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“Too late? What do you mean?” Tania asks.
I turn in Gray’s lap so I can face the detectives. “Until Devil’s Night he didn’t fucking care about me at all. Only his new pussy. He didn’t care one bit about the things Gunner did to me, or… or…”
“Or what?” Tania prompts softly.
As my anger spikes again, I feel Gray’s hands on my hips. It’s subtle, but enough to remind me he’s there and that he’s on my side.
“I don’t want to say it with you here,” I murmur quietly to Gray. “You should leave.”
“I’m not fucking going anywhere, Princess,” he shoots back.
Nodding, I concede because I already knew as much. But it makes it harder to speak since I don’t want Gray to have to hear what Gunner did to me.
“When I first arrived at the Reapers’ place, they told me their new VP had claimed me. But I didn’t see him for days. So I was left with Rusty and his insane sister, who’s with my dad. Though I don’t think it’s real, I think she’s playing him.”
Now that I’ve unlocked all the shit inside me, I prattle on from the beginning and word vomitalmostevery single thing that happened.
The main thing I manage to keep to myself is the way Gunner made me come in my sleep when I was first with them. I can’t see how it’s going to help anyone to know, and if at all possible, I never want Gray finding out.
“It’s not your fault,” Steven assures me after I tell them about having to pick the way Johnny died.
Tania scoffs. “Absolutely not. You weren’t his executioner, Zoe. And even if you were, it was by force.” She shifts in her chair before continuing. “The same goes for Chris Brooks. That wasn’t your fault either. The way you explained things I don’t think Gunner would have let him live, regardless. And even if he was alive when you left, it would only be a matter of days. The Reapers never leave any loose ends. It’s not part of their M.O.”
Their words don’t completely absolve me of the guilt I feel, but they do make me feel better about it.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, Zoe?”
At first, I flinch at Tania’s question. It’s harsh and sounds like I’m incapable of following the simplest logic. But when I look at her, her imploring gaze has me relaxing again.
“It’s not your fault, and it’s important you know and believe that. None of it was your fault. You didn’t cause the deaths. You were put in an impossible situation, which was probably their intention.” Tania’s voice hardens toward theend. She furrows her brows and again looks down at her phone.
“I understand,” I breathe.
Steven opens one of the folders on the table and skims over the contents before closing it again. “Do you have anything with Gunner’s DNA on it?” he asks, suddenly.
I blanch. “His DNA?” I squeak.
“We don’t need that,” Tania hisses at her partner.
At the same time Gray growls, “What the hell kind of fucked up question is that?”
“To link him to the case,” Steven sighs. “Look, I know it’s insensitive to ask, and I’m sorry for that. But we—”
Catching on to where he’s going with this, I bark out a laugh. “No, detective, I don’t have his DNA.”
“It’s okay, Zoe, we don’t need it,” Tania reassures me, but I ignore her.
Steven’s question has stirred something inside me, something that wants out. I don’t even think as I roll the sleeves up on the shirt I’m wearing.
“But what about his teeth indents?” I ask, not paying attention to Tania’s gasp or Gray’s growl. “Or how about where he fucking branded me?” I twist and pull at the shirt to show them the marred skin on my shoulder. “I have a million and fucking one scars he’s left behind. Is that the kind of evidence you were looking for, Steven? If not, there might be some of his fucking sperm swimming around inside my body somewhere.”
I’m like a woman possessed as I show them some of what I’ve been hiding. Again I get the feeling of being a spectator, watching myself lash out rather than experiencing it.
Tania tilts her head to the side and stares straight at me. “Zoe, I have to ask if you’ve seen a doctor since you… escaped?”
I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s deduced as much as the reason I’m back is because I’ve escaped. If Tania really knows the Reapers as well as she claims, she knows there’s no other way I’d be here right now.
“No,” I say, looking down at the table.
