Page 96 of Fated In Blood

The dog whined in earnest, his handler fighting to drag him away. I could see him pawing at the bushes, the creature desperate to reach me. “Come on you rabid beast, get out of there,” the mercenary hissed. “Are youtryingto get me fired?”

“What’s going on over there?”

I froze, the mercenary froze, but the dog, who obviously knew nothing about Silas Silverwood’s famously mercurial temper, continued pawing at the azaleas.

“Nothing, sir. Just a squirrel. I have him under control.”

But fear seeped from the mercenary, sour enough that bile rose in my throat as my father descended the steps and crossed to where he stood, the dog still determined to get to me with asingle mindedness I would have admired if he wasn’t about to get me killed.

Silas walked like I remembered. Carefully. Slowly. Savoring the guard’s fear as he approached, every step timed for maximum effect, giving him plenty of time to imagine the ten thousand ways a Silverwood knew to cause pain.

“A squirrel. Are you sure?”

Even from here I heard the guard’s audible swallow of terror, my father’s slow, methodic breathing, and the hum of a pleased chuckle beneath. He lived for moments like this. For the power that came from holding someone under his spell, right before he broke them apart.

How many times had I made that exact same desperate sound, waiting for his fists to fall?

How many times had he chuckled while he beat me?

He never hurt me out of anger or rage, but with an ice-cold precision born out of pure cruelty, where every blow was placed to cause maximum pain, and his hatred was overlaid with an amused sort of disdain, as if I wasn’t worth anything stronger than mild disappointment.

You brought this on yourself, Evangeline. I wanted a boy, but I got you, instead. You are weak because you are a girl, and I need soldiers strong enough to face our enemies. Do you want to be strong, Evie?

To my eternal shame, I’d always told him yes.Always.

I’d begged him to train me. To teach me. To make me exactly like him.

I never fought back, not like I should have.

No, I’dobeyed.

God, why had I come back here?

I hated this place as much as I hated the weapon Silas had turned me into. This house had been my cage for the first sixteen years I’d existed, a cage without bars, but one I would neverhave escaped from on my own. No, any longer and I would have become like Virgil. An obedient, brainwashed robot.

I shivered. Anything was better than that fate.

The only reason I’d tasted freedom these last few years was because mom had snuck me and Angel out of this house in the middle of the night and…

Far too late I realized the dog stopped whining, that the guard had gone silent. In fact, the entire world had gone still.

My father stared straight at me through the shiny leaves of the azaleas, the corners of his gray-blue eyes—perfect copies of mine—crinkling in pleasure.

“Hello, Evangeline. Welcome home.”

40

BLAKE

Ireally should kill Malachi and be done with it.

I mean, look at the fucker, sprawled out like he owns the place, tossing Evangeline’s name around like he owns her, too.

Far too often I’d dreamed of Draven’s death. Had planned his demise down to the last, glorious detail. Splattering Rohr’s office with blood would be an inconvenience, but other than that…

Don’t you dare let him get a rise out of you, Blake.

We don’t need him, Rohr. Let me kill him and there will be one less enemy to stab us in the back.

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