Page 74 of Behind the Shadows

My chest caved inward. I fought the wave, that crashing undertow of memories, the dark, loneliness, the locked doors, but it surged up anyway.

“Two redheaded angels, dropped right in our laps,” she said, almost fondly. “So pretty. So perfect. So easy to pass along.”

A cold sweat broke out down my spine. “You sold us.”

Her pale lips twitched. “We saved you.”

“Saved me?!” My voice cracked sharp, ripping through the silence. “You handed us over to monsters.”

She whispered it like a prayer, “And you survived.”

The walls closed in, and my vision blurred at the edges.

“I survived because Ally died!” I choked, tears I didn’t want, didn’t mean, burning hot down my cheeks. “I survived because I slit Dom’s throat and ran until my feet bled.”

Her attention didn’t waver. “A girl like you was never meant for softness.”

My palm pressed against the weight of my weapon. A reminder and a promise that I was safe. Yet, the hate inside ofme nearly doubled me over, the scream caught behind my teeth so violent it burned. I wanted to pull the trigger. God, I wanted to. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not like this.

Her smile slipped slightly, something old and brittle showing underneath. “You were Samantha back then,” she added, with a cold, idle cruelty, like she was recalling the name of a doll she’d discarded. “Your sister never let go of her real name, but you? You slipped into the new one like it belonged to you.”

Then, the final blow, soft as a whisper on the air:

“You don’t know who you are, do you?”

32

KIP

My stomach twisted into knots as I paced the small room, staring at my phone and willing Holland to message me back.

“Where are you?” I muttered.

A sudden unease coasted over me as images of Draco getting his hands on her entered my mind. We hadn’t heard from him in a week, but I knew he was watching her, planning. She was armed and could certainly defend herself. I saw it myself when Cooper was attacking her. She was smart. Calculated. Even so, I needed to know that she was safe. See it for myself.

“I need to go check on Holland. She hasn’t messaged me back, which is weird.” I took a minute to fill them in on Holland’s captivity, Draco, and Dominic.

“I’m surprised you left her at all with this asshole Draco after her,” Death said, frowning.

“She needed some time after I attacked her. Hell, I don’t trust myself at the moment, so I agreed.” I second-guessed myself for allowing her space when that sick fuck was still on the loose. I needed to take care of him once and for all. Holland didn’t deserve to be hunted by the motherfucker.

The phone screen glowed in my palm, the faint buzz of the call going to voicemail for the fifth time. Why wasn’t she answering? She knew how important it was to stay in touch with Draco still running loose. We’d been messaging over the last few days even though she was taking a break. It hadn't been long enough since I’d tried to contact her to dive into a full-blown panic, but I had a gut feeling that something was off. Anxiety twisted in my stomach as I tried to process the information we had. Was I trying to save the girl I'd fallen in love with or … my sister?

I clenched my jaw, lowering my cell slowly, trying not to crush the thing.

Dope leaned back in his gaming chair, legs splayed out, lazily spinning a flash drive between his fingers. “Maybe she just needs a minute, man.”

Death, on the other hand, didn’t look so convinced. He stood against the wall, arms folded, his sharp eyes on me like he was watching a grenade without the pin.

“She’s smart,” Death said carefully. “But she’s alone. You sure you want to give her space right now?”

Shaking, I paced the edge of the room. The monitors behind Dope flickered, code scrolling, the dark web threads still half-lit on one screen. Holland’s picture was frozen on another of her younger, thinner, her hair tangled, expression wild.

“I shouldn’t have left her,” I ground out. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have?—”

“She asked for it,” Dope cut in gently. “You said she needed time.”

“Yeah, well, maybe she shouldn’t have fucking trusted me with that choice.”