Page 184 of I Will Mend You

“I’ll kill you,” I scream.

“Can’t wait to be your special reward. I hope you’re a better fuck than Delta.”

“Dolly, time’s running out,” Father says.

Straightening, she turns on her heel and saunters across the room without a backward glance.

White-hot fury courses through my veins, bringing another surge of power. I thrash, ripping off a leather wrist restraint.

Just as Dolly disappears into the hallway, the second one follows with a snap. The door swings shut, leaving me alone with my sister’s lifeless body.

With trembling hands, I unbuckle the leather straps around my chest and ankles, my movements still numb with shock. I break free and crawl into Camila’s expanding pool of blood.

Grief seizes my chest in a punishing grip, robbing my lungs of breath. My vision blurs with unshed tears, leaving me blindto everything except my sister. I fumble at her neck, finding no pulse.

I kneel beside Camila and cradle her head in my lap, my heart shattering into a thousand shards, each one pulsing with raw pain. Every memory of the smiling little girl rises to the forefront of my mind, crushing my chest with despair.

Her kindness, her laughter, her acceptance of a boy rejected by his father and stepfamily—all gone. It was Camila who invited me to stay with Isabel and her mother, tempering my misery with compassion.

When she arrived at the Moirai academy, traumatized from having been molested by John, I swore then to protect her.

And now she’s dead.

How the hell will I explain my failure to Isabel? Or to Jynxson?

Tears stream down my cheeks as her blood pools beneath my legs. Its coppery scent fills my nostrils with the metallic tang of torment.

The air cools, but my anger heats as the walls close in around what’s left of me and my sister. My mind reels with the weight of her death. I can’t comprehend how anyone could harm such a pure soul.

Father ordered a kill on his own daughter just to prove a point. He recognized her, but chose to extinguish his own flesh and blood.

Hate and disgust battle within my psyche. My world narrows to a pinpoint of pure, searing rage. Every nerve screams for vengeance, every muscle trembles with the urge to retaliate.

I failed Camila. I failed Amethyst. I failed every operative who defected from the Morai, believing in the promise of freedom. Retribution burns through the last vestiges of my humanity. My thirst for revenge consumes my soul, leaving only a shell of pure wrath.

“They’ll all die,” I snarl, my voice trembling with the force of my conviction. “I’ll kill every one of them with my bare hands.”

The room spins, but I’m already on my feet. Already moving, already at the door, already planning what I need to do next.

Father wants a monster?

Then a monster will be the last thing he sees before I rip Dolly and him to pieces.

EIGHTY-SIX

AMETHYST

Everything hurts. My body feels like it’s been stuffed in the washing machine and gone several rounds on the spin cycle. My aches go bone deep, and I’m sure the muscles attached to them are shredded.

The surface under my back is unforgiving and hard, with the faintest scent of bleach. I try to move, but my limbs won’t cooperate. Artificial light pulses against my eyelids, matching the throbbing of my head. Dread pushes through the haze. This is no hangover—it’s something far more terrible.

I have no idea how much time has passed since that dart hit me outside the church. It could be an hour, a day, or longer. Based on the cool air swirling over my skin, whoever took us has stripped me of what was left of my clothes. The ache from rough sex with Xero has faded, and that part of my body is still intact.

Footsteps approach, an ominous click-clack of heels that makes every fine hair stand on end.

My heart races, and a burst of adrenaline pushes through the grogginess to a state of semi-alertness. I crack open an eye to find myself on the floor of a marble-tiled bathroom.

A breath catches in the back of my throat as I dart my gaze from left to right.

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