He cares about me. I know he does. In his cold, controlled, terrifying way, Knox Eastman loves his little sister.
But he's in a secure pack now. Has an Omega to love—a powerful badass woman who survived the walls of Dead Knot. He has a family. A future. A reason to live that extends beyond the burning need for vengeance.
And me?
What do I have?
I can't dance.
The thought lands like a blow.
I can't learn or excel.
Another hit.
I can't send letters.
The trifecta of destruction.
Soon they'll take my townhome away.
The knockout punch.
Everything I've fought for. Everything I've killed for. Everything I've survived for.
Gone.
Being stripped away piece by piece until there's nothing left but the empty shell of a girl who used to dream of Juilliard.
I lower my bag to the ground, reaching inside for the envelope I grabbed earlier.
After I left Sage locked to my bed—and I’m sure he got out—I stopped by the post office. One last time. Maria wasn't there, but the mail was, and my box had something inside.
I haven't opened it yet.
Haven't been brave enough.
Because if it’s a letter saying my townhouse is up for grabs, too…
Then everything really is over.
My fingers tremble as I reach for the envelope?—
And a voice cuts through the silence.
"The point of this meeting was to give me the whereabouts of Eastman."
I freeze.
The voice is male. Deep. Carrying the kind of authority that comes from being born into power and never having to fight for it.
"It wasn't about you trying to jump me."
I slip behind a tree, pressing my body against the rough bark, making myself small and invisible the way I learned to do years ago.
Survive first. Investigate after.
Through the branches, I can see them.
