Page 148 of Consume Me

“You wanted to keep my hands clean by not killing anymore, but I am who I am. And I will kill them gladly. I don’t struggle with who I am anymore. It’s the corrupt legacy I was born into. You kill or be killed. Behind the fancy facade, betrayal has plagued the Family’s history. But it ends with us.”

She nods and moves to Celine, pulling her to her side.

“We can’t afford to get emotional. We have to act,” I say.

Cassandra nods. “We’ll get Mia back.”

“And we’ll kill Felix and Caleb,” I say, and no one opposes it.

The thought alone seems to motivate everyone in the room.

“I’m still going to search for the van,” Bailey says.

“Let’s narrow the search to only underground facilities and a hundred-mile radius,” Kaden suggests, and Cassandra approves.

My phone vibrates in my pocket.

Your offer made waves. Your account will be dented shortly.

I don’t fucking care. Bring them to The Cave. I’ll be there in a few.

I move toward the door when Cassandra says, “Where are you going?”

“To find out who helped them. Kaden can fill you in.”

“I’m coming with you,” Celine says. “I am good at reading people’s faces.”

Then we head to my car.

“What if we find the girl and she knows nothing?” Celine sighs.

“You’re not helping.”

“Has the Syndicate been in contact?” she asks. Even though she knows the answer to that, I get it. All of us are a mess at the moment.

“No. They will only if they find something.”

“If our resources and theirs combined––”

“Don’t finish that sentence. I’m barely holding on as it is.”

“Sorry, it’s just why not anyone else but her? She and Bailey are genuinely good people. Mia didn’t want fighting lessons because she’s such a damn pacifist. She wouldn’t kill a fly, even if it bugged the life out of her. She would open thewindow and wait for it to fly out—only for more to come in. Who cares about damn flies?”

Mia does. Because she’s precious, yet she wanted me. I will never understand why, though.

“She would only harm you if you take what’s hers and hurt who she loves.”

“I’m going to torture them before I kill them.”

It will be a competition in our group who will get to kill those two first. They can have Felix, but Caleb is all mine.

At least twenty people are waiting in line when we reach The Cave.

I let myself in, and Tyson takes us to a makeshift office.

“How does he do that?” Celine asks.

“I think the fucker wants to create a legacy within our legacy.”

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