Page 84 of Killer of Mine

“No, no she–” Whatever Oz is about to say gets lost as he falls forwards and throws up on the tarmac. He drops to his kneesand I hook his arm over my shoulder, hoisting him back up. “Eli, you drive. He needs to go to the hospital.”

“You’re just leaving?” The store owner calls out.

“Yes,” Eli snaps.

Between the three of us we get a dazed Oz into the car. We speed out of the gas station, leaving the owner standing on the concourse with his arms thrown out wide.

Oz lies sprawled across the back seats, his head in Jude’s lap. “Freya,” he mutters. “She’s got Freya. She’s going to kill her.”

My stomach drops like an anchor. “Do you know where she is?”

“Warehouse.” It’s all he says before he rolls onto his side and pukes again.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Freya

ONE CUT ACROSS the throat. Deep and fast.

Angelica screams in frustration. A vicious, angry sound. The knife nicks my throat then clatters against the ground as she throws it away.

I gasp, letting my lungs fill with a breath I didn’t think I’d get to take. Each inhale makes the fresh cuts on my chest burn but I’m still alive.I’m alive.

Angelica’s hand settles on my sternum, and I grunt in pain. She leans down till her face hovers over mine. “Take your promise back. Tell me you didn’t mean it and that it’s okay for me to kill.”

Tears sting my eyes. I shake my head and one falls loose. It runs down the side of my face. “I’m not going to do that.”

Angelica shrieks, her breath hot and angry against my skin. She stands back up and the air shudders out of me.

She paces back and forth before facing me again. Her hands move to my wrists and the chains holding me loosen. Hope flutters beneath my chest but the scars on my body keep it trapped.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

The chains clank against the metal table as Angelica works. She wastes no time, unlocking each of my restraints till the only thing holding me to the table is my fear of my own sister.

“Get up,” she orders.

I ease myself to sitting. The edge of the table is slick with blood. I swallow down my own vomit and wipe my hand against my pants. My eyes flick to the door over Angelica’s shoulder.

She looks over at it then back at me. “Go on, then. Do it.”

I shake my head. “You’re not just going to let me go.”

She shrugs. “If you can get past me, you can leave.” Her arms hang down by her side. She’s going for nonchalance, but I know how to read my own twin. Her face is set, her eyes cold.

“I know what you’re trying to do. You think if I fight you, you’ll be able to kill me because that’s self-defense.” I stay sat on the table, my legs hanging over the edge like a teenager at school. “I won’t do it.”

“So, you’re just going to stay here?” Her eyebrows raise. “I called Dad when you were out. He’s missed you.”

Everything inside of me locks up. I force myself to keep my face blank but the idea of seeing my dad makes me want to puke.

Angelica keeps pressing. “Besides, don’t you have a boyfriend or three to get back to? I wonder whether they’d still be waiting for you if I told them all the things you’ve done.”

The sharp underside of the table bites into my fingers. “They already know.”

She huffs out a laugh and bends down to pick up the knife. “You’re fooling yourself if you think they actually care for you. They’re just using you to get to dad. They had you tagged, like an animal.”

“This won’t work.” She’s trying to goad me into fighting, but I barely have the energy to hold myself up. Everything she’s saying I’ve thought myself a hundred times over. On paper it makes no sense for the guys to like me. I’m everything they fight against. But I can still feel Jude’s fingers on my cheek. I can hear Oz’s laugh and see the maddening heat burning in River’s eyes. Even the cocky cowboy likes me. He doesn’t want to, but he does.