Page 93 of Serpent King's Revenge

We both stiffened.

Shit.

"I have Knuckles in my kill room right now." Kenny laughed, a cruel sound devoid of any warmth or humor. "You didn't really think I'd let him get away with all that he’s tried to do? With touching my woman?”

"Leave him out of this," Nathan snarled, his anger barely contained. The muscles in his neck strained, as if fighting an internal battle to maintain control. “This is between you and me–”

"Or what?" Kenny taunted, his twisted amusement evident. "You'll come after me? I'd like to see you try."

"Listen carefully," Nathan said, his voice steely and resolute. "If you harm Knuckles, there will be consequences."

"Is that so?" Kenny replied, each word dripping with malevolence. "I’m shaking in my boots, little boy. You should let him die. He deserves it.”

“You don’t get to say what he deserves,” Nathan said. “You don’t get to say anything.”

My heart raced in my chest, the rhythm matching the rain streaming down the window as I held the phone out to Nathan.

Kenny laughed.

"That’s not all I have, either,” Kenny said. “Your sister’s here, too…if you can find her.”

My grip on the phone tightened until my knuckles turned white, and I could see Nathan's composure shatter at the mention of his younger sister. His jaw clenched, and his fists balled up at his sides as he fought to maintain control.

“You have her?” he asked. For a second, I thought Nathan sounded exactly like he probably did when he was a teenager and spoke to his dad. Worried. Afraid.

“Yes,” Kenny replied. “And don’t think I’m not going to do whatever it takes. You remember what I did to your mother, don’t you?”

"You sick bastard," Nathan growled through gritted teeth. "You touch her, and I swear—"

"Save your threats for someone who cares," Kenny interrupted, unfazed by Nathan's anger. "You know what you need to do. The choice is yours."

“You wouldn’t dare--”

“Don’t act like you don’t know me, son. If you’re not here tonight, by midnight, I’ll kill Knuckles,” he said. “And it’ll be slow.”

“Stop–” Nathan said.

“And then…well, with your mother dead, I need something to entertain me,” he said. “Lily grew up to be a beautiful girl, didn’t she? Looks just like your mother.”

Then the line went dead.

Nathan didn't say anything for a long moment, his eyes closed as he clenched his jaw. The room was silent except for the rain tapping against the window and the occasional rumble of thunder. Suddenly, he threw his phone against the wall, the device shattering into pieces.

"Fuck!" He roared, kicking over a nearby chair.

“Hey, we—”

Nathan turned to look at me, eyes ablaze. “I’m going to cut his fucking head off,” he said. “I’m going to tie him down, cut three of his limbs off, then cut ucking head off and put it in front of his body as I finish dismembering himb.”

I winced.

Nathan stopped pacing for a second. “You’re not going to talk me out of it?”

“No,” I said. “I’m going to help.”

Chapter Forty-Two: Nathan

We had twelve hours to rescue my sister.

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