Page 53 of Executing Malice (Jefferson Rejects #4)

DANTE

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“I don’t mean to interrupt, but it’s getting cold, and I don’t think I’m dressed properly for this weather.”

The voice has me scrambling. I detach the flashlight from Leila and pull her clothes back into place before the faint, yellow light appears across the clearing. It sweeps up and pins us in its binding halo.

I push to my feet, taking Leila with me, but keeping her at my back with a firm hand around hers.

“Who are you?” I demand.

There only seems to be one of him. Whatever his size, I know I’ll take him down if it comes to it.

“Why don’t we get out of these woods first? I’m not in the mood to get eaten by rabbits.”

“Rabbits don’t eat meat,” Leila mutters.

“Oh, you’d be surprised what any living creature would do after being starved.” He chuckles to himself like he’d made a hilarious joke. “But seriously, let’s go. ”

“Why the hell would we go anywhere with you?” I demand, nudging Leila back, attempting to put distance between us and the fucker several feet away.

“Because I have the gun and you know what they say, the person with the gun makes the rules.”

I push Leila further behind me, covering her completely with my frame.

“What do you want?” I snarl through my teeth.

“To talk, Dante. Like family does.”

Something in my stomach curdles. The acid bubbles, climbing up my chest to burn my throat.

It can’t be.

It can’t. It’s not possible.

But my knees are trembling. My hold on Leila’s hand tightens and I know I’m hurting her but she’s not complaining.

Leila.

I need to get him away from her. I need to protect her. If I’m right, if he’s back...

“Stay away from her,” I warn. “I’ll kill you if you touch her.”

Again.

Kill you. Again.

That can’t be possible. Dead people don’t come back. Not after.. .

I can’t think straight. My brain keeps fluctuating between now and the last time I saw him. Every second of that night is a brand burned into my memory.

He can’t be alive.

He. Can’t.

“I think by the end of our conversation, Danny, she’ll decide on her own who she would rather be with.”

I can’t process a replay fast enough when my entire system is locked. Paralyzed. I can’t even regulate my breathing.

“We can skip the talk, and I’ll tell you right now to go fuck yourself,” Leila’s voice cuts through the white noise filling my ears. “You sick fuck. Who just watches people in the woods? A fucking pervert with no life and a limp dick. Eat shit.”

I’m about to tell her to stop talking when the figure in the distance laughs. It’s a deep, familiar cackle that prickles all the hairs at the back of my neck.

“Ah, Leila, it’s nice to see you haven’t lost that fire. I would have been upset.” The light jerks to the left. “But let’s talk back at your car. Let’s go.”

I can find the car easily enough through the tracker I put on it earlier this morning in case we went too far in.

I hadn’t expected to need it because a dead guy with a gun is forcing us to.

But we don’t need it. We arrive at the main road where the car is still parked.

The trunk still open. The box with Leila’s stuff, still on the floor.

I know several feet in the direction we’d come, I’d find my night vision goggles that I discarded after Leila turned the flashlight on.

“I love your consistency, Danny. Still go out of your way to make Halloween a depraved event for her.” He clicks his tongue.

“I remember the first time I watched you rail her in a cemetery, over a freshly covered grave. I finally understood why you got off on it. I don’t think I’ve cum so hard since, except maybe just now. She’s such a little freak.”

I stop and spin to face the piece of shit keeping a reasonable distance between us.

“Watch it.” I still can’t see his face, but I know it’s him. I would recognize that voice anywhere. “Why are you here?”

He takes several steps around us, keeping a wide birth as he moves along the edges of the clearing.

“I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t be thrilled to see your big brother, Danny.”

“Stop calling me that,” I bite back, hating that nickname to the very molecules of my soul.

He ignores me as he swings the light in a neat little circle. “Could it be that you killed me and you feel some sense of guilt?”

My heart is rampant in my chest, loud enough to rattle through my bones as I stare at the faint outline of a face I haven’t seen in eight years .

But the unsteady rhythm has nothing to do with seeing a ghost. I’m terrified of Leila’s reaction. I’m terrified I’ll turn to find her watching me like I’m a monster.

