Page 187 of Endgame

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My heart slams to a stop.

The most terrible fucking news settles into my bones. The cramps in my stomach aren’t hinting at pain anymore.

They stab me from the inside.

If his sister and my mom are the same person…

Then…

I’m his niece?

We’re blood-related?

No.

No.

Absolutely not.

The man I love can’t be my uncle. This can’t be happening.

“What did you just say?” Both his arms wrap around my stomach now. Protecting me.

How is he still touching me?

How am I still here?

This is incest.

This is wrong.

I should be running far away.

Somehow, I manage to look over my shoulder. Meet his eyes. There are questions in them. Shock. Horror.

“Winston.” My voice is barely over a whisper. I have so many questions of my own.

But I belong to Everett, and I have to obey him, and that means answering his questions too.

Well, I belonged to him until now. Until?—

Is he really my uncle?

Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow it down. My palms are sweaty in my lap.

“Talk to me.” He wants me to elaborate. He’ll make it better if I do.

He always does.

Can he makethisbetter, though?

I want him to.

“Remember what Winston told me?” I ask. The look he’s giving me sends ice up my spine. “Just like her, he told me. Just like mymother. You were wrong Everett. I am her daughter.”

Everett doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t show a sign of life.

I’m not even sure he’s breathing.

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