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SAGE
“Sage, I know you’re there. I could hear you two whispering before Jamie opened the door,” Alex called out to me.
I didn’t answer. The rage I had for him made my entire body tremble. I shuffled farther away when he started talking again.
“Niko and Geo are in the kitchen. You can’t go back that way unless you’d rather see my brothers. Just come in here so we can talk—”
“Sage, run, get out of—” Jamie yelled, until a thump and loud groan came through the open doorway. If it was just Alex in there, maybe Jamie and I could take him. I didn’t think Alex would hurt me. At least, I hoped so. I crept into the room, and my hope of Alex being alone disappeared. The room was completely empty except for three people.
Eric was standing behind Jamie, and confusion hit me. He had just been in the great room. How the hell did he get in here before me? Then I remembered that Eric had mentioned a second staircase somewhere in the house. Dread coiled through my limbs as I realized how impossible it was to get out of here when being chased by men who knew this house like the back of their hands.
Jamie’s arm was twisted up behind his back, with Eric gripping it tightly. Eric’s other hand was around Jamie’s mouth. Jamie started shaking his head, silently telling me to run. Run where? The kitchen was blocked by the twins. There was another door behind Jamie, which was impossible to get to now. Eric pulled higher on Jamie’s arm to get him to stop moving, and he grunted in pain.
“Come closer, away from the door. Actually, you can shut the door,” Alex told me as he eyed the knife in my hand.
I glared at him while I did what he said and moved into the center of the room. He circled around me, blocking the door I had come through.
“It’s a good thing I can lie better than you can,” he said quietly. His gaze was still glued to the knife. I squinted at him, not understanding for a second, until I realized what he meant. And he made sure he was in front of the door before he said that.
“They were never in the kitchen, were they?” Fury coated my voice at being tricked. I should have known to do the opposite of what he’d told me. But then I glanced over at Jamie. I wouldn’t have been able to leave him there.
“I don’t know where they are.” Alex shrugged. “But you must have seen them if you know they’re here.”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Sage, give me the knife so we can talk.”
“No.”
“If you hurt me, then Jamie gets hurt. You don’t want that, do you?”
“No.”
“Then give me the knife.”
“No.”
His eyes flashed with anger when I refused to talk to him. I stood my ground, although my stare faltered. I knew how easily he could overpower me, and I was guessing even the knife wouldn’t help much.
“You agreed to marry me. You’re going to be my wife. I’m bringing you into my family, and this is a part of it. I thought reading the book would help you understand. Maybe my brother was right…maybe we should stay up here for a bit,” he threatened, taking a step closer to me.
My mouth dropped open slightly as I thought about my options. No way in hell I was staying in this house with him. Niko had hinted what would happen if I didn’t stay by Alex’s side. If I didn’t cooperate, there was nothing stopping them from killing me like they had Lacey.
“Alex, you have to understand. I just saw my sister get killed—” My voice broke, and I swallowed hard. Jamie wailed from beneath Eric’s hand, and I looked at him, sending a silent apology. Tears of devastation filled his eyes, and I wished this wasn’t how he’d had to find out.
“You weren’t supposed to know—”
“Yes, but I do know. You can’t just expect me to be okay with it immediately. I still love you, but I need time to digest,” I said softly as I turned back toward him. The words were barely above a whisper. Saying them without cringing took everything I had. I matched his stare, hoping my pain was concealing my rage. He didn’t say a word as he studied me, trying to see if I was lying. For once, I didn’t feel my face get hot with the lie. Probably because right now, all I felt was hate.
“You still want to marry me?” he asked, some of the tension leaving him.
“Yes, I do. But we need to take everything slow.”
Jamie tried to yell through Eric’s hand, trying with everything he had to get away. Eric turned him around and slammed Jamie face-first into the wall with his arm still pulled tightly behind him. I grimaced when blood began pouring from his nose.
I focused back on Alex. “What’s going to happen to Jamie?”
“We’ll talk about everything when you hand me the knife.” He came closer and stretched his arm toward me.
I nodded, not moving a muscle as he got near me. When he went to grab it the knife, I tightened my grip and swung it, slicing his hand.
“Fuck,” Alex screamed as he ripped his hand away. Without thinking about it, I lunged at him, aiming for the largest part of him so I wouldn’t miss. I put my weight behind it and plunged the blade into his stomach, right near his hip.
The knife sank in all the way to the hilt, and my eyes widened in shock. It was so easy. It sliced through him as if it were nothing. I’d just stabbed someone, but I didn’t have an ounce of guilt. Survival was the only thing on my mind.
Alex’s gaze darted from his wound to my face, his mouth opening as if wanting to say something, but no words came out. My hands shook, not from what I’d done, but from adrenaline. I pulled the knife out and pushed him to the floor before running to Jamie.
Eric’s eyes flashed in anger, and he pulled Jamie back from me as if debating about letting him go so he could defend himself. Before I got close enough to do anything, Eric threw Jamie down on the ground and kicked him in the stomach. He stepped over him and advanced toward me. I raised my weapon to cut him, but he was faster. And unlike Alex, he was expecting it. He grabbed my wrist and bent it back until I shrieked in pain. The knife dropped onto the floor, and Eric kicked it under the closed door behind us.
