Page 161 of Consume Me

“I thought you’d get over that. I blame that waste of space called your mother and her weak genes.”

“Don’t fucking call her that.”

“I thought you’d toughen up once you tasted real power.”

“Killing the matriarch just made you into rats. None of you has any moral code or spine.”

His features contort, pulled taut with disappointment. “That fucking witch sure had the will to live. And that could have been your place. You have to take it if you want it.”

“I never fucking wanted it, you delusional piece of shit.”

Nothing was more torturous for me than having to face Grandmother, knowing they were poisoning her bit by bit. And I couldn’t do a fucking thing about it. The treason ran too deep. I couldn’t risk her not believing me or the impending bloodbath that would have ensued if she did. Too much was at stake. The only thing I regret was not killing them myself before I left.

He slaps Mia so hard, the side of her face thumps against the headrest. I let out a roar, my insides quake.

“It’s okay. I am okay, baby,” she says, trying to comfort me as I lose any semblance of control.

“Truly pathetic. You had potential, Blake. I wanted to make you into someone no one would dare touch physically or emotionally.”

“I pity you, Father. You chase after power when nothing could fill that void inside of you. No one loved you. No one will miss you.”

“Your friends don’t even know, do they? Of course not, because then they would see your true colors. Do you know why we picked poison for the matriarch? To test you. Felix said you wouldn’t last under the pressure. But you proved him wrong. I even took away from you the only coping mechanism you had—alcohol.”

I will carry the guilt with me all of my life for not stopping them. Yet, in all that hell, Mia came into my life, and that’s something I won’t regret.

“This is on you, son. I’m going to make you watch me torment your precious girl, and then I will move on to you.”

“Let her go. You can do anything you fucking want to me.”

“But you don’t feel pain. She does.”

My head snaps towards her and my soul wails. Our eyes lock—she’s giving me strength, not the other way around.

Despair tears me apart, but rage patches me back together knowing what comes next.

Not fucking again.

Too much information swirls in my head as I assemble the puzzle pieces into a clear picture. I should focus on my impending torture, but I focus on my broken man who eyes me with so much sorrow it pains me. And I can’t do a thing about that. Not yet.

Caleb moves to the counter and picks up the small dagger.

“Where did you get this?” he asks Blake.

“From Grandmother.”

“Hmm, interesting. Do you think she knew you killed her?”

This fucking asshole doesn’t deserve to be a father. No wonder Blake has kept to himself. Caleb made him an accomplice, and worse, he made him believe it’s his fault that he didn’t stop them, but he was not the matriarch’s killer.

Blake would go through hell for the people he loves. Thisbastard knew his son’s weakness and took advantage of that, wanting to cure him of his humanity, but nothing could.

The moment we’re out of here, I am going to tell Blake that. What started as a shock—because that was the last thing I expected—has turned into understanding and so much sympathy for him.

I am enraged at Caleb for making Blake believe he’s a killer of an innocent. My feelings for him have burrowed so far into my soul, nothing and no one could ever reach the roots to sever them.

“I am pretty sure she did,” Blake gives.

“Always making excuses for yourself while she treated us like fucking incompetent bugs who would ruin the Family without her.”

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