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“Hey! Woah, there, new girl. Mel, you really need to have this girl read an anatomy book. A little further to the left, and you wouldn’t get any answers out of me, even if there were any to get.” I said through gritted teeth.

Mel seemed unperturbed as she continued to toss out the same questions over and over as her unskilled apprentice hacked away at my torso. It didn’t take long before I couldn’t offer any more witty banter as a cover. It took every ounce of control I had to keep from screaming as the blade bit into me time and time again.

I was back on my knees in the middle of the road surrounded by Jackals, except something wasn’t right. There was a haziness to everything that made it seem far away. Candy’s malicious smile was twisted into something more bizarre and inhuman as she pointed her gun toward Rich. Her finger tensed on the trigger, the bullet leaving the muzzle in slow motion. My eyes tracked it as it slowly closed the distance to Rich. It felt like hours ticked by before he collapsed backward on the pavement.

Leighton snarled something beside me. Turning my head to look at him, I barely had time to catch the pain that streaked across his features before they twisted into the monster he became whenever he worked. He moved at the same time as Az did, tackling the Jackal that stood behind him to the ground as Az forced Joey under him. The men who’d had them at gunpoint fired their weapons, the bullets barely missing my friends.

My eyes blinked open and landed on Mel leaning against the metal table with her arms crossed. The dried and flaking blood across my upper body left me with an all-consuming need to scratch, but my hands were still chained above my head.

“Welcome back.” Mel spoke. “You ready to talk now?”

“Your girl needs more work. I could give her a few pointers, even though this wasn’t usually my job. I pay attention.” I huffed out, my voice raspier than I wanted it to be.

Mel sighed heavily. “We could have done this the easy way, you know. All you had to do was answer the questions.”

“Mel. Ididanswer your questions. It’s not my fault you don’t believe the truth when it’s dropped in your lap. You always were a stubborn woman.” I said, trying to get her to understand I was sincerely telling her the truth.

“I’m going to give you some time to think about the situation you’re in. Maybe a little time to reflect will leave you more willing to cooperate.” Mel pushed away from the table and started to walk away.

“Wait, Mel!” I called out, causing her to pause, “Tell me something… Is Bunny okay? Did she make it out of the wreck?” My tone was almost pleading; I needed to know she was okay.

She didn’t answer me. Instead, she flipped the lights off and left me in the dark. I don’t know how long I hung there in the dark. My mind turned everything that had happened over, looking for any answers, though I wasn’t even sure what questions I was asking beyond the one Mel refused to answer.

I felt the cold steel press against the back of my skull. The air was thick like it had been smothered with smoke. My heartbeat was so loud it threatened to drown out everything else, but nothing could drown out the sound of Rich’s voice–heavy, pleading, and breaking as he begged Victoria to choose anyone but him. Telling her everything we’d all known far longer than he had. Candy raised her gun, Victoria spoke, but I couldn’t make out the words.

The gun went off.

The sound split the world open, sharp and violent, and Rich’s head snapped back as the bullet tore through him. Bloodsprayed into the air, catching the light like some sick kind of halo. He crumpled, folding backward, and hit the ground with a sickening thud. Candy’s calm and commanding voice cut through the static in my mind as I watched the scene unfold.

“Last chance,” she said. “Choose, or I’ll do it for you.”

I could hear Victoria, my Victoria–ourVictoria–screaming. Screaming like I’d never heard her before, her voice raw with a pain that shook me to my core. I’d never get that sound out of my mind. She dropped to her knees, reaching for Rich’s body like she could undo it. Her hands shook, desperate, but he was gone. There was nothing that could take this back.

Joey roared, his mouth open in a furious scream, but it was a sound of loss, not rage. Az tackled Joey to the ground, trying to keep him from charging forward, trying to save what little he could from the chaos. They were struggling, Joey clawing to get away.

Two more gunshots. And they stopped fighting. Az lay on top of Joey’s body, and both of them eerily still.

Leighton. The sound that tore out of him was inhuman, some feral animal taking over. His body shifted with rage so fast it was like the earth beneath him might crack open. He surged forward, hands outstretched, and tore through the Jackal behind him like a paper doll. A blur of violence. The crunch of bone. Nothing was going to stop him.

Until the thunderous sound of buckshot tore through the air, and Leighton’s body blew backward, landing on Az and Joey like he was leaning back against them… with a hole in his chest and blank, lifeless eyes staring at me.

And here I was. Watching. Trapped. Still kneeling, the gun pressed into my skull, powerless.

I watched Victoria claw through the grime and blood on the ground, unsure where to go first. Her screams and criesbroke something fundamental inside me. It was the symphony that marked the end of my family.

I woke with a start, jerking against my chains. My dreams were another form of torment. Taunting me with the deaths of all my brothers. Blowing out a harsh breath, I worked to reassure myself that Az, Leighton, and Joey were alive. They could have gotten away after I’d been knocked unconscious. I just needed to figure out how to get out of my current predicament, and I would find them alive and well.

“Ready to answer my questions now?” Mel’s voice cut through the darkness just before the lights flicked on overhead, temporarily blinding me.

“I told you, Mel, I already gave you the truth.”

“I wish this could have been different, Craig.” She sighed, snapping her fingers in a signal that had Anna stepping forward.

Round and round, we went again. Mel peppered me with the same questions, and I gave the same answers. Her apprentice slicing me open, each cut sloppier and more deadly than the last. It felt like hours, maybe even days, had passed, my limbs growing heavier, my mind growing foggier, and a cold sensation settling into my bones. The blood loss was dizzying, and I knew it was only a matter of time before Mel’s apprentice screwed up and killed me.

The heavy, familiar scent of coffee and wood wafted through the air. The dining room was bright and familiar. The table was cluttered with papers, some of Az’s books, and coffee mugs. Like nothing had changed. But my mind itched. Everything had changed. It felt like a trick, the kind that didn’t make sense no matter how long you stared at it.

I stood there in the doorway for a long moment, confused. Rich was sitting at the head of the table, his eyesflicking up from the paper he was reading. He looked… like he was just taking a break. Like it was any other morning.