AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I still hadn’t landed on anything when Renard came back, hours later.
Or at least, it felt like it.
“You’ve got a visitor.” He grinned. “Would you like to see? Here she is now,” he said, gesturing behind me.
My eyes went wide as two moreThornswalked in, dragging an unconscious Tati and by her arms.
What is she doing here?!
My mind surged with rage, and a deep, piercing ring started up somewhere in the back of my head as Renard ambled closer to me. I tried to force my interruption song to be louder, thought about nothingbutthat, but the stupidity of me not adhering to Alicia’s instructions was abundantly clear.
Now, more than ever.
“This was fun—if not over a little too fast,” Renard said. “But I can say without reservation, I am going to beso gladto have you back in my number. You lookjust likeyour lovely mother; do you know that?” he asked. “Of course you know that; that’s why you are always aparticularfavorite of mine.” He smiled, like the creep he was. “Now, we have things to do, so I want you to go ahead and take that gun in your hands…” He patted me on the shoulder. “And kill her.”
I raised the gun before I could tell my brain not to, aiming it right at Tati.
The ringing in my head intensified, like my brain was going to implode, but I committed every fiber in me tonotpulling that trigger.
“Did you not hear what I said,” Renard snarled at me, a slight hint of panic in his voice. “Kill her,” he demanded, and my finger moved to the trigger, hands violently trembling from the mental effort tonotdo that.
But it was a battle I was losing.
I could feel the fragile thread barely keeping me in control fraying down to the last fibers.
With the last of my strength, I turned the gun, pointing it at my own chin instead.
And then… the gunshot.
It was deafening.
Crackling through my ears, muffling any hints of sound, lighting my brain on fire, making it hard to focus in on any of my senses.
What the hell just happened?
I blinked hard, and opened my eyes.
Tati was on the ground, bothThornsbeside her.
“Don’t you move afuckingmuscle,” I heard, just before I watched Margeaux emerge from the shadows, gun held high, and pointed straight at me.
No, not me.
Renard.
“My beautiful niece—”
“Don’t you dare address me,” Margeaux droned.
I pulled my gun from my chin, pointing it at Renard.
I could still hear the song blasting through the speakers, but felt no pull to do anything I didn’t want.
“Who should have the honor?” I asked Margeaux, as she came to stand next to me.
“Well, we only got in here because you’d already cleared the path for us,” she said. “And I made your girlfriend be the sexy decoy. I didn’t know they were gonna knock her out like that though, I feel bad,” she said, glancing over at where Tati was still sprawled on the ground, the only one of the three people there who didn’t have a puddle of blood coming out of her.
In that moment, Renard had the bright idea to try to run, and without a second thought, I fired.
