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Damian laughs, and it’s a cackling sound that makes the hairs on my arms stand up.

“So you know him well. When did you—” His eyes grow wide for a moment, and then his jaw clenches. “You knew him before I met you. You’re his plant.”

My head grows so heavy I sway forward. “What?” My voice is breathless. “I’ve barely talked to him. He came to my room tonight and told me my dad’s in the hospital.”

He shakes his head. “I should have seen it coming. Are you working with him or his dad?”

My head swims. “What are you talking about?”

“Give up your ruse now, Ava, unless you want to join him in the trunk.”

I shake my head. “There is no ruse. I mean, not one involving me.”

“Stop lying! Your loyalty to Kane is nothing to me. You’re mine, and I intend to keep you. Tell me the truth. Now.”

I let out a moan. “I already told you.”

“Do you want me to change my mind? Do you want to die, Ava?”

Something inside me cracks and crumbles away. I slam my fist against the dashboard. Damian jumps, his eyes widening.

“Just kill me now!” I shout. “Get it over with. I know it’s coming. It was always coming.”

The truth hits me. Not like a lightning bolt. Slowly. Quietly. Like the sun going down and darkness filling my heart.

“I’m already dead,” I whisper. “You were always going to kill me. My fate was sealed when I took my oath.”

No, it was sealed before that. When Rhett took me to the party that night. When Damian spoke to him, he used the word “sacrifice.”

I never really believed it. It was too much to comprehend at the time, too fantastical.

Not anymore.

I’m pulled out of my daze when the car stops. “Calm down, precious girl.” Damian’s voice is gentle. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Didn’t mean what?”

The touch of his hand on my forehead makes me jerk against the passenger window. “You’re hurt.”

“No.”

“You hit your head.”

A fuzzy memory enters my consciousness. The sound of a crack. The explosive pain inside my head. It’s all so distant though… Like it happened to someone else.

“Yes,” I say. “I think I did.”

Those dark eyes scan my face. The look of fury is now a distant memory. His expression now looks anxious.

“What year is it, Ava?”

I scowl. “Whatyearis it? Do you think I have a concussion?”

He smiles faintly, but his brow is furrowed. “Just answer me, little doll.”

I jerk away from him. “I think you’re the one with the concussion. Did it not occur to you that I might be shocked after having my life threatened? After watching you beat the life out of someone—who’s supposed to be your friend—and then…” My heart jumps into my throat. “Damian, please. We need to go. We have to get Kane to the hospital.”

When I turn to him, he’s smiling warmly. He reaches out and strokes the hair from my forehead. “No need to go to the hospital now. I’ll send for a doctor. Just to be sure.”