Page 144 of Twisted Obsession

I hadn’t seen Sasha since that night in the scrapyard. I hadn’t texted or called her, not sure what the protocol was when you enlist your friend to help you murder a man. I figured she needed space to put the plan into motion and would return when she was done.

I studied her face, searched for signs of trauma or resentment. It may have been her idea to take Uriah as her first mark, but I had made the call to do the rest and I had no idea if she had to watch while it was being carried out.

Maybe I needed to apologize.

It terrified me that I may have wrecked our friendship to feed my bloodlust.

“Look who has come to visit from her travels,” Kas announced, hooking her arm through Sasha’s.

I rose off the bed and hurried to her. “You okay?”

Up close, there were dark bags beneath her eyes, but aside from slightly tired, she seemed okay.

“It’s been … crazy,” she murmured, sounding as exhausted as she looked. “There’s a whole thing after someone passes their first contract and … anyway, I’m fine.”

I wanted to press, to demand she tell me everything she’s feeling, but I let it drop. She would share when she was ready.

“We do come bearing news,” Lavena announced, sliding her phone out of her back pocket. She swiped it open and passed it straight to me without glancing at the screen.

I read the bold headline aloud. “Carlton, the prestigious academy for the gifted was burned to the—”

Lavena snatched the phone back, chuckling weakly. “Wrong article. Sorry. This one.”

She flipped to a different print, but I was staring at her, jaw hanging, eyes wide. “What did you do?” I hissed under my breath.

Thick, dark lashes fluttered with all the innocence of a true crazy person. “What are you talking about? That was nothing. Not important. Read!”

I stowed the information away for later as I carried the phone back with me to the bed and sat on the edge.

“After a series of mysterious and deadly fires running rampant through our city streets—”I side eyed Lavena who returned it with a toothy smirk,“—this one leaves devastation as a family of five perish under the blaze.”I raised my head and glanced at Sasha. She said nothing so I kept reading.“Officials have declared the incident an unfortunate accident, blamingthe blaze on an unattended candle that may have tipped over. All five members of the Volkov family were found in their rooms, trapped by the flames.”I stopped to stare up at my friends. “Is this for real? This is the dumbest news article I have ever read. Who wrote this? A fourth grader? A candle tipped over and not a single person was able to leave their room?”

Lavena shrugged. “Maybe they were heavy sleepers. The point is,” she snatched her phone from my hands, “it’s over. Revenge avenged, or whatever.” The phone was stuffed back into her pocket. “Now, we celebrate. Slumber party in Darius’s room.”

“Why my room?” Darius muttered from the center of his massive bed.

“Because this is where Kami is so unless you’re fine with her slumbering it up in my apartment, shut your mouth.” she flipped a coil of blonde over one shoulder and spun on the heel of her boot. “Who wants to go snack shopping?”

Kas was out the door a foot ahead of Lavena, listing all the treats they needed to pick up.

Sasha began to follow, but I hurriedly caught her arm and pulled her back.

“Talk?” I asked and continued when she cocked her head to the side quizzically. “Are you okay? You never texted or anything. I wasn’t sure…”

Her small hands rested on my arms, stopping my tirade with a soft smile. “I’m okay. Promise. It was intense, honestly. Enzo and his team handled … you know and brought Uriah to me once everything was done. He was a mess.” Her smile faded, replaced by a tension I recognized. “He begged me to end it.”

The guilt and remorse hit me in the abdomen. I felt the sucker punch and nearly doubled over with the pain. But not because the bastard who tried to kill Darius was dead or thathe’d suffered. My shame hung on the fact that I put my friend through that.

“I’m so sorry, Sasha,” I whispered, reaching for her this time. “I never should have asked you to do that.”

My friend blinked. “What do you mean? You didn’t ask me to do anything. I volunteered. I wanted to do it.”

She had, yet I felt I was to blame for the sadness in her eyes. “But the rest…”

Thin lines cut across the bridge of her nose. “I didn’t see anything. Enzo kept me at the opposite end of the house. He walkied me when it was my turn. It honestly wasn’t as hard as it should have been, you know? I think that’s the thing that’s bothering me. It should have been harder. I should have felt … more. Does that make sense?” I nodded because it did in a way. “My whole family was like over the moon. My dad is so proud, and so am I, weirdly enough. I’d been so worried about taking a hit, terrified I’d mess it up, and I didn’t.”

I put my arms around her and pulled her in. “I’m proud of you, too,” I whispered into her ear. “Thank you.”

She gave me a hard squeeze and drew back. Her smile returned, brilliant and beautiful as always. “Want me to grab you anything from the store?”

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