Page 169 of Piggy

He collapses. Done.

Meghan stands behind him, panting, knuckles white around a fireplace poker. Its tip glows red with blood.

“Charlotte!” I yell again, jerking violently. The ropes dig into my wrists, slicing flesh, maybe even bone. Doesn’t matter. I need to get to her.

No luck.

Freedom hides, and Charlotte doesn’t answer.

My eyes dart to Meghan still standing there like she didn’t just stab a man and kill him. “Meghan. Let me go!”

“No.”

“Thencheck on her!”

“No.” Her bob sways as she shakes her head, calm in a way that’s more unsettling than rage.

“What the fuck, then? Why did you save her?”

Tears spring into her eyes, furious and deluded. “You think nobody’s ever loved you? Not evenme? Yes, I saved her for you. I would’ve let you keep her. Live with her. Fuck her. I didn’t care, so long as you didn’tleaveme.”

I can’t even respond before I catch movement. A hunched figure creeping along the room’s edge.

Atticus, on a mission.

He’s quiet as a ghost, skirting around the chaos. My chest seizes. I put him in the guest house. He’d called it his room at theThree Broomsticks.Just him and Wilbur. Safe.

Until now.

Meghan stamps her foot, yanking my attention back to her. “Rowen! I gave youeverything!Money. Sex. Every twisted fantasy. I let other girls join us!”

“At the cost of myfucking soul,” I growl. “You didn’t love me. Youownedme.”

“Then why’d you help me, huh?” Her voice breaks. “You brought me back to life. Youcared.”

I clench my jaw. I’ve never said this out loud. “Because if I could keep a pill-head like you breathing, then maybe I didn’t kill my mother after all.”

She jolts. “Your mother... you believe you’re responsible for her overdose?”

“I wasn’t there.” I shrug, hating the truth, but it’s boiling up. “You and I were numb when we met. Both with a death wish. You wanted to OD. I wanted to stay in my spiral. Destroy my life. Go out swinging.”

Her lower lip trembles. “That’s not true. Welovedeach other.”

“No. We fed off each other like leeches. You were my punishment. My escape as we overindulged in things that made us feel, just for a second. But Charlotte... she’s my fuckinghope.I can’t stop feelingeverythingwhenI’m around her.”

“You don’t mean that. She’s not...” Her voice turns breathless, fragile.

Her face shifts, enraged.

She dives for Riser’s gun and raises it to her temple. “Take it back or I’ll do it! I swear, I’ll end it!”

I don’t flinch. “You won’t.”

Her grin turns wild. “You’re right. I’m too selfish. But that’s the point. If I pull this trigger,you’llcarry it.You’llremember my blood on your hands. Just like your mom’s tombstone. You’llneverbe free. Not with Charlotte. Not ever.”

She cocks the gun.

And—