Page 34 of Stone

And now I have none.

I have nothing.

“Do it!” I repeat, louder this time, and tears fall freely down my face, uncaring of how much of a pussy I may appear.

I’m truly nothing without her.

I don’t want to live another moment without her in my life.

She was my reason for living, and without her, I have none.

My shoulders shake as a violent sob takes over me, and I stare back at my brother, begging him to put me out of my misery. Begging him to end my life once and for all.

“Please. Please do it.”

The gun wobbles as Azrael’s dark eyes burn into mine, and I see the guilt swimming in them, but he doesn’t waver in his stance. “I can’t,” he whispers, almost as broken as me, and Isqueeze my eyes closed because he refuses to take away my pain, making my torture all the crueler.

“My life isn’t worth living without her.” I sniffle.

Azrael darts his eyes above my head. “Do it.” A sharp sting hits my neck, and I know the bastard’s injected me with something, the sting familiar. “Not too much. It can’t be obvious,” he says as my taut muscles loosen and my mind becomes fuzzy.

Azrael tucks the gun into his waistband, and my body relaxes with whatever they injected me with. Then he snaps his fingers in front of me. “Listen to me.” His stern voice pulls my attention. Czar maneuvers my heavy arms behind my back, then my head whirls from the drug, and I struggle to stay upright. Azrael takes my chin roughly between his fingers. “Listen to me carefully. Our father is going to tell you about the marriage. You can’t act out like you just did in here. Do you hear me?”

My vision clouds, but I somehow nod.

He clenches his jaw. “You remain your normal, obedient self. You give nothing away; do you understand me?” Again, I nod like the puppet they created.

My tongue feels thick as I speak. “Punishment?”

Azrael licks his lips, and his eyes dart away from me, telling me he knows something. It’s a trait of his, a weak one. “I don’t know yet.” He lies with ease, like the viper I know him to be.

I slump back in the chair, and a bottle of water is thrust into my hand.

“Drink,” Czar demands, and, like a robot, I perform.

“I know you hate us, and while I don’t blame you, there’s a lot I can’t tell you, Stone. For your protection, as well as our own.”

Our own, he said. His words, not mine. Them against me, as always.

I nod like he expects, but inside, among the floaty feeling, is an inferno ready to erupt, a promise of devastation to follow, butI need a plan. One that will not see me get maimed any further. A plan that brings her back where she belongs and destroys them in the process.

Chapter Twenty

Stone

I somehow get my spoon to my mouth, but the usual pleasure of tasting her soup doesn’t arrive. Of course it doesn’t; she isn’t here anymore.

This mansion they call home is a fortress of evil, and the devil himself sits opposite me with a gloating smile plastered on his pompous face.

I’m not too doped up that I don’t feel the need to rip his head from his shoulders and douse him with my piss, after torturing the hell out of him first, of course.

“Your sister’s wedding was a celebration for all the family.” He smirks while Azrael’s gaze slices to mine, then returns to our father’s.

I nod and fight back the urge to be sick.

Every word and movement that come from my family is now amplified in my mind.“Your sister’s wedding was a celebration for all the family”replays, then I wince at the sting in my chest at the lack of acknowledgment for me. Am I not family too?

He’s never truly classed me as such, yet I’ve never let my mind wander any further than what I’ve been told. I’ve always accepted my predicament, however much it hurts.

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