Page 63 of Sadist

“Why her?”

“Lower your god-damned weapon, Erryn,” I snapped.

“Theo, it’s okay.” Octavia didn’t look at me as her fingers flew across the keyboard, and it was only then that I properly looked at what she was doing. Code. The dual monitors were filled with it, flying across the screen at speeds that made my head spin.

“You threw your life away for a liar,” Erryn murmured, the silencer of her Glock mere inches from Octavia’s head. “You didn’t know what she was, did you?”

Octavia’s back stiffened, but she kept working.

“She had the ability to fix this, and she never told you,” Erryn said, a cruel smile tilting her lips. “And now look at what you have done. Everything you have worked for…gone.”

I dragged my gaze from Erryn to Octavia.

“Sweets, what is she talking about?”

She didn’t answer me, her breath catching in a sob. I could just see the side of her face from my position, and the truth of Erryn’s words was clear on her devastated face.

“Octavia?”

“I’m sorry.” The word was barely more than a whisper.

“What’s going on?” I snapped.

“It’s mine.” There was a waver to Octavia’s voice, though her fingers never faltered on the keys. “Vanguard tech. Their software. The systems. It’s all mine. I built it, perfected it. My father stole it from me and turned it into this.” She glanced at me, her beautiful eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you. I would have. I would have told you everything. But before…I couldn’t trust you. And then when I did…I was a ghost. If I’d said anything, you would have known I could break through the firewalls, but then you would have had to tell them I was alive. You would have had to choose between me and…” she trailed off.

“You would have had to choose between her life and mine,” Erryn finished, anger flickering in her eyes. “And I guess we know who you chose.”

“You can break the firewalls?” I asked, my ears ringing.

The cold metal of a gun pressed to the back of my head.

“Lox.” The low, sultry voice was laced in a French accent, and I froze as I realized how ridiculously short-sighted I had been.

Erryn’s gaze was fixed on whoever was behind me, her head tilted away from my blade.

“I’m okay, Helena.”

“I’d be a lot happier if that blade was removed from your throat.”

The woman behind me rounded my side, her gun skimming my skin as she did. Her pale green eyes were startling against the light brown of her skin, and the dark mass of curls pulled back from her face. She grinned at me, and there was a hintof something feral in that smile, enhanced by naturally long canines that belonged in one of Octavia’s damned novels.

“Theodora Lancaster,” she murmured, hatred dripping from her voice. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a while. Why don’t you take your knife away from Lox’s neck before I cut your hand off, shove the bleeding stump down your throat, and drown you in your own blood?”

“You can fucking try,” I warned.

There was a dark laugh, the muzzle of the gun pressing harder against me.

“Helena,” Erryn warned.

“She has a knife to your neck, Lox,” Helena murmured. “This bitch isn’t walking out of here.”

Octavia tapped two more keys, and the screens went dark.

Erryn’s head whipped to the side, a tiny line of crimson appearing on her neck beneath my blade, ignored as she stared at the screens.

“It’s done?”

Octavia swiveled her seat slowly, her eyes meeting mine for a long moment, full of unspoken words.

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