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“You need to stop fighting this,” he says, dropping his voice. “I know he brainwashed you, but you’ll see how much he was bringing you down soon.”

Everything he’s saying is so far beyond insanity, I don’t even know how to respond, so I don’t.

He crouches lower, his face inches from mine, while I’m stuck in place, unable to get away. “Don’t worry, angel,” he murmurs. “We can finally be together now. Logan won’t be aproblem anymore. I took care of him like I promised I would. I always keep my promises.”

Dread claws its way up my throat so fast I can’t swallow. I try to hide my worry and school my features, but Kyle sees it, and his gaze darkens like he enjoys seeing me on the edge of panic.

Logan has to be okay because I can’t exist in a world where he isn’t. I’d rather die than continue to try to survive this nightmare with Kyle, but I can’t stop trying. I have to keep fighting for him, for me, for us.

I let out a deep breath and force my expression to remain neutral, steadying myself before I speak.

“I don’t know how to make this any clearer, but I don’t want you, Kyle. I will never want you. The only person I want is Logan. So let me fucking go.”

“No, you’re mine now,” he seethes. “I’ve been waiting so patiently for you. I’m saving you. From him. From yourself. You need me.”

“Saving me?” I spit the words like they’re poison. “How the fuck are you saving me? You tied me to a fucking chair in your basement after kidnapping me! Then you say you stabbed Logan? You tried to get rid of theonlyperson I care about in this world. That’s right, it’s him. Not you, you sick fuck.”

“Oh, I didn’t try, Ryder,” he counters. “I succeeded in removing that obstacle. Watched him collapse right in front of me, saw the blood seeping through his shirt. I know how to stab someone and kill them. It was all his fault. He didn’t listen.”

Everything slows down around me, but my pulse is sprinting. My brain tries to form logic, but all I hear is ‘I succeeded.’ Those two words seem like all that exists now.

He couldn’t have succeeded. I refuse to believe it.

Logan is the love of my life—the only person who’s ever truly seen me and stayed. And not only stayed, but loved me unconditionally, completely, and without hesitation.

He’s the reason half the good things in my life exist at all. He knows how to calm me down without saying a word, and somehow also knows exactly when to push back and keep me on my toes. He makes me laugh in a way no one else ever has. He’s undeniably the best part of me.

When things shifted between us, it didn’t feel strange or sudden. It felt inevitable, like we’d always end up there.

He’s the only person I want close. The only one I want wrapped around me at the end of the day. Even when we were ‘just friends,’ it was always him.

He’s always loved me back the same way—fiercely, fully, and without fear. He believed in me when I struggled to believe in myself.

And if he’s gone—if Kyle took him from me…

Then I don’t know who I am anymore.

I refuse to believe the words coming out of his mouth because there’s no version of me exists without Logan. None.

“You think I wanted to hurt him?” He shakes his head like it’s justified. “I gave him so many chances, Ryder, but he just wouldn’t let you go.”

He actually believes every fucked-up word coming out of his mouth, and he thinks he’s doing me a favor. That Logan’s the villain and I’m supposed to thank him for ‘removing the obstacle.’ I want to vomit, cry, scream, but instead, I suck in a sharp breath, clinging to the rage I feel about Kyle and this situation because if I let myself spiral into the fear tightening around my ribs, I’ll fall apart.

“You ignored me because of him, and I don’t like beingignored, Ryder,” he cautions, and I can hear the calm in his tone start to dissolve.

“You’re a fucking psycho,” I snap. “Just like I said when we were at the station, I do not want you, Kyle.” I drag each word out as much as possible so he can hear the utter disdain in my voice. I’m playing with fire, but in this moment, I don’t care. Fuck him for talking about Logan like this. Fuck him for thinking he’s doing me a favor.

He exhales sharply through his nose and starts pacing in a slow circle around me, dragging his hand across my shoulders, like he’s the predator and I’m his prey.

“I’m going to give you a chance to apologize for that, Ryder,” he says, his voice low and cold. “It’s the conditioning from Logan. He made you dependent on him,” he snarls. “But if you keep saying things like that, I’m going to have to show you how wrong you are.”

Every single cell in my body is revolting at what he’s insinuating. The idea of him touching me, forcing this twisted, sick fantasy, has me biting my tongue so hard I taste blood. He keeps saying I’m not listening, but he’s the one refusing to hear me.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Ryder. I never did,” he sighs. “But you need to understand?—”

He stops right behind me, his breath brushing against my ear, and I flinch before I can stop myself. Completely repulsed by him.

“You do not get to disrespect me like that,” he finishes, his voice angry.