Page 56 of Filthy Beginnings

Panting, reeling, she remained frozen where she was.

Egan was dead.

She’d killed him.

There were no visible cuts or burns on his body, but she knew what had happened all the same.

She’d ended him with the monstrous black rage that seethed inside her, stripping him of all color and vitality, just as he’d tried her whole life to do to her.

She stared at her palms, awareness taking hold.

Her gift was evolving.

It—she—was no longer just a pretty, shimmering thing. Ever since she’d first seen Damien, the power inside her amplified by leaps and bounds. And now it had killed.

She should have felt horror.

Instead, a glorious sense of power thrummed through every cell.

Was this the glory Damien sought? Knowledge that she had the power to make her own way. Fight her own battles. Choose her own course.

If so, she understood him in a way she never had before.

She looked at Egan’s still body once more.

She would never regret the bully’s death, but as the glow of her victory receded, the reality of her situation hit hard.

A prize had killed a consortium handler.

Her life was forfeit—unless she ran before anyone discovered what she’d done.

Or she covered this up.

She had to find Damien. Tell him everything. Together, they would make a plan.

He would understand. He would help.

They’d both made mistakes, but they were still a team.

She took a wide berth around the body and charged for the door—only to have it swing open with a crash.

She skidded to a halt, her breath leaving in a rush, the ember of hope that had been inside her flickering and dying as a familiar face filled the doorway.

“Going someplace?” The male’s wide shoulders blocked her path.

Raising her hands, she tried to draw her colors to her, propel the black from her palms once more, but nothing emerged.

Her body needed time to recharge, and it didn’t matter that she needed it now more than ever.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to leave yet, Scarlett.” He pulled something from his leathers and she flinched.

But it was only a vid maker.

With a click of a button, he recorded Egan’s limp body, and then her. “More to add to my collection. So pretty.”

His smug smile made her ill.

“You’ll want to see the others I have as well. There are some nice ones of your brother too. He looks truly like a male in love.”

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