Page 51 of Crave

His face blurred through the sheen of tears.

“See, this is how I know you’re lying, little sister. You’ve done everything but tell us the truth from the day you came here. You’ve lied. You’ve manipulated,” his grip clenched until I couldn’t draw breath. “And now it’s time…” His jaw clenched so hard the muscles bulged. “It’s time for you to feel the consequences.”

I opened my mouth, my lips moved even though there was no sound.

“She’s trying to speak.” Jude said.

But Silas never looked away. Instead, his lips mashed together, turning bloodless with the effort. Stars danced behind my eyes as I tried again, my lips moving.

“Silas!”Jude barked, grabbing his arm and broke the hold.

My knees buckled, sending me crashing back against the wall as I sucked in hard, consuming breaths.

“For fucks sake!” Jude roared.“You could’ve killed her!”He grabbed me, lifting my chin to stare into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

I couldn’t even nod, just dragged in enough air to drive the darkness from eating the edges of my vision.

“What were you saying?”

Tears slipped free as I blinked and lifted my gaze to Jude. His hazel eyes darker under the dull overhead lights.

“Angelica.” He urged. “This is important now. What were you trying to say.”

My throat burned, still I forced sound into that hiss of air.“I. Don’t. Remember.”

He scowled, then slowly rose to his full height. The glint of hope dying in his eyes. He dropped his hand and took a slow step backwards. “Okay. If that’s how you want to play this.”

The door opened to my right and Gabe stepped inside, blinked his sleepy stare away and mumbled. “What the Hell is going on?”

Theo strode forward, trying to shove him back out and started to close the door. “Nothing.”

Gabe saw me. He stopped, then glanced and panicked at Silas and Jude before he looked at me once more.

I fought weakly, clawing at the hands that pinned me.

“I don’t know!” I screamed. “Don’t you get that? I. Don’t. Know. I can’t REMEMBER!”

They all froze. “What do you mean you can’t remember?” Silas snarled.

“Just that,genius. I can’t remember what happened in that place. Not completely. Only fragments.” Through the blur of tears I found his cell in his hand. “That video was the only proof I’ve ever seen that this really happened.”

He looked down, scowled, then it was his time to shake his head. “You lie.” He growled, then met her stare. “That’s what you do. You lied to get into our family and now you’re lying about this.”

His words hit me harder than any blow he could deliver. “No…I never lied.”

“You were abandoned, right?” He took a step closer. “That’s what our mother was told. That you were some sad fucking abandoned kid right on the cops doorstep. Only that never happened, right? Just one more lie. But it was that lie that got you in here, where you could dig your claws into our family.”

Ourfamily.

But not mine,right?

No, because someone like me could never be wanted. Not like they were.

Agony plunged through me, thickening the back of my throat as they moved in closer.

“Well?’ Silas leaned down, those harrowing dark eyes fixed on mine. “Admit it. You lied from the moment you saw our mother. She was so fucking desperate to have the one thing she didn’t already have…a mini version of herself that she swallowed them too.”

“F-fuck you.” My whisper trembled. But I refused to look away…I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing me broken. Still, their faces blurred. “Fuck all of you.”