Page 147 of Traitor

I grip the back of my neck, exhaling slowly, preparing myself for this conversation.

"Something happened with him." I glance up at the sky for a second, trying to find the right words. There are none. "He's not hurt or anything like that. It's just...," I sigh, shaking my head. "Adora is back."

Her entire body stills.

I push forward. "Hebrought her back. He's been with her for months. A year. Living with her. Fucking her. Since before we even moved here. Like fucking lovebirds. He didn't say a damn thing. No hint." I rub a hand over my jaw, my teeth grinding. "And he did something to her a few days ago. In revenge. It seems it was the wrong move." I laugh without humor. "It's a fucking shitshow. Mama and Pops are with him now."

The silence stretches between us. She doesn't say anything at first. Just processes. I see the wheels turning in her head, the calculations, the conflict.

"I honestly have no idea what to say to that," she finally admits, her voice flat. "I know what she did to him all those years ago. I understand his need for revenge probably too well. But since you say it was the wrong move..." She shrugs. Neutral. Detached. But I know her. She's thinking. She's wondering. She's filing it all away.

"Yeah," I whisper. Yeah.

Fuck. I take a deep breath, steady myself. What I say next will ruin this entire fucking day.

But I have to say it.

No more waiting. No more stalling.

"Temper." Her name sits heavy on my tongue.

She looks at me. No wariness. Not yet.

I'm about to change that.

"I've been gone these past few days because I had to make the final arrangements for getting to Jinx." I don't give her a chance to react before I finish it. Before I drop the blade.

"I'll have him here by tomorrow."

Her breath catches. Just stops.

Her eyes widen, her lips part — just a fraction — before everything shifts.

The tremble in her mouth disappears. Her entire face hardens. The shock burns away fast. Replaced by something darker. Something ruthless.

She looks me straight in the eye, her voice razor-sharp.

"I'm ready."

27. Death

Temper

My hands won't stop shaking.

My whole body trembles, locked in place, refusing to move. Bones stands beside me, watching me. Silent. Solid and unmoving. Like he's waiting for orders.

We're in the middle of the common room, caught between where I was and where I'm going. I stopped dead in my tracks. Right here. In the fucking middle. On the way to the wine cellar. No, the torture room.

WhereJinxis waiting.

I can't even blink.

This is it.Themoment. I can finally get my justice. Real justice. I can finally kill my own personal monster. And I will. No matter what Dr. Monroe says. No matter what it does to me. No matter if it destroys my fucking soul, I will end him. He will die by my hand. Knowing that the girl he tormented, the one he kept covered in fear, blood and bruises for years, the one whose throat he cut — she is the one who owned his life in the end.

He will not get the mercy I gave Bones.

Because he was never anything to me. I never saw him as human. He's just a dark, slimy, crawly disease. And I'll heal the world of him.

---