Page 103 of Cruel Vows

Noah sighs and shakes his head. “You know, I was hoping for more from you, but since you don’t want to cooperate, I’m going to be the bigger person. Show you some kindness that you don’t deserve.”

He’s a cobra ready to strike. I can see it in his eyes.

The man in front of me is the kind who enjoys toying with people’s heads, making them think they’re safe one moment and then sinking his fangs into them the next.

I eye him, knowing that this is too good to be true. “What kindness?”

“You’re going to make a decision.” He tucks his hands into his pockets, looking casual even though this conversation is anything but. “You can either save Aiden or Sean, but you can’t save them both.”

My heart plummets to my feet, the earth slipping out from beneath me.

His words echo over and over again in my head, but they still don’t make sense, no matter how many times I replay them.

I glare at him, trying to hold back the emotions that threaten to overwhelm me. “I’m not going to choose between my brother and my husband.”

“You have the next twenty-four hours to decide, or I slaughter both of them and the rest of your siblings in front of you.”

29

SEAN

My head is spinninglike I’m on the merry-go-round in Central Park as I look around, searching for Ellie even though I know she isn’t here.

As I struggle to sit up and do another visual search of the room—a room with nowhere to hide—Aiden groans from beside me.

I shuffle to sit closer to him. “Do you know where Ellie is?”

Aiden shakes his head. “No.”

The grip fear has on my chest tightens, fingers digging into my lungs and forcing me to take shallow breaths.

“Where the hell is she?” I snap, tone sharp and cutting as I look down at him. “I passed out. You should’ve been watching her.”

“Not awake either.” Aiden rolls onto his side, his body curling in on itself.

I take a deep breath, pushing to my feet as the door to the room opens and Noah steps inside. He looks between the two of us, satisfaction in his gaze.

“I had hoped you would be awake,” Noah says, closing the door and leaning back against it. “It’s been a long twenty hours waiting for you.”

“Where is Ellie?” The words come out raspy, my throat dry.

My blood boils, but when I take a step toward him, my head spins faster. “What the hell did you inject me with?”

“You don’t need to worry about that right now.” Noah crosses one leg over the other at the ankles, nodding to Aiden. “He’s not going to survive for much longer.”

I stumble forward, pushing through the fog in my head.

All I want to do right now is get my hands around his throat and squeeze until the life drains from his eyes.

He took Ellie.

He’s doing who knows what to her, and it’s my fault.

I passed out.

I wasn’t able to protect her.

With a deep breath, I stop in front of him, and Noah arches an eyebrow. He makes no move to stop me as I pull my hand back, closing it into a tight fist.

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