Page 27 of Shadow's Edge

Good. The knife was meant for her.

I was just about to drag it across her chest, to carve a lesson into her skin, when she spat out words that stopped me cold.

“I wasn’t fucking him the day your mom killed herself,” she screamed, her voice hoarse, raw. “He wouldn’ttouchme!”

I froze.

She wasn’t done.

“Ideservedthe fucking head of the MC,” she seethed, her face contorted in rage. “He wasmine. But thatwhore—” she sneered “—sheknewwhat she was doing when she got knocked up. She came in, lost her shit, soPreacherkicked me out.”

The fight drained from her in an instant. Her head slumped forward, shoulders sagging. I stared at her, my grip tightening around the knife handle. For thefirst timein my life, I couldn’t tell if someone was lying. I was trained for this, to read people. To dissect their words, analyze micro-expressions, pick up the nuances in body language that betrayed even the best liars.

But now?

Her words tangled in my mind, looping with the ones from my mother’s letter, overlaying the image of her lifeless body. The gun still clutched in her hand, the blood soaking into the floor. If Store was lying, Preacher would have told me the truth by now. OrDukewould have. Wouldn’t they?

I forced myself to breathe, I couldn’t let this get inside my head. She was lying, she had to be.

My face remained unreadable as I stepped forward. I grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back roughly. Her lips parted in a silent gasp, but I ignored her as I lowered the blade and, with precise, deliberate strokes, began slicing through her dry, bleached strands. Her screams echoed in the room, but I tuned them out.

The knife glided through, separating chunk after chunk until her scalp was nearly bare, the brittle remains of her pride falling in clumps at her feet. Once I was satisfied, I lifted the largest massof hair, twirled it between my fingers, and then, I dropped it in front of her with a grin.

She stared at it, chest heaving, as if somehow the strands of her own hair on the floor were more horrifying than anything else I could have done to her.

Pathetic.

JAGGER

We all heard what Store had said to Kyle. The door had been left slightly open, just in case Kyle needed backup, and her words had carried through to where we waited outside.

And Preacher, well, hehad tensedthe second she started talking. I had never seen him thatstillbefore. His body was locked up tight, fists clenched at his sides, his jaw like iron. But the moment Kyledidn’tbelieve what was being said, the moment sherejectedthe possibility that her entire life had been built on a lie, that tension doubled.

His face might as well have been stone, but his wholepresencewas screaming. He wanted to correct her, to tell Kyle something, but he didn’t. And that silence spoke volumes.

Duke was the first to break it. He stepped directly in front of his brother, his usual easygoing nature replaced with something sharp. Unforgiving.

“You need to sort that shit out,” Duke said, voice low but lethal. Preacher barely blinked, but Duke wasn’t backing down. “It’skilledme lying to her all these years,” he went on, his tone vibrating with restrained anger. “And before you start your shit, yeah, itisa lie—even if it’s one of omission.”

Preacher’s mouth parted, an argument already forming, but Duke cut him off with a raised hand. “No.Grow apair and put that poor girl out of her misery.”

And then, without another word, he turned and stalked off in the same direction as Kyle.

Preacher stood motionless, staring at the floor.

I wasn’t done with him either. Taking a slow step forward, I met his gaze, speaking to him in a way I never had before.

“She’s filled with hurt,” I said, my voice measured. “And she’s putting herself intoinsanelydangerous positions just to avoid thinking, just to avoidfeeling. She’s diving headfirst into situations that could get her killed—because ofthis.” I let that sink in before delivering the final blow. “Youknowwhat I’m talking about, Preacher. I told you what she told me about her mom. Youknowwhat this is doing to her. Youknowhow much of a cancer it is, eating away at her from the inside.”

His jaw locked. Heknew, and hewasn’t stopping it.

I leaned in, lowering my voice, making sure my next words hit their mark. “It’s the samecancereating away atyou.”

Preacher flinched. His head turned sharply, gaze snapping away from me.

Bingo.

“You might be able to live with that, butIcan’t,” I continued, my tone dropping into something cold and totally unforgiving. “Iwon’tkeep this much longer. She trusts me, and Icareabout her, so I’mnotabout to fuck that up.” I took a step back, straightening. “Eitheryoutell her…” I let it hang there, waiting, making sure he wasreallylistening. “…or I will.”

---