Page 159 of Ravaged Soul

“Cast aside?” Axel’s laugh is achingly hollow.

“You abandoned me to die.”

“We protected you!”

“Youerasedme.”

“I did what she told me to do! I was thirteen!”

“You’re as pathetic as I imagined.” Gunnar steps forward, wielding the hunting knife as expertly as his name would suggest. “Killing you will have to be my warmup before Mother.”

“Take one more step, and there will be three bullets in your skull,” Warner booms from in front of me. “You’re in a room full of trained agents, Mr Slaughter.”

Looking back over us, Gunnar seems to remember that we’re still here. Armed and ready. Not that it deters him in the slightest. He merely sighs like this entire scene is some minor inconvenience.

“Why did you ask me to come here?”

“Gracie Livingstone,” I redirect.

His smirk spreads, oozing danger and bloodthirst. “I don’t work for free.”

“Name your price.”

“I believe I’ve already done that, 768. A life for a life.”

For once, the old name doesn’t make me flinch. Dealing with his kind feels like familiar ground.

“Axel isn’t up for grabs. Name another price.”

“You have precisely six seconds before I kill every last one of you.” Gunnar passes the blade back and forth in his hands. “So don’t waste time bargaining for my brother’s life. It’s mine regardless.”

“He’s off limits,” Warner deadpans. “Now lose the knife.”

“This has been a short negotiation. Who wishes to die first?”

Everyone braces, guns raised and aimed at our assailant while Gunnar menacingly eyes his twin. One wrong move and we’ll all be left to pick up the pieces.

“Just stop!” I hurriedly step in front of Axel, ignoring the protests it causes. “Axel is under our protection, so whatever issue you have with him, you take it up with us.”

Gunnar’s laugh is a deep, full-belly thunderclap that unnerves me.

“Believe me, you do not want that.”

“Then why did you agree to meet?” I question.

His smile grows savage. “I intend to repay my twin for the neglect he’s shown me all these years. When I’m done, he will know a mere ounce of my pain.”

“What pain?” Axel blusters from behind me.

“You know, brother.”

“No! I don’t know! And I’m sorry for whatever you’ve been through, Gunnar, but it isn’t my fault. I didn’t choose to send you away, and I don’t know where you’ve been all these years.”

“You. Lied.”

“I was a child!” Axel pushes me aside to shout back.

“So was I!”