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Remi still loves her brother, but she doesn’t trust him anymore—which is why when he lunges at me, stabbing the scalpel upward at my neck, Remi is ready.
She shoots him in the chest.
Jude falls backward, blood bubbling from his mouth. His lips move silently as he curses the empty sky.
Remi throws the gun away and runs to her brother’s side, lifting his head, tears spilling down on his face.
But Jude is gone, beyond the reach of apology or regret.
* * *
EPILOGUE
REMI
Iguess I finally know how Dane feels.
I was acquitted of murdering my brother and Gideon, but I don’t think most people in town believe it.
Everywhere I go, they whisper and mutter behind my back.
Even Rhonda seems a little scared of me now. Emma says she’s started calling me the Black Widow.
I can’t say it doesn’t upset me, but I’ve still got my true friends. Emma only finds me more interesting now that she thinks I’ve got a dark side, and I’ve started having lunch with Amy Archer, who has some pretty crazy stories of her own about her murderess mother.
The truth is, in Grimstone, everyone’s got a dark side…
The question is, how tight a leash do you keep on your monster?
Most of all, I have Dane.
Since the day I lost my parents, I felt alone.
I thought it was because I was in charge of Jude and there was no one to take care of me.
We should have taken care of each other.
Love is trust and respect.
Jude never respected me, and I damn sure couldn’t trust him.
It makes me cringe when I remember all the times he mocked me to my face:
You only see the good in people…
You only see what you want to see…
I used to have that nightmare of Jude being sucked down under the sea. What I should have realized is that Jude was already gone. He drowned his soul the day he killed our parents.
I was clinging to what I wanted to believe I saw inside of him. My greatest fear was losing the only person I had left.
My attachment to that false image of my brother is what kept me so alone. I loved a lie without ever understanding why it felt so hollow.
Jude had his fangs sunk in my neck, and he drained me dry. He took without giving. He kept me just weak enough to always be afraid.
It was Dane who told me I was smart and strong.
Dane helped me to not fear the truth.
