Page 136 of Killaney Fire

Why didn't he stop it?

I try to swallow, but I can't.

"How does it feel," he asks, "knowing you were just bait?"

"You're lying," I say, forcing the words out through gritted teeth.

"Am I?" he asks, his hood tilting. "That bracelet he gave you? The one you're wearing right now?"

I try to look up at it, but I can't see my hands.

"It has a tracking device inside," Cormac says. "Too bad it'll do him no good down here."

I scoff. "I don't believe you."

"Brother J," Cormac calls out. "Show her."

One of the robed figures steps forward, pulling a knife from within his robes. He grabs my wrist roughly, and I try to jerk away.

"Don't touch me," I say, but the ropes hold me fast.

The blade flashes as he slices through the bracelet's clasp and the metal falls away from my skin. He does something with the tip of the blade, prying and twisting, and suddenly a small black square pops out from inside the bracelet's band.

He tosses it onto my chest.

It lands between my breasts and I lift my head to stare at it.

A tracker.

No. He couldn't have. He looked at me like I was the only thing left in the world.

But the chip says otherwise. Says I was wrong.

How many times had I looked into his eyes and thought I saw something real? Something that made me feel safe. Made me feel wanted. I was never wanted. I was targeted.

"See?" Cormac says. "He knew we'd take you today. And he still brought you. Such a pawn, Keira."

The words hit me like a physical blow and my world feels like it's shattering. The edges of my reality crumble inward.

Octavian knew.

He knew.

Every moment together. The gym, my kitchen. Every kiss, every time he looked at me like I was something precious. Everything he told me.

Was any of it real?

Or was I just part of the plan? A mission? A fucking job.

Dammit. I knew it.

The thought makes me want to scream and disappear entirely.

In this moment, dying doesn't even matter anymore.

None of it was true. He never cared at all and I'm left feeling like an idiot who thought I'd maybe fallen in love with a man worth loving.

My eyes burn from the tears.