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My mouth drops open. I knew his mother disappeared. I knew she was probably dead, but to hear him admit it . . .
My jaw chatters as I shake.
“She starved him, and there wasn’t anything I could do. Calling anyone would have gotten him shipped off. We would have been separated. She beat him when he cried. Hated him for destroying her life. Did you know she made money sleeping with men? Sometimes, she’d bring them back to the house. They would look at him . . .” He closes his eyes, his jaw tightening, the grip on the knife turning his knuckles white. “It was only a matter of time before she let them have a turn with him, too.”
The rage in his voice has me shivering, but despite the fear he inflicts in me, my heart lurches in my chest for the Abbott boys. A frightened child raising another frightened child forced to grow up too soon. Forced to watch the person you love most in the world tortured and abused by the mother who should’ve loved him the most.
Despite the fact that he’s absolutely mentally unstable, I can’t help but wonder if he was always like this or if she made him this way.
“What happened next?” I whisper, my voice laced with sadness.
Stone gets a far-off look and walks back over to me. “The time came. I heard her with one of her men. She was going to let them hurt North.”
“What did you do?”
“I did what I had to. Gloria was my first. I stopped her and saved my brother. I held her down, and when she lay beneath me struggling, kicking, begging; I sliced her neck. To save North. Always for North.”
Stone kneels down by my hands, and I feel the pressure from the knife, slowly cutting through my palm. I can’t scream out.
It’s all too much.
Everything is going fuzzy in my sight. I see him bring his blood-covered fingers up to my forehead. Wetness creeps over my skin.
Bile coats my mouth at the tone of his voice. “Everything for North.”
47
Cain
The car weaves all over the street, swerving left and right as I try to make it in time to Layla. It’s not much farther. I just need to go faster.
I make the turn, and then I’m on a back road. I can’t drive too fast on this gravel, or I’ll crash. I won’t make it to her. But I need to get there.
I might already be too late.
Stone doesn’t need much time to do his crazy fucking shit. The only saving grace is that he’s left me a clue. He wants me there. He wants me to watch him kill her.
That’s what he does. He wants me to know, wants me to see how he behaves.
Like that day all those years ago. The day my life changed.
The day I was forced to become Cain.
“Please. You can’t kill me.”
Stone is hunched over Cynthia. His face close to hers. I move forward to watch. To see what he’s doing.
“You should be honored.” Stone scoffs. “I don’t pick just anyone.”
“But—”
His free hand reaches out, silencing her.
“Shh,” he coos, and I watch as he trails the blade across her throat.
“Be a good girl.”
Cynthia shakes beneath him, and that’s when he runs the blade across her throat. A bright red crimson line spreads in its wake. It’s not deep. Not enough to kill.
I need to do something. Say something. But I’m transfixed.
Stuck in place, watching the blood. I’m so enthralled that I don’t notice Stone looking toward me.
“North.”
I shake myself out of the trance and look at my brother.
“It’s time.”
I stare at him, not understanding. “Time for what?”
“Time to be the man I know you can be. Everything I have done, I’ve done for you.”
He stands, leaving a sobbing Cynthia on the floor.
“Please help me, North,” she cries. I don’t look at her. Instead, I watch my brother as he comes closer.
He stands in front of me, reaches out his hand, and takes mine in his.
“This is for you. She is for you.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Everything I have ever done is to protect you, North . . .” He places the hilt of the blade in my hand. “Now it’s your time.”
The knife gleams in my hand. The blade beckons me to use it. It taunts me. My reflection staring back.
It would be so easy.
I move toward Cynthia. Stone is behind me.
“Straddle her stomach,” he says, and I follow his order. Stone steps up behind me. He’s guiding me with his words. “Place the knife on her neck.”
I do.
“Now cut, North. Slice her neck.”
“Please, North. Don’t,” Cynthia cries.
“Shut up, Cynthia!” Stone bellows, his voice ringing in my ear. He’s too close. I can’t breathe.
“I did everything for you. I killed them all for you. All for North. Everything for North.” He’s talking to himself, not to me. His voice is in my ear, yet so far away.
