"Go on, Lucy," he laughs, a dry, hollow sound that echoes against the café walls.
"Tell me. Is she worth it? Is Madeline worth the darkness that follows her?"
My hand twitches. I have the power to destroy him right now. One sentence.We share a father, you sick fuck. And this whole cage he’s built around us would crumble. But I look at Madeline, and her face is a mask of pure, desperate agony. She’s begging me with her eyes to keep the secret.
He is leaning back now, his shoulder brushing against mine, acting like we’re all just old friends catching up. But the look he gives Madeline is different, possessive. He’s enjoying the way she’s unraveling.
"You’re so protective of her, Lucy," he says, his voice like silk over sandpaper. He turns a slow, mocking smile toward Madeline.
"But does the anchor know what the Doctor is truly capable of? Does she know about the mess I cleaned up last night?"
Madeline’s face goes pale again.
"Deimos, don't," she whispers, her hands disappearing under the table to hide their shaking.
"Bryan wasn't just a message, Lucy," he continues, leaning in closer to me, his breath cold against my cheek.
"He was a test. And your precious Madeline... she passed. It wasn't my blade that finally silenced him. It was hers."
I feel like the floor has just dropped out from under the café. I look at Madeline, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
"Mali? What is he talking about?"
"I had to!"
Madeline suddenly erupts, her voice is a desperate sob that draws looks from the tables around us. She leans across the booth, her eyes wide and pleading, directed straight at me.
"Lucy, you weren't there. You didn't see him. Bryan he... he was suffering. He was beyond saving, and Deimos..."
She stops, her gaze flickering to him with pure, unadulterated hatred.
"He told me if I didn't end it, he’d suffer even more. He forced me to choose, Lucy! He made me the monster so he could keep his own hands clean."
Deimos just laughs, a low, melodic sound that makes my skin crawl.
"I didn't force you to do anything, Madeline. I simply gave you the opportunity to show mercy. You chose the ending. You’re the one who felt his heart stop under your own fingers."
I stare at them both, my head spinning. The man who made her do it is sitting right next to me, smelling like sandalwood and death, completely unaware that the girl he’s sitting next to is his sister. The irony is so thick it’s suffocating. He’s trying to break Madeline by showing me her darkness, but he doesn't realize that the darkness he's so proud of is literally running through my veins too.
"You're fucking sick," I spit out, my voice surprisingly steady despite the chaos in my brain.
"You broke her on purpose just so you could have someone as twisted as you are to own."
Deimos turns his bloodshot eyes back to me, the complete madness in them flickering.
"We are all twisted, Lucy. Some of us just stop pretending otherwise."
I watch as Deimos leans to Madeline, ignoring the way she flinches. His presence is like a heavy, suffocating shroud, and the void in his eyes seems to sharpen as he looks at her.
"You think you can just turn me off, little storm?"
He murmurs, his voice a low, intimate rasp that makes my stomach turn.
"Do you think that rejection changed anything? It only made the design more interesting. You’re the only person in this gray, pathetic world who actually has a pulse. You’re the blood in my veins, Madeline. You’re the only thing that makes me feel like I’m actually building something that matters."
He reaches out, his thumb dragging slowly, possessively across her lower lip. Madeline is frozen, her eyes wide and glassy with a mixture of terror and a sick, forced compliance.
"I’m looking forward to having you back," he whispers, a dark, twisted promise flickering in his expression.
