Page 86 of Riot

“All of this for revenge?” he snarls.

“No,” I murmur as I slide it down his neck. “All of this for love.”

Lifting the knife, I aim it at his chest, just like he did Kage’s. His scream fills the air for a moment, and I shake it off. I remember the way Kage’s blood felt as it pumped from his body.

“Help!” he roars as I go to stab down but change my mind at the last second and slam the knife into the metal table as he screams. “You crazy fucking bitch! You all deserved it! Even that model bitch. She was going to tell. I thought if I took them all away, you’d stop!”

“You killed her,” I comment idly.

“Not by my hands,” he says. “I hired someone. You know how good our money is. Fallon, stop this now. It’s over.” The panic in his eyes makes me happy. I can almost taste his fear.

“I was going to kill you, but I won’t. I’m not like you. That’s what he showed me, and you don’t get the mercy of death. You’ll live and rot in jail, with everyone knowing what you did. Enjoy prison.”

That’s where he’s heading. I’m sure the police will connect him to Evelyn Mitchel’s and Giles Horn’s murders. With that and the attack on Kage, he’s going away for a long time.

The thought should make me happy, but it doesn’t.

I hesitate at the door, my need for vengeance unfulfilled, so I turn back, and he starts to struggle again. Grabbing the knife from the table, I grip his chin as I yank his head up. “Hold still, I don’t think I’m a very good artist,” I warn as I press the tip of the blade into his forehead.

He screams and struggles as blood runs down his face, making it worse, but I hold him as still as I can, focusing on what I’m carving, and when it’s done, I step back, eyeing my work with a numb smile.

“Better, now enjoy prison.” I toss the knife and head out, seeing Elijah’s wide eyes.

“Is he dead?” he asks.

“No, but he’ll wish he were. When he’s sentenced, find some people inside and pay them to make his life miserable, but don’t kill him. I want him alive and scared every day.”

“Jesus, Fallon, you’re kind of terrifying,” he says as he falls into step at my side.

“Really? I’m not done yet.”

We sit in the car as I stare out the window. “You want what?” Elijah asks.

“Take her house. Take everything Westie’s wife owns. I want her reputation destroyed. I don’t even want anyone to let her stay on their couch. Ruin her,” I tell him truthfully. “I don’t care how, just do it. I want her to suffer every single day.”

“Fallon—”

“Do it,” I order as I look back at him. “As for the others, put pressure on the police. I want them to be made aware that they can’t fuck this up. Release every single name of every person at those parties. Destroy them all. I want them to suffer like I’m suffering. I want them to feel every drop of the pain I have right now. Do you hear me? I want this entire fucking industry to bleed like he did. I want them to not be able to look at me without being scared. If you can’t do it, I will find someone who can. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” he murmurs. “I’ll do it for Kage. I have some contacts.”

I look away. “Good, make the calls.”

While he does that, my eyes catch on the ring on my finger, the other half still on Kage’s at the hospital. They should be together.

They are a pair, so they shouldn’t be separated.

“It’s done,” Elijah says sometime later. “The news is already exposing people. Everyone is on your side. The outcry has started. There are walkouts at nearly all major labels. Hell, there is a goddamn riot outside the studio that was hosting the docuseries. You did it, Fallon. You and Kage did it.”

It means nothing without him. He should be here to see it. I’m finding victory isn’t the same without my partner.

When I don’t answer, he lapses into silence, no doubt feeling my fragile mental state. I feel it too, though I am not sure which way it will go. Either I will crawl into a hole and never come out or I will kill everyone.

Either is possible. It should scare me, but it doesn’t.

Kage was my reins. He was the one who connected me to this world. He was the one who kept it safe from me, and now he’s gone.

Everyone always called me the ice queen, but I don’t feel very royal right now. Queens and princesses are supposed to have happily ever afters, right?

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