Page 51

J eremy’s laugh slices through the air like shattering glass. It vibrates against my spine, sending a chill through my already trembling body. The knife presses harder against my throat, the cold metal biting into my skin. A thin trickle of blood slips down my neck, hot and sticky.

I bite back a whimper, but it escapes anyway. My eyes squeeze shut against the tears threatening to fall.

“Drop the macho act, Si. You don’t have the fucking knife, I do.”

His grip tightens, and my breath catches in my chest. My heart pounds, a frantic rhythm that matches the blood roaring in my ears.

“You won’t walk out of here alive.” Silas’ voice is calm, cold. His eyes are locked on Jeremy.

Jeremy falters, just for a moment. His smirk wavers, his grip on the knife hesitating ever so slightly.

Silas takes a step forward, like a predator stalking its prey.

“Even if you kill her,” he continues, “you’re dead. And trust me, it won’t be quick.”

I can’t tear my eyes away from him. Silas isn’t just threatening Jeremy—he’s making a vow, one I know he’ll keep without hesitation.

“Let her go,” he says again.

The temperature in the room seems to plummet.

Jeremy’s hand trembles slightly against my skin, the knife’s edge less steady than before.

For a second, I think he might let go.

But then he tightens his hold, pressing the blade in deeper. I wince, feeling the sting of fresh blood.

“Back off!” Jeremy shouts, his voice cracking. “I’ll do it! I swear I’ll do it! Back the fuck away from me.”

Silas doesn’t flinch.

Instead, he smiles.

It’s not a comforting smile—it’s a dangerous one. Full of rage.

“You’d better hope you’re faster than me,” Silas says, his voice smooth, almost taunting. “Because the second you so much as flinch, I’ll rip you apart.”

Jeremy’s laugh pierces the suffocating tension, a bitter, hollow sound that scrapes against my nerves. He presses the knife harder, and I can feel the sharp edge digging into my throat, each shallow breath a gamble. One misstep could cut my throat. “I’m already torn to shreds,” Jeremy says.

“We were frat brothers, Jeremy. I fought alongside you.”

“You’re pathetic, Silas,” Jeremy spits. “You think I ever gave a damn about you? About your little brotherhood? I used you. All of you.”

Silas’ jaw clenches, his fists tightening at his sides. The muscles in his neck twitch.

Jeremy laughs like a fucking psycho. “You were convenient. A shield. The mighty Horsemen. No one would touch me, not when I had you to protect me. And you ate it up, didn’t you? Always so eager to trust your ‘closest friend.’”

“Just tell me why.”

“You want the truth, Sable?” He leans in, his breath hot against my ear. “The real reason why I hate you? Why I needed you back here? It’s simple. You stole everything from me.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” My voice is hoarse, strained from the pressure of the knife against my throat.

Jeremy inhales deeply, like he’s savoring the moment. Like he’s been waiting for this.

“You and I, Sable… we’re more alike than you think.” He pauses. “Because your perfect, untouchable father? The one everyone worshipped? He was mine too.”

The words shatter through me.

My stomach drops. My vision tunnels.

“No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “That’s not—no.”

“Yes,” Jeremy hisses. “Your dear old daddy fucked my mother, got her pregnant, then let my father raise his bastard. Your mother found out—did you know that? She knew. And instead of leaving, instead of exposing him, she did what she does best. She made it go away.”

My lungs lock. My hands shake.

“No,” I say again, louder this time. I need him to be lying.

He has to be lying.

“You were his little princess, weren’t you?” Jeremy’s voice turns mocking. “You had his eyes, his name, his goddamn legacy. And me? I was tucked away, born to a whore of a mother and a father who loved me like he loves a fucking punching bag. But guess what, Sable? He loved me.”

My chest tightens.

He’s lying. He’s lying.

“He used to bring me gifts. Taught me how to hold a golf club. Called me ‘champ’ just like he called you his ‘little girl.’” Jeremy’s grip tightens. “But when the Syndicate found out? They made sure my father knew. And guess what, Sable? Your father’s best friend—the man who raised me—shot him in the head before putting a bullet in his own.”

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

Jeremy’s eyes burn into mine. “Your mother covered it up. Lied to you. Lied to the world. Because God forbid anyone finds out that Sable Wilson wasn’t the only child of a cheating bastard.”

My ears ring.

I think I’m shaking.

No, I know I’m shaking.

“Let her go,” Silas says, his voice darker now. A promise of violence.

Jeremy’s grip tightens, his fingers digging into my arm. “I needed you to know, Sable. I needed you to feel it.”

Tears blind me.

I can’t move.

I can’t process.

“The Syndicate. They took everything from me,” he spits. “Our father worked for them for years, and when he pissed them off, they told his greatest secret. And my son of a bitch surrogate father destroyed any chance I had of making something of myself. If the world knew I was a Wilson? Oh… I’d be unstoppable.” His breath is hot against my cheek, and a squeal is forced out of my throat.

