Page 33 of Reaper Flame

“I know you want answers,” he said gently, “and you’ll get them. As soon as the Sevens are back together.”

I snorted in disgust. “Back together?”

Q and Rocky exchanged ‘I told you so’ looks between themselves, which poured gasoline on my burning fury. We weren’t a band who’d broken up and were going to have a reunion concert. There was no such thing as being back together when Zander’s actions had already ripped the Sevens apart! Why didn’t Rocky see that? All Zander did was make false promises and keep everyone else in the dark about his plans. There was no fucking ‘togetherness’. Being a Seven meantnothing.

“Give Zander a chance, C,” Rocky said. “Hear what he has to say.”

“I don’t owehimanything. I’m not a Seven anymore,” I hissed. To prove my point, I pushed my hair out of the way to reveal the raw skin where my tattoo used to be. “Remember?”

Rocky’s shoulders tensed, and his eyes flared in anger. He’d never been a good liar, so this was news to him. His voice shook as he asked, “Hiram did that to you?”

“See?” I laughed bitterly. “It’s just something else your precious Zander hasn’t told you!”

“I-I-I didn’t know,” Rocky stammered, hanging his head. “I’ve been out of town since you left. Zander arranged it. We’ve not had much contact.”

“Go figure,” I snapped. Zander liked keeping secrets, and I knew Hiram arranged for Zander’s ‘gift’ to be delivered by hand. If he hid this from Rocky, what else was he hiding? “Where have you been, anyway? A fucking doomsday bunker? Zander knew what Hiram did to me. If he cared, why didn’t he do something about it?”

“C—”

I held up my hand and didn’t give him the chance to speak. He could save his fucking excuses! I continued on, “While you’ve been hiding, other people have had real shit going on. Can’t you see that Zander has you all working as puppets for him? Our lives are just fucking games to him! He let me go back withhim!”

“You don’t know him like I do,” Rocky said. “And I’m no one’s puppet. Everything I did was for you, so we could be together. We’ve all made sacrifices, even Zander.”

“Zander Briarly makes no sacrifices,” I spat. Rocky may be blind to Zander’s flaws, but I saw them perfectly. I knew who Zander really was. A soulless monster. “He’d sacrifice anything and everyone to get what he wants. You’re a fucking fool to think otherwise.”

Q cleared his throat to break up our argument and pointed across the water. Our new arrivals were close enough that I didn’t need to look through the binoculars to see them.

“I’m going to get ready to help them board,” Q said, then addressed me directly. “And Candy? Please don’t spill blood on my boat.”

I glowered back. “I can’t make any promises.”

“Why don’t you take her downstairs until they arrive, Red?” Q suggested.

Rocky nodded. He tried to put his arm around my waist, but I shoved him away. We may have shared a magical evening, but we couldn’t live in a dream world forever. Reality was about to hit us with the force of a fucking iceberg. My walls were up, and my fight or flight response was overcome with the urge to hold Zander’s head underwater until he stopped breathing.

“I don’t need a fucking chaperone!” I hissed. “I can walk by myself!”

I stormed away and threw the binoculars in a fit of rage. They narrowly missed Rocky’s shins as he paced after me.

“Don’t be like that, C! I know it doesn’t make sense yet, but we’ll explain everything soon,” Rocky said. “Give Zander one chance to explain. When you hear him out, you’ll feel differently. He did this for us.”

“You’re fucking delusional,” I sneered. My inner bitch rose to the surface, and I couldn’t hold her back. “If you believe Zander did anything for us, you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”

“We did it because we love you, Candy,” he said. Words that felt like fireworks last night tasted like ash in my mouth in the light of day. Good things didn’t last. “Ilove you.”

“If this is what love is,” I said, “then I don’t want it.”

Rocky flinched like I’d slapped him. He reached out, but I caught his wrist.

“Don’t touch me.” I dropped his wrist with zero emotion. “If you don’t want to die for real, then you should stay out of my fucking way.”

The Sevens were arriving, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

* * *

I paced back and forth as I heard the upheaval of the others arriving above us. Rocky was torn between wanting to greet the Sevens and making sure I didn’t kill anyone. Through the porthole, we watched the speed boat zoom away. They were here.

I grinned maniacally. “Looks like it’s showtime!”

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