Page 108 of This Blood That Binds Us
“Shut up.”
In the blink of an eye, he was sitting next to her, stroking her hair. I sucked in a breath. He could kill her in an instant if he wanted to. Whatever I did, I had to make sure she made it out of that room alive.
“You can’t protect her in the state you’re in. When you don’t drink, you get weak.” He got up and circled me like an animal circles its prey.
I hated that he was right. My body was slow. I could normally take in the scene in eighty different ways in a matter of seconds. But even my mind felt slower. I couldn’t think of anything other than the fear I had for Kimberly.
“What is this about? What do you want with her?” I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her heartbeat was the only bit of comfort I could find.
“Don’t you get it yet!? This isn’t about her...it’s about you. She’s here because of you.” He was suddenly behind me, almost breathing down my neck.
“Me? What about me?” I turned around with nothing but another gray wall staring back at me. “I don’t understand what you want.”
He pushed me from behind, and I stumbled deeper into the room.
“Come on. I want to see that anger you had earlier. Show me that anger, Aaron.” He pushed me again as he appeared in front of me, and I stumbled back into a small wooden table.
Come on.Fight him.Kill him.
“I don’t have it anymore...it’s gone,” I said slowly, choosing my words.
Kill him.
“Don’t lie. I know it’s there.” He started pacing back and forth, coming closer to me each time.
He’s mocking you.
“Shut up.” I tried to say under my breath, but I knew William heard me.
His smile stretched wide. “You’re not talking to me, are you?”
“If you don’t want her, what do you want with me?”
He stepped forward, and I shuffled back. “Tell me, what do you know about The Family?”
Shit. I wasn’t surprised. I had a feeling that, one day, everything would come back full circle. All of my secrets had come out. It was only natural my brothers’ would, too.
“Uh . . . I-I don’t know anything.”
He tilted his head curiously. “You expect me to believe that? Your brothers are part of the biggest criminal cult in America, and you’re...innocent?”
“I don’t know anything about it...” I backed away. “They’ve never told me anything.”
“That’s what you’re claimin’? Oh, Aaron.” William’s brows pressed together, and malice wafted off of him in waves. “Don’t. Lie.”
“What? W-We haven’t done anything.”
William pressed his lips together. “I can feel the guilt radiating off of you. You’re practically sweatin’ it.”
Come on.Do something.
“I-I . . .”
My head was spinning. Every muscle in my body felt stiff.
William moved in closer to me. “You can’t even say it, can you?”
A flash of white caught my attention, and the haunted apparition appeared again. Her long hair dangled around her face, and she floated from one end of the room to the next. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
