Page 74 of The Masks and the Dancer (Their Obsession 2)

“Oh my God, you are,” I whisper.

“Just remember how it felt to press your fingers against her throat,” Jakub presses on, cutting me an ugly look, and shutting down that glimmer of humanity. “Remember how her life ebbed away beneath your touch. Remember when you cut her and watched her bleed. It made you feel powerful, didn’t it?”

“Yes,” Leon admits in a whisper, narrowing his gaze at me as he fists his cock, the veins in his hands popping beneath his skin as slides his fist up and down the length of his shaft.

“Leon, don’t…” I beg, fear creeping over my skin. Sheer terror makes my limbs feel heavy, burdensome as I shuffle backwards.

“You’ve lost your way, brother. She’s fucked with your head,ourheads, but I’m going to help you return to who you truly are. You crave pain and violence. It turns you on.Sheturns you on because her fire, her fight, it matchesyoursand there’s nothing better than a worthy foe,” Jakub says, goading him, manipulating him, continuing to twist his thoughts. “Think about how it will feel when you fuck her. The power of it as you smother your cock with her blood and take what’s owed. Think about all the times you’ll be able to use her to satisfy your needs, just like I promised.Fuckmaking love. If you do all the dirty, debased, violent things you want to her, right here and now, she’ll be our toyforever. I will never let anyone take her from us, least of all me.”

“You’re heartless,” I accuse.

“NO! I’M. A. BROV!” he roars back, thumping his chest with every word. “That’s who I am. Who you are, Leon, andnothingcan change that. Nothing. Our father choseyouto be my brother. Show me I haven’t lost you, too.”

Horrified, I shake my head, wishing that the Leon who pulled me from the bathtub and begged me to stay with him would fight back, but with every step towards me that person slowly disappears and the monster within returns. He feeds off my fear, seeking out violence, and in that moment I realise something fundamental.

Jakub may have flipped the switch inside Leon, but onlyIhave the power to flip it back.

I’ve done it once before and I’ll do it again.

And that ability,thatis what will help me to destroy these men once and for all.

So this time, when Leon launches himself at me, instead of fighting back, instead of sliding the knife I’m holding into his chest, I allow it to slip from my fingers. I accept his darkness knowing only I can draw out the light, knowing that someday very soon I will have my revenge.

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