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"We'll go in soon," Parker tells me. "But first we need to talk about something."
"What's that?"
"Junebug." I swallow thickly as he utters the name, fighting the urge to tell him never to call her that. He's going to ruin the nickname I gave her.
"What about her?"
"I know you're in love with her, Kade." He smirks at my crestfallen expression. "Oh, come on. It's never been a secret, has it? I've seen you pining after her for fucking years. Everyone knew."
"Who told you?" I demand.
"It was obvious." He shrugs carelessly. As he speaks, I hear a faint sound, but I write it off as a figment of my imagination, unable to quite make out the words. "To everyone, Kade. But it was wrong. Everyone knew it was wrong, including Rachel." My face falls, and he laughs at me. "Surprised I know about that, too? Rachel and I were close, remember? She trusted me. Maybe she shouldn't have."
"Maybe," I mutter. "What's your point, anyway?"
"You and June were never meant to be together," he goes on. "She belongs to me, not you."
"She's not property, Parker."
"Of course she is." He laughs easily, and I fight the urge to strangle him. Looking at him now, here, it feels like I never knew him at all. He's like a different person, making me wonder whether he's always been like this, hiding his true self from me all these years. "That's the fucking point, Kade. You need to step aside. You need to let us have our own love story."
"What love story?" I narrow my eyes at him. "She doesn't love you, Parker."
But then June's words ring out in my head. She said she fucked him. She said he was better than me. Is it possible that it's the truth? That Parker got his hands on my girl?
"She will," he goes on confidently. "Eventually, she will."
"That's sick." I shake my head in disbelief. "You can't force people to fall in love with you."
"That's what you think." He laughs. "Now come on. Let's go inside."
He unlocks the doors leading into the tomb. We take the stairs. It's dark inside, but Parker brought a lighter, and he lights some of the candles to guide us. We're almost all the way to the bottom of the tomb when I spot her. I nearly trip over her body, slumped at the bottom of the stairs, and my eyes widen, pupils dilating when I realize it's her.
"June?" I kneel next to her, heart pounding as I take her lifeless, tired body in my arms. "Oh my fucking God, June?"
"That's right," Parker says. "Here she is. You wanted to find her, didn't you?"
"You're a fucking monster," I spit out as I cradle my stepsister's unconscious body in my arms. "Are you crazy?"
"Of course I am." He laughs. "Did it take you this long to figure that out, you pathetic piece of shit?"
I gently lay June down and face my brother. The fact that his face is a mirror image of mine is fucking disturbing, and my hands form fists at my sides as we stare at one another. "You think you're going to get away with this?"
"No." He laughs. "That's why you're going to stay right here, and June and I will go back together."
"You can't keep me here," I snarl.
"Oh, but I can." He smirks, so fucking confident in his plan it only pisses me off more. "You're Parker now. And I'm Kade."
"What?" I spit out. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"I'm leaving with June," he says. "You're dying in here. She won't even know who I am. Maybe I'll tell her... Once she's in love with me. Until then, though, she'll think I'm you."
"There's a fatal flaw in this little masterplan of yours," I grunt. "June could always tell us apart. Remember?"
His expression falls, but then he just shrugs. "Doesn't matter to me, as long as everyone else believes it. Now be a good boy and go into the tomb."
"How are you going to make me do that?"
"Easy." He smirks, pulling a carving knife from his pocket. He removes the safety on it, and it glints in the candlelight. There's dried blood on it. With a sick feeling settling in my stomach, I wonder if it's Dove's, from when he carved up her face. "You're going to listen because if you don't, I'll hurt you both."
"You'd hurt June? I thought you loved her," I growl.
"Love is for the weak," he says. "Obsession, on the other hand... Now obsession is a wonderful fucking thing, brother dearest."
He approaches me with the knife, and I use my body to shield June's. At this point, I don't even know if she's fucking breathing, but I'll do everything in my power to protect her from my twin.
"Don't hurt her," I hiss. "Don't you fucking dare."
"Then get out of my fucking way."
