Page 53 of Property of Chaos

“I only just bought myself a smartphone.” I utter a nervous laugh. “He can’t touch me if I can’t see him, right?”

She tilts her head a fraction, gaze softening. It’s all there in the lazy hood of her eyes.That’s not true, though, is it?

It’s not. I haven’t seenhisface or heard his name in over a decade, yet there he is, every week in my nightmares without fail.The devil couldn’t reach me, so he made my stepfather instead.

“Here.” Evelyn reaches into her bag and tugs out her phone, swiping with her thumb and tapping a few words before passing it over. “This is the most concise summary of what happened.”

Marianna moves from the ottoman, settling beside me, hip touching mine, to read with me.

Heir to Faith kingdom disappears in dubious circumstances.

I scroll through the article, skim-reading the important facts.

He left work early athisrequest and never reached his destination. Security cameras recorded my brother at a convenience store later that night, but the vision of his car leaving the parking lot was his last known whereabouts. His phone lost tracking shortly after.

Nobody has seen or heard from him in months—just like she said.

“You thinkhe’sbehind this?”

“Undoubtedly.” Evelyn accepts her phone back. “Even if indirectly.”

The room seems to shrink, the walls choking me of air. I tug my hands into the sleeves of my hoodie, fisting them in the fluffy lining.Why is my mouth so dry?And why the fuck does my back hurt so bad between my shoulder blades?

“Ness?” Marianna loops her arm through mine.

I lean left, resting my head on her arm as I focus on controlling my breathing.Everything is him.He’s behind every fucking bad thing in my life, and it just. Doesn’t. Stop. Sure, my baby brother was his protege in every goddamn way, but he was still moreminethanhis.

Neither of us shares blood with the tyrant. Neither of us was his to manipulate before my mother fell in love with the heathen.

“It’s okay.” Marianna slides her hands beneath mine, interlocking our fingers. “In and out. You’re safe, babe.” She reaches behind me and gently tugs the hood of my sweatshirt over my head.Fuck, I love her.

She’s only seen me get this bad once before, but she remembers. She understands what I need to regulate.

I slip my eyes closed and focus on my breaths. On the rise and fall of my chest as I slowly meditate myself back to sanity.

“If he ever showed his face in my life again,” Evelyn mutters. “I’d kill him.”

I believe she would. She’s a nurse, after all. She’d know better than anyone how to do it and get away with it.

“I think you’d have to get in line behind this one,” Marianna teases, squeezing my hand. She pauses, drawing a deep breath. “I’ve heard Ness talk about this guy often, but she never uses his name. Could you show me who he is—using your phone—so she doesn’t have to hear?”

“Of course.”

I blink my bleary eyes clear. “Abraham Faith.” The demons smirk as they slide their inky fingers down my throat. “His name is Abraham Faith.”

The man who ruled my world.

TWENTY

CHAOS

Marianna’s nameflashes up on the screen, interrupting my study of the last picture Circus sent: Vanessa leaving the trench’s house, hands buried in her hoodie pocket, a mystery woman on one side of her, the toxic bitch on the other.

“Why is she crying?” I snap, forgoing an actual greeting.

“Why the fuck is your freak following us around?”

I clench my teeth together hard enough to make them creak. “I asked you first.”

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