Page 225 of Silver Elite

Jayde starts to lift her arm, then stops. Frowning at me. At the gun.

“Raise it to your head and pull the trigger.”

The gun slices upward, turning.

Her eyes widen. “What are you doing?”

“Raise it to your head and pull the trigger.”

The barrel is now pointing straight at her own temple.

“No,” she growls. “Whatisthis?”

“Pull the trigger.”

My voice doesn’t waver. I refuse to die at this woman’s hand.

“Pull the trigger,” I repeat.

Her face twists in agony as she struggles against my command. I feel her resistance crumbling like a sandcastle against the tide. Breaking apart.

“Pull the trigger, Jayde.”

With a sudden, sickening click, Jayde obeys.

Chapter 50

The weight of what I’ve done hits me hard and fast. A crushing sensation on my chest that obstructs my breathing. I can’t unsee it. Unhear it.

The hiss of the bullet leaving her silenced weapon. Penetrating her skull.

The fear in her eyes as she pulled the trigger against her will.

The memory plays on a loop in my mind, each detail etched with painful clarity. A torrent of emotions threatens to overwhelm me. Contrition. Shame. Relief. I killed her and it makes me sick to my stomach. I killed her and I’m relieved. She can never tell anyone what I am now. She can’t imprison me. Experiment on me. Put me in front of a firing squad.

I’ve rid myself of an enemy, a dangerous one, yet as I stare at her lifeless body on the floor, guilt claws at my insides. The line between right and wrong blurs into shades of gray, leaving me grappling with my own moral compass.

I told myself I never wanted to interfere with someone’s free will.

Look at me now.

“I’m here.”

When his deep voice fills my head, I almost keel over in relief. I yank him into the room, then close and lock the door behind him.

“Watch the blood,” I warn.

Cross glances at our feet, taking it all in. The gun in Jayde’s hand. The hole in her temple. The small crimson puddle forming around her blond head.

“What happened?” he says grimly.

“I told you, she had a vision of me. She figured out who I am. What I am.”

I bite my lip in disbelief. Everything was going so smoothly before that. Of all the things that could throw a wrench into the mission, this was the last one I expected.

“You shot her?”

I shake my head.

---