He sucks in a thin, broken breath when I let go.
Then he starts laughing.
At first it’s small.
A rough, wet sound that barely makes it past his split lip.
Then it grows.
Victor throws his head back and laughs until the sound fills the room. Until tears leak from the corners of his swollen eyes. Until his whole body shakes so hard the chair scrapes against the floor.
Bones looks at Spike.
Foster goes completely still.
“He’s lost it,” Nico mutters from the now open doorway.
Victor laughs until he nearly chokes on it.
Then, slowly, the laughter dies.
His head rolls forward.
His breath comes ragged.
For a moment, all I hear is that.
Breathing.
His.
Mine.
The men waiting.
The clock somewhere in the room ticking off seconds I can’t afford to lose.
Victor lifts his gaze to mine.
And smiles.
Not with victory.
With cruelty.
“You’ll never find them,” he tells me. “Wanna know how I know?”
“Did you kill them?” I ask brokenly.
Victor’s smile is slow.
Cruel.
“I know you’ll never find them for one simple fact,” he says. “I don’t have your family, Moretti.”
The words don’t land at first.
They slide past me, meaningless.
