Page 39 of Bloody Valentine

“I’m guessing she didn’t do that willingly.”

His lips hardened in a fine line as an answer. I laughed again and saluted the dumbass, making my way upstairs. Before I opened the door, I slid the mask back on.

The man she knew was gone. She would learn what this symbol represented. Vivian was in the attic, sitting in the corner, crying.

“Oh, c’mon, you can’t have lost your fight that easily.”

She ignored me, unwilling to put her head up. She must have put two and two together.

“You know now, don’t you? You can’t escape your fate any more than I was able to.”

Vivian looked up and pointed an accusatory finger at me. Her words brought me back to a time so long ago.

“You are the one who is supposed to choose your fate! Not them!”

I blinked, stunned, my hand reaching my heart. Those words…

“You are the one who is supposed to choose your fate! Not them!”

My sister had followed me out to these woods. She was seething, staring at me, huffing and angry. The woman was just a few paces ahead, but I stopped to face her.

“Libby, I can’t fight this! Don’t you understand? It’s them or myself. If I don’t follow the orders of the Elders, they will come after me, or worse, you and Hayes.”

Liberty walked up to me, her tears nearly frozen on her freckled cheeks. “Then let them Maddox. Don’t do this. Please. You have to choose yourself. You can’t let them control you like some kind of puppet. We can find them—you, me, and Hayes. We can run away and be free of the Divine and St. Valentine's for good! You only need to make that choice. Please.”

I shook my head. She always did this. For so many years, she acted like I had a fucking decision in my life. I gripped my gun in anger, looking through the scope, trying to find the girl who continued to run.

“It’s too late for me, Libby. You run if you want to. This woman saw my face. I have chased her through the woods for hours. I have to end it. If I don’t…”

Libby shook her head. “No, Maddox! You do not have to kill her. We can get her passage out of here. We can pay her to keep quiet. This isn’t set in stone.”

I was becoming angrier, my grip on my gun near the point of cracking my fingers.

“I don’t have a fucking choice!” I roared, slamming my gun down, and shots rang off into the night. A bullet hit a tree in the distance.

“Fucking hell, Libby, you’re making me lose my mind!”

My sister’s face was a blank slate, her eyes wide. I stared at her, unable to understand why she looked so pale. Her white jacket began to pool with blood, and she placed her hands over her stomach.

My eyes widened, and I realized the gun…one of the stray bullets had hit her.

“Noooo!” I ran to my sister and held her bleeding body in my arms.

“Liberty, what have you done?”

She forced a shaky laugh as blood seeped through her lips.

“I guess you’re right, Maddox…You can’t…escape your fate…as a Valentine.”

I let the tears fall, my body shaking as hers stilled. I shot my sister. She was dying, and it was my fucking fault.

“No!” I roared to the air around me. I could see the woman far away now. She was nearing the cliff. My sister faded in my arms. A haunting smile on her face as she took her last breath.

I was a killer…

I knew for so many years that I would be a murderer. But I never dreamed it would take the life of those who mattered most to me.

“Libby…I am so sorry.”

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