Page 5 of Consume Me

“I know, Cassandra. The Family doesn’t need someone like me.”

She walks to me and palms my cheek. “I trust you. I need you. No one could understand me better than you.”

“Don’t.”

She drops her hand, giving me an intent look. “I am the matriarch now.”

“Nothing you could say or do will make me return of my own accord.”

“Neither Felix nor Caleb will give up. I am surrounded by people I can’t trust. Felix’s shadow looms over my influence, even if he’s a prisoner. While some packed their things and left, enjoying the privileges of being a part of the Family but forsaking the responsibilities of being a member, I distrust the ones who remained the most. Celine, Kaden, Abigail, Bailey, Mia, and Hunter don’t know those two like we do.”

“Kill them.”

“And then we’ll return to the bloody history of the Family. I can’t kill all of them, especially not without proof. That would only legitimize their wrongdoings. It’s all about power, and they won’t stop until they get it back from me. It’s not over. While I am busy restructuring the Family, more enemies pile up from inner and outer circles.”

“It’s not my problem anymore. I did all that you expected from me. Don’t ask more of me.”

She tilts her head, eyeing me with care. “Blake, my greatest wish is for you to accept yourself.”

“I never got the chance.”

“I have the best––”

“I’ve been an experiment long enough.”

She nods, sighing. “Your friends are not okay either. There’s a fissure in the group because you’re missing.”

“Guilt-tripping me?”

“If it works, I’ll take it. But it’s a reminder that Caleb might have taken a lot from you but not your best qualities. Your loyalty. Your good heart. Your ingrained self-sacrifice for the people you love. Because you feel too much––”

“Anything else?”

“Two things: come back and embrace your role. Your friends and I need you.”

“What role would that be, Cassandra? To be your hitman. I’d take your enemies and break them before I kill them. That’s what would make it real because the violence in me could never be satisfied. And nothing can change that. I am a ticking bomb. Your role is to protect the Family, not invite a loose cannon to your table.”

“Continue being the victim of your circumstance or become a survivor. How many did you kill in your fights?”

That touches a nerve. Why does she insist on seeing me as someone other than who I am? I snap. “None, so what? Tell me, Cassandra, how many times do you have to tell yourself you’re not a victim to survive each day?”

“As often as I need to, I remind myself that I am a survivor. A fighter.”

That’s the thing with her. She is lethal, like her mother, but her greatest strength lies in her humanity. It reminds me of Celine with that soft heart of hers. Lethal like panthers, soft like kittens.

“I need Kaden as well. And he’s busy searching for you. You know his greatest weakness.”

Fuck, this guilt-tripping is starting to work.

“Then he should get rid of that.”

“I don’t want that for any of you. No one will ever hurt you again. Just come back home.”

“Why have you always believed in me?” I ask, curious, even though her answer won’t change my mind.

“Because I never believed I could ever be free until you came and told me you’d help me. It would have been easier for you to say no to them, and they would have killed you. I know you wished they did at times. Instead, you became what they wanted to protect the people you care about. You think with the entire picture in mind.”

“I’d do it again.”

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