Page 56 of Red Dreams

“You don't need to prove anything to me,” I say. The knife trembles against her skin. “Every kill, every broken body I left behind, it was all to find you.”

“Then why didn't you?” Her voice fractures. “Why didn't you save me before I became this?”

I croak, “I’m trying to save you now.”

I shift my grip, knuckles whitening as I prepare to make the killing blow. Cassie's eyes widen, a flicker of fear breaking through.

“Daddy...” she whispers, her voice small and feeble, a terrified child pleading for mercy.

A single tear escapes from the tangle of her lashes, carving a clean line through the blood and grime.

I falter.

I'm transported back to a time when she was my entire world, when her laughter was the sweetest sound and her smile could chase away the darkest of nights. I remember teaching her to ride a bike, bandaging skinned knees, and chasing away imaginary monsters from under the bed. I remember the fierce, protective love that consumed me, the vow I made to always keep her safe.

My mind races, desperately searching for another way—some miraculous third option that will spare me the agony of this choice. But there is no deus ex machina waiting in the wings, no last-minute reprieve from the machinations of fate. There is only the cold, hard truth:

Sometimes the only way to save someone is to let them go.

19

LAYLA

The sound of a daughter begging her father not to kill her will haunt me for the rest of my life.

That single tear cutting through the gore on Cassie’s face transforms her from villain to child in an instant. Her whispered “Daddy” carries the same desperate need I once felt, crying out for a father who never came.

I should want her dead. After everything Cassie's done—the torture, the mind games, forcing me to watch Kaden destroy Ethan—I should be begging Kaden to finish this so we can go home.

Instead, I'm frozen, watching two broken pieces of my heart tear at each other.

“Sometimes,” Cassie whispers, her voice small, “when Papa would hurt me, I'd pretend you were coming to save me. I’d imagine all the ways the Scythe would make him suffer for touching your little girl.”

Kaden shifts his stance. For the first time since I've known him, indecision marks every line of his body. But I know him well enough to understand that indecision won’t stop him from doing what he thinks is necessary.

I surge forward, my hand outstretched. “Wait.”

Kaden’s eyes snap to mine, his pupils blown from all the restraint he’s using.

I touch his wrist, feeling the tension humming through him. “It doesn’t have to end like this.”

Cassie jerks against the blade, fresh blood welling, directing her next question at me. “You think you can fix this, kitten? Fix me?”

I step closer despite Kaden's warning growl. “There has to be. Because if there isn't...” My hand stays on his arm as if I could funnel all my warmth through my palm and into him. “If there isn't, then what hope is there for any of us?”

“Hope?” Cassie spits the word. “Was there hope when Papa split my fingers one by one? When he made me thank him for teaching me strength?” Her eyes lock with mine. “When I did the same to your friend?”

The mention of Ethan slices through me, but I hold her gaze and deadpan, “There's hope as long as your father's blade hasn't moved.”

Kaden moves into my hand, silently shifting me out of the danger zone, but I squeeze back, begging him to let me keep trying.

“Maybe there’s even a future where you’re more than Morelli’s discarded toy,” I say to her. “Where you get to decide who you want to be.”

“Pretty words,” Cassie sneers. “But we all know I’ll never be anything else.”

I shake my head vehemently. “Your father is here, Cassie. He came for you, just like you always dreamed he would.”

Kaden’s muscles are rock hard beneath my palm, his gaze locked on Cassie. I don’t need to feel his chest to know his heart is hammering, the rapid beat matching my own.

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