Still, turn I do because I’m no longer in control of my body.

“Ah, you haven’t told her what you did, have you, Danny?” Everett taunts, humor twisting each word.

Leila stands two steps behind me, green eyes too wide and bright in the filthy light, staring at me with question.

“That’s Everett?”

It’s not the question I expected, but I nod.

To my eternal damnation, she shakes her head and takes another step away from me. Her bottom lip folds up between her lips.

“Leila...”

She gives another sharper rock of her head. “Don’t.” She may as well have killed me. She may as well have punched a hole in my chest and ripped out my heart. But she’s not done. “I ... I can’t believe...”

Everett chuckles. “Oh, that’s rough.”

But I can’t take my eyes off her. Can’t wrap my head around the fact that she’s pulling away from me.

“Let me explain,” I try.

One hand comes up, stopping me even though I am incapable of moving without my knees giving out .

“Did you kill him?”

My fingers curl into fists.

“I ... I had to,” I’m trying to explain, but the foundation of my sanity is beginning to fracture all over again like it had eight years ago when she vanished. “Let me explain.”

“No!” she snaps, scrambling back until there is a canyon between us. “You killed someone.”

Obviously not, I want to shout back. He’s standing right there.

But the words refuse to slip off my tongue.

“You should tell her what happened, little brother,” Everett taunts. “Confession is good for the soul, I’m told. Do you want me to tell it? I’ve always had a flare for stories.”

I burn with the need to tell him to eat shit, but I can only stare at Leila ... my fucking Leila as she watches me like I’m a monster. Like everything I did wasn’t for her.

“It’s not what you think,” I whisper.

“You lied to me,” she snaps back.

“I have never lied to you,” I retort, but I did keep it from her.

I did hide it because I knew she wouldn’t understand. How could she now, when she hadn’t then? This is the very reason she’d run and it’s happening all over again.

“You lied!” she screams, beautiful face twisted, eyes wet with tears. “I hate you. ”

I can’t breathe. Every drop of air has mysteriously vanished, and my head is throbbing, begging for even a sip. My lungs burn with their useless attempts around the serrated shards of glass embedded in my chest.

When she hiccups a sob, I want to die.

I want Everett to just shoot me. There is no longer any reason worth living and I won’t live without her.

“Didn’t go the way you planned, did it?” my brother drawls.

“I guess this version is weaker. The old Leila would have run into your arms and licked the blood off your face. This one...” he clicks his tongue with a disappointed sigh.

“She’s ... normal. Like everyone else. Sad, really, because you can still see that fire in her, but maybe I’m wrong. ”

“I want to go home,” Leila states, voice breaking. “I don’t know what’s going on here or what you both want, but I’m not going to be a part of it. Give me my keys.”

“Sorry, Lils, but you’re not leaving.” Everett taps the barrel of his gun against the side of his thigh. “This is a family matter and since this whole thing started with you, it’s going to end with you.”

No. That’s not happening.

Finding the last of my willpower, I straighten and face him. My mind instinctively moves to block Leila from him.

“You’re not touching her. Whatever you want, it’s between you and me. Let her go. ”

Everett groans, eyes rolling with distaste.

“Christ, you’re still such a fucking pain in the ass.

The bitch doesn’t want you anymore, Danny.

What the fuck is wrong with you, you disgusting simp?

Pathetic loser. She has a cunt just like nine billion other whores in the world.

Hers isn’t fucking special. Sure as fuck isn’t worth killing your brother over, your flesh and blood, and burying me in a fucking hole. ”

I don’t move.

“Then kill me.”

And I mean it. I mean it with my entire heart and soul.

“I’m not going to kill you, Danny. You’re my little brother. I’m not like you. Family fucking matters. Blood matters.” He breaks off to blow out a breath and rub a hand back through his hair. “That’s the one thing Mom and Dad taught us. That we’re supposed to look after each other.”

“Like you used to look after us?” I counter. “How you used to beat the shit out of us?”

