Page 75 of Oblivion

“So, tag her again, like I have with Sammy. Drug her and put them in places she wouldn’t think to look. Do whatever you have to do.”

“I’ve considered it,” he admits, exhaling as some of the tension bleeds from his shoulders.

“Do you honestly think she’ll run?” I question. “She just begged me to bring Sammy back here, so why would she leave now?”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “I know she loves me. She’s not acting any different…well apart from giving you free rein to claim Sammy. But there’s something different about her. There has been ever since Bunny ran,” he admits.

“Have you tried talking to her about it?”

“I’m not sure I want to know the answers to my questions,” he admits.

A dry laugh bursts from my lips. “So, the plan is to just pretend you’re not worried and never sleep again, then?”

“Pretty much.” He shrugs. “What are you going to do about Sammy?”

My own weary sigh matches his from only moments earlier. “I haven’t decided yet.”

“You want to let her off, but you don’t want her to think you won’t go through with your threats.” He chuckles, the sound full of smug amusement.

“No, I’m still going to destroy that asshole. I’m just debating if I want to force her to watch.”

My brother’s eyebrows snap up, shock etched across his features. “You’re still going through with it?”

“Of course.”

“But…”

“But what? I warned her what would happen. I won’t back down, but I don’t know if making her face the destruction she’s wrought would be a mistake.”

“You think it’ll push her too far?” he questions.

“Yes, but that’s okay. She needs to be pushed. She needs to understand that I don’t make threats I’m not willing to follow through with. Sammy is too wild to be tamed. She needs to be corralled, but only for me, only by me. I’m showing her that her only option is me. Her only future is with me.”

Bastian’s contemplative for a long moment, and when he lifts his gaze to meet mine again, there’s a gleam of pride in his eyes. I don’t know if he’d mistaken my guilt and regret for softness, but I’ve never been soft. Just like Starling told us all when Bunny ran, actions have consequences, and I’ve been living with mine. I’ve learned from what I did, and I’m different because of it, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve softened. I haven’t. In fact, because of what we did to Starling and how that affected her, I’m possibly harder than I was before. I’ll still claim Sammy. I’ll still own her, control her, consume her, I just won’t need to lock her in a cage to do it.

“Don’t break her,” Bastian says, breaking the silence.

“I won’t have to,” I say confidently.

After we’ve finished our drinks, Bastian slaps me on the shoulder before he leaves. I hope he figures things out with Starling, especially if we’re going to try having the sibling relationship she promised me.

Checking my phone for the time, I shove it into my pocket and push up out of my chair. Strolling back toward the building where Sammy’s class is, I try to make a decision about how to handle the Landon matter.

I know she regrets allowing him to touch her. I know she feels guilty and remorseful. I know that pushing her too much would be a mistake, but I also can’t allow this to go unpunished. Resigned, I send a text message.

Me

Is it done?

The reply comes almost immediately.

Clay

Fifteen minutes. Lavern House.

Me

Perfect.

---