Page 79 of Pushed

Ethan was dead.

For most people, killing another person would torment their mind, it'd eat away at their dreams and fill every day with an endless pain that they'd never be able to ignore.

For me—it meant nothing.

He deserved it for all the women he got killed, for all the girls that he bought and sold, and for all of the people he abused along the way.

Mercy. . . I had none.

Hell was waiting for me, and I made peace with that. Because vengeance for my sister was worth every flame I'd suffer.

“Sylvan!” I yelled, lunging forward and tossing a chair out of my way. “Sylvan! Come on, show yourself, don't be a fucking pussy!”

A sharp pain spiraled down my arm, hitting the tips of my fingers like cutting knives. Reaching for my shoulder, I felt a dampness on my sleeve that was spreading down my chest and ribs.

Pulling my hand away, bright red stained my hand. I was shot.

Growling under my breath, adrenaline coursed through my veins, erasing the pain that tried to hold me back. I wasn't done, not yet.

Scanning the room, I expected to see Sylvan cowering in a corner. But he wasn't there, he wasn't anywhere.

Fuck! Where is he?

He has to be here.

Checking under the desk, it was empty, checking behind a floor-length curtain, it was void of Sylvan. But I knew he was there, I had heard two people, he was somewhere inside these walls.

“Sylvan. . .” I sang out, raising the tone of my voice. “Come out, come out wherever you are.” Walking around, I tapped the end of my gun on the wall. “I'll stay here all night, I won't leave until you show yourself.”

The wall on my left opened, exposing a hidden room. “You really are determined.” Stepping out, I got my first true view of the man who was in charge of it all.

He was older than I expected, maybe in his early fifties. Gray and black hair peppered his head, a thick mustache traced his upper lip. He had weathered lines that painted his skin, and a small beer belly camouflaged by a deep navy blue button-up shirt.

“Sylvan, I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I'd be lying.”

Holding out his arms, he smiled. “What can I do for you, Machi?”

“You know what I want.”

Glancing up at the ceiling, his eyes dropped back to mine. “Refresh my memory.”

“Tell me who you sold Megan to, tell me who's responsible for killing her!” The air around me grew cold, filling my chest like sharp icicles.

“You know our buyer information is confidential, Machi. I can't tell you anything.” Stepping around me, he glanced down at Ethan. “It's politics, that's all, just politics.”

“Fuck you and your politics. Tell me who it was, maybe I'll spare you.”I lied, I lied like a fucking dog.

And he knew it.

I waited for him to rattle off the name of a buyer or the man who had trained her. But he didn't.

Laughing, Sylvan lifted his eyes to mine. “She had a filthy, dirty, little mouth, Machi. She didn't deserve to live. Your sister was a fucking bitch. I had fun with that one.”

“You—you did it?”Grinding my teeth together, I cocked my jaw out. “Why?” Feathering the trigger, my lips turned down.

Squinting with one eye, he tilted his head. “Everything that I had given her, everything I had offered her, and you know what she had the fucking balls to do?” Holding up one hand, he wiggled his index finger. The tip was missing from end to knuckle, only a thick, round nub was left. “The bitch had the fucking nerve to bite me.”

“You fucking piece of shit!” My muscles began to shake as everything around me began to sway. I was losing a lot of blood and it was making me lightheaded, causing Sylvan's figure to double and squish back into one form.

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