Page 21 of Buried in Blood

“How the fuck could you do that to me? I am your best fucking friend. You know how fucking important my sister was. You just let her die. YOU JUST LET HER FUCKING DIE!” I am screaming. He cannot be fucking serious right now.

All I see is red. I need to kill someone. That someone is Damien. Maybe Lucien too.

“It wasn’t like that, I fucking swear. I didn’t find out until six months before I killed him. Or tried to, at least.”

I pause, thinking about the logic. If he knew, why didn’t he have me help? He knows I would have fucking killed him. And I don’t fucking miss.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I told you. I didn’t want it to destroy you. Listen to yourself right now. She’s been gone for years, and you’re still on the verge of destroying the world for her.”

My throat tightens. I would do anything to see Destiny’s sweet, innocent smile again. She was my light before Evelyn. She filled my childhood with laughter and fun when all I knew was darkness.

Damien is a dead man.

“Why didn’t you have me help you kill him?”

“It’s my brother, Dante. I needed to be the one to right the wrongs.”

“Why did you actually shoot him then?”

He pauses. I hear him breathing through the phone. He’s fucking emotional right now, too.

“I did it for a lot of reasons. He killed innocent kids by giving them laced drugs. He was hanging out with people who were into sex trafficking. He was hanging with Miles for fucks sake. He sold Destiny. He even threatened to take Astra from me. I had to fucking do it. It was personal.”

I nod to myself, understanding his unique situation. Why does Damien have to be so fucked up?

“We have to get him while he’s down,” I say.

“We will. I know when he is at his weakest… he’s almost there.”

I smile. I know it. He never instigates. He always waits for the fire to come to him. He came here because he can’t control himself anymore. He is about to snap, and that’s what we need.

Then Damien will die. I’ll make sure I sever his head from his fucking body to make sure of it.

* * *

I crawl up into the bed with Evelyn. She makes everything better.

“Hey, you okay?” She asks.

I shake my head.

“No,” I choke on the word. I’m far from okay.

She wraps her hands around my body, embracing me tightly. What the fuck did I do to deserve this woman?

“I love you,” she whispers against my neck.

“I love you too,” I mumble.

I do. I love her with every atom in my body. No one can take that from me.

“Who do we have to kill?” She asks.

I smirk. My little princess is as feisty as ever these days.

“Who do you think?”