first cause of it. Mama had to have her hypnotized just so she wouldn’t remember me shooting her dad in front of her.
“Get the hell back, Tsarina.”
“Marty,” Reagan snaps. “What are you—” I jerk my gaze away from her and back at Stormi.
“You thought you’d come back and finish the job?” I glower, my head cocked to the side. “Maybe that was your idea all along. Get me to bring you back here so you can—” Reagan’s hand clamps on to me again and jerks me back.
I don’t move far. In fact, it only pisses me off more.
I snap my neck to my sister. “What are you doing? She fucking tried to kill you!”
Reagan’s face twists in confusion. “What? I’ve never—” I wave a dismissive hand in the air, cutting her off because I’m just done with all this.
“You wouldn’t remember because your brain is trying to block out everything again,” I carp. “Like what I did to your father. How I killed him in front of you, and somehow you thought I’d get in trouble for it. This is the bitch that tried to murder you. I saw her. She had her hand around the back of your head and—” Reagan’s palm flies across my cheek making me halt whatever else I was about to say.
She’s never hit me like that, ever. My eyes deepen in on my sister, stray strands of raven hair cupping her face. Those violet eyes that I fell in love with the first time I saw her are searching my expression to discover if I just lost my entire shit.
“Calm...the fuck...down,” she scolds calmly. “I’ve never seen this girl in my life.” “She was...” I shake my head and focus. I’m not going crazy. I’ve said this a million fucking times. “She tried to kill you, and—”