Page 136 of Reaper and Ruin

It only deepened the theory that Francine could be an accomplice but not a murderer. I stared up at her. “I know you aren’t going to pull that trigger.”

She laid the gun down on the edge of the trapdoor. “You’re right. I can’t kill you.”

I nodded. “So just let us go.” I reached a hand toward her. “Just grab my hand and help us out, and this will all be over.”

For a split second, I thought she was going to agree.

But then the hurt and anger disappeared from her features, and she was no longer the broken shell of a woman Travis and Paul and her mother had turned her into.

She was something far more dangerous. She blinked and then laughed. “Oh, Violet. Sweet, sweet Violet. You misunderstand. I can’t kill you now. You or Nyah. Hasn’t she told you all about the nice food and drinks I’ve been giving her? Hasn’t she told you about all the prenatal vitamins?”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Francine to look in Nyah’s direction to confirm if any of that was true.

Francine’s voice was practically a snarl when she leaned down once more, her beady eyes staring into mine. “I don’t care about Paul or Travis or any man. Not anymore. I gave up on that when Travis said he was done with me.” She cocked her head to one side, her gaze dropping to my belly. “All I want now is a family, Violet. Children. And you and Nyah are going to give me yours.”

40

LEVI

Ileaned forward in the passenger seat, my foot pressed hard to the floor like there was an accelerator there, or like the tilt of my body would somehow make Whip’s car move faster.

“We’re too far away.” Anxious anticipation raced around in my blood, my heart beating too fast. “She’s been there for hours.”

Whip, ever the voice of reason, kept his voice calm and low. “And she’s been with Francine many other times and nothing has happened.”

“Yeah, but her face wasn’t on the creepy wall of death before either,” X said bluntly from the back seat.

I shot X a pointed look.

At least we had hope Violet was still alive.

I was fairly sure Dax’s hope had completely run out.

X cringed and patted his shoulder awkwardly. “Uh, not wall of death. Just a regular old run-of-the-mill Employee of the Month wall. Definitely has no bearing on who Francine the Freak decides to kill that day…”

I sighed heavily.

“What?” X asked. “I’m being comforting.”

“You’re making it worse.”

“I use humor as a coping mechanism, Levi. If you prefer, I could do Whip’s cold and grumpy thing.” He put on his best wise old man voice. “Listen here, sonny. I’ve been doing rescues since before you were born, and I’ll be doing them long after you’re dead. Now pass me my orthopedic sneakers.”

Whip glanced back at X. “When have Ieversounded like that?”

He shrugged. “Or how about I do Levi’s snarly angry prison-man thing?”

“This’ll be fun,” I muttered, willing the car to go faster, not just because I wanted to get to Violet, but because X was making me want to murder something.

He ignored me. His voice turned gruff, apparently in imitation of mine. “Here’s the plan! Kick in every door, glare at everyone until they wet themselves, and then maybe punch a few walls for dramatic effect. That’s how wecommunicate.” He tapped me on the shoulder. “How’d I do? I think I really committed to the part at the end there.”

I couldn’t listen to it anymore. I pulled out my phone and jabbed my finger against the screen so hard it hurt. “I’m calling Fang and War and Hawk and anyone else fucking close enough to do something.” I stabbed the screen again, anger spearing through me when the stupid thing did nothing. “Fuck! Open, you bastard!”

“Ah yes,” X said like he was David fucking Attenborough. “Here we see the male of the angry prison-man species, attempting to make a phone call while in full rage mode. As you can see, he is not a very smart animal. If only he knew if he just calmed his tits and unlocked the phone gently, it would allow him to make contact with others of his species.”

I finally got my pin code in correctly and hit call on Fang’s number. I turned around and hissed at X, “If she’s dead—”

“She’s not fucking dead,” X warned in a voice that sent chills down my spine, with eyes suddenly so dark it was like he was possessed.