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Ray was already laughing back in the back seat next to him. “Well, that’s going to change today.”

Pain and guilt began to flood into my chest. Hearing them talk about Noah made me physically sick. I needed to find a way to center myself, and my thoughts, or I’d be coming undone. I had to be smart about how these next minutes worked, and maybe I could make it out of this, and back to him.

So I leaned into my facade. They had to believe I wasn’t bothered.

“Your threats mean nothing to me,” I said, my voice stone. “I understand the punishment.”

Dante laughed. “Do you? I mean, do you really? What if we told you that you were dying today? Huh, Romeo? How would that change things?”

I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “Jace isn’t done with me yet.”

“By the time we’re done with you,” Vance growled, “You’re going to wish we had just popped a cap in your skull.”

Dante tapped the gun on my shoulder. “Stop here.”

I pulled the car off to the side of the road. There wasn’t much here at all, and I wish I knew where exactly we were located. There was a building to my left and the rest was dirt roads and trees on either side. The highway angled across us, and a free way underpass that looked like it pointed to nowhere.

“That’s where we’re headed,” Vance said, then turning back to Dante and Ray, he added, “Don’t forget our bag of toys.”

My whole body tensed at the sound of that one. Fuck. This was going to be worse than I expected. I almost wished Jace was here to do the punishment. Somewhere, deep down, he still had a soft spot for me. It was the whole reason I wasn’t dead yet. Soft spots meant easier manipulation. I would have none of that ability now.

“Out,” Dante barked from behind me.

I turned off the ignition. The keys jingled loud in the quiet. In the distance, a siren wailed, then faded. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself.

“Out,” he said again, this time, cocking the gun and resting the barrel on my neck.

Part of me considered if I should just let them shoot me. Incriminate them with my DNA splattered all over their fancy car. But, I decided against it. I couldn’t show my fear yet.

I opened the door.

The night air smelled stale, exhaust fumes filtering down from the highway. The dust around us had kicked up and caused me to cough. Wherever we were, there wasn’t much to see, let alone people to hear what I was about to endure. Surprisingly, my legs felt steady as I walked around to the back of the car, my cousins flanking me, one on each side, close enough to grab me if I ran.

But I didn’t run. I walked toward the highway and I didn’t look back. Like Jesus carried his cross to his own crucifixion, I too would walk willingly to my fate and honor the sacrifice demanded of me.

I kept Noah’s face in my mind as we approached the concrete slabs. A new smell permeated the air around us—dead animal, at least, that’s what I hoped—baking somewhere in the shadows where the underpass opened to the other side of the highway. There were no street lamps, the only light coming down from the headlights of the cars that would zoom past overhead.

“Stand over there.”

I obeyed, centering myself by the concrete. I didn’t have many options on where to stand. There were three of them, and only one of me, so whatever they had planned was going to happen right here, in the open. And I knew it was going to hurt.

Ray approached, black bag in hand that he smacked down on the ground. I tried to assess by the sound it made what could have been in there, but nothing prepared me for what he pulled out.

Bricks. 1, 2 and 3, I counted internally, as he laid them out in front of us, like a magician does a demonstration out of a top hat.

I stared, wondering what the actual hell they had planned for me today.

“It’s a good thing you pre-made all those pretty billboards,” Dante whispered harshly.

My eyes narrowed at his shit-eating grin. He was absolutely loving this. He had always been a jealous little bitch, as most of the family was, after Jace took me in and under his wing. I guess he thought he’d do better if he were in my place.

By all means, take the damn job. I’d happily abandon this life, if I could have the one person to leave it with.

My Raven.

“Get on with it and stop fucking playing around, before I crack that across your head instead,” I growled.

Vance chuckled. “We know, you love being in charge. Jace assured us that today, that’s not the case.”