“That was my job!” he snarls back. “I had to keep you in line. Do you have any idea what a useless fuck you were? Sitting in your room all day, face glued to that piece of shit you found in the garbage. Then she came along, and you kept sticking your nose where it didn’t belong.

Half the lessons I had to teach you never would have needed teaching if you just minded your own business. ”

My jaw grinds as fire boils through my veins. “You mean let you and Dad take turns raping and beating her?”

“You make it sound like we were monsters. We gave them a roof over their heads. Food. Clothes. They could have been on the streets with a needle in their arms like her junkie mother, but we took care of them. It was a small ask in return.”

“They were children,” I bite back.

“In our world, there are no children. There are predators and prey. We were predators. You were prey. What did trying to save them ever get you, huh? A beating. Was it worth it? Did getting your teeth kicked in change anything? No. In the end, we always won.”

“I was a kid. I’m not a kid anymore, and I already fucking killed you once for touching her.”

He seems to consider that a long moment. I’m taken aback when he nods slowly.

“You’re right. You’re not a kid. You’re a pussy just like Dad always said you were. Too weak to do what needed to be done. Guess that’s why he thought getting rid of your whore might toughen you up. He’ll be disappointed to hear you’re still a little bitch.”

“Good thing I never cared what he thought of me,” I lie.

Everett opens his mouth to respond when Leila breaks in.

“Your dad took me? ”

I wish she hadn’t spoken. Everett’s focus was entirely on me. Now, the halo of his light has her caught in its center.

“I guess you wouldn’t remember that.” With a deep sigh, he paces in the direction of the car.

He’s smart not to turn his back on me. “See, after our little fight where Danny killed me and buried me, Dad decided that you were the root of all our problems. Sure, we fought, but brothers do that. It only got bad when you arrived and Danny took sides, picking strangers over family. Honestly, I think Dad was hoping you would get bored of her, and he could get his turn with her, but that’s a different story.

I was dead at this point, so this is all hearsay after the fact. ”

“How did I end up here?” Leila prompts when he trails off.

The light twirls in his hand as he paces back to his original spot. It creates an arcing circle in the dark, wreaking havoc on my eyes where the contacts are digging into the soft tissue.

“The thing you don’t remember about Dad — and Danny can vouch for this — is that he was always a man of money.

He didn’t have any, but he was always on the hunt for a quick buck.

Hell, he sold our mom to six of his friends for ten bucks each just to buy beer.

Remember that?” I say nothing, nor does he wait for an answer when he pushes on.

“Danny ran and hid in the closet when she started screaming, but I got to stand outside the door and take the money. I got to let them in and out, and hear Mom beg me for help. But I was eleven. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

It wasn’t the last time, but she no longer begged for help.

Never even made a sound as Everett ushered in the men with their fistfuls of crumpled bills.

Mom had always been a mean, uncaring woman, but getting bought and sold by her own husband killed what little affection she may have had.

It turned her bitter and cruel, almost vindictive.

“When the disagreement between me and Danny got out of hand, Dad finally had enough.”

“He sold me?” Leila squeaks.

“Most likely,” Everett guesses with a shrug.

“None of the social workers ever cared when one of you would ... disappear. Foster kids ran away all the time. Some would get found. Others...” He gives another shrug.

“You had a few months left before turning eighteen, so no one was going to bother looking too hard to find you. Dad probably saw that as the perfect opportunity to end a problem. You’re gorgeous.

He probably got a really good amount for your cunt. ”

“Enough,” I snarl, body propelling forward a step like I’m ready to punch him.

Everett’s cold, empty eyes meet mine through the shadows and space. “I don’t know the rest. I was too busy dying. ”

“How are you not dead?” I bark back, my last-ditch attempt to keep him talking until I can find a way to get Leila out of this.

“Noticed that, huh? Pretty sad that you couldn’t even do that properly. And this is the man you chose,” he mutters to Leila. “A useless coward.” He clicks his tongue with disgust. “Maybe you deserve him.”

“Everett,” I grind out.

He rolls his eyes. “Next time you kill someone, little brother, make sure you’re burying the right body.”