He yanks me closer, his fingers digging into my arm, making me cry out. I’m trying to think, to process, but my brain is locked in a loop of disbelief.

He’s lying.

He has to be lying.

“Let me go,” I manage.

“No,” Jeremy snarls. “You need to know. Our father was nothing but a lying cheat. A pawn for the Syndicate. My father killed my birth father—our father—then turned the gun on himself because he couldn’t stand to know he never would have a true heir.”

I shake my head, the denial spilling out before I even register the thought. “You’re wrong.”

Jeremy leans in. “After our father died, I became obsessed. I needed answers. I combed through my father’s records and found every dirty little secret he kept on the Syndicate. And guess what I learned?” He tilts his head. “Victoria—the precious little princess of the Syndicate—her identity was supposed to be kept a secret. But I found out. And I planned in that moment to kill her. But I had to be smart.”

“None of this was necessary, Jeremy. The Syndicate cannot be stopped!”

Jeremy’s laugh is cold, hollow. “I knew I couldn’t stop them completely, but I had a plan. If I couldn’t stop them completely, I would take out the one thing I knew their leader would burn the world for… his precious fucking daughter.”

My stomach twists. “I didn’t even know you until this year.”

“But I’ve known about you my whole life. I wasn’t allowed near you at AGU events—told to keep my distance. But I saw you. And the more I learned, the more I saw who you really were… God, I became obsessed. You were always meant to be mine, Sable.”

My stomach turns, a sick nausea rising fast.

“You… you did all this because of some fucked-up obsession? You know I’m your half-sister, you sick fuck.”

“This is not an obsession. This is justice. I don’t want to fuck you. I want you to suffer. I want the Syndicate to suffer. I want the whole goddamn world to burn.”

I shake my head. “That doesn’t explain why you never told me the truth before this moment… before it was too late to try to save you.”

“I don’t want to be saved, Sable. I don’t need saving. I had planned something when we were teenagers—a way to reach out to you. But you were so close to Silas. The two of you, so fucking flirty. Blinded by rivalry. It was honestly quite exhausting watching the both of you tiptoe around each other. I needed you alone. I needed you to hate Silas.”

Ice floods my veins.

“What?”

Jeremy chuckles, dragging the knife along my jaw, slow, teasing. “You remember that night, don’t you? The party. The night Silas took you into Lizzie Granger’s older brother’s bedroom…”

My blood runs cold.

No.

No, no, no.

“He took the one thing you always wanted him to…” Jeremy’s voice drops to a whisper, a secret meant only for me. “But he was too fucked up to care…”

My chest seizes.

“I got him high out of his fucking mind. Slipped him something strong enough to make him a goddamn puppet. And then I put you in bed with him and let nature take its course.”

I gag, bile rising in my throat.

“You were so pretty that night,” Jeremy murmurs, almost reverently. “All soft and pliant. The perfect first time you never wanted.”

I make a broken sound, something between a sob and a scream.

“I took away the one thing you always wanted, didn’t I?” His fingers slide down my arm, making my skin crawl. “And you hated him for it. You hated Silas for something he never even knew he did.”

I feel like I’m going to vomit.

Silas didn’t know.

He never knew.

I blamed him for years.

“Oh… Then when you went off to Lakeview? I let you have your little escape—let you play pretend. I bided my time, waiting for the perfect moment. And then…” His grin stretches wider, teeth flashing like a predator scenting blood. “I needed an excuse to bring you back home.”

A jagged lump of realization and horror gets lodged in my throat. “You… drugged me?”

That night. The party. The drink someone handed me. I remember waking up days later, strapped to a hospital bed, my mother sobbing at my side, the sterile smell of disinfectant making me gag. They told me I’d had a psychotic break. That the stress and the pills had tipped me over the edge. That I’d been lucky someone found me before I hurt myself.

But now I know. Now I know it wasn’t chance, wasn’t fate, wasn’t the unbearable weight of everything I was trying to hold together.

It was him.

Jeremy’s laugh tears through my thoughts, sharp and ugly, like a blade against bone. “You made it too easy, Sable. Turns out you’re even more broken than I thought. Stress? Pills? A little shove in the right direction and snap—you’re at AGU, where you belong. Where all legacies belong. God, it was almost beautiful, watching the perfect Sable Wilson fall.”

“You—” My voice shakes, my nails biting into my palms. “You ruined me.”

“No,” he breathes, his eyes alight with something feverish. “I perfected you.”

I remember the shame, the questions from the doctors. I remember the anger when they handed me a prescription and told me therapy would help me stay ‘in control.’

And now, I’m face-to-face with the real reason I fell apart. The man who watched me shatter and laughed.

This isn’t happening.

This can’t be happening.

My mind is racing, spiraling, but I can’t stop.

“You and me. Bound by blood, betrayal, and the shadows of our fathers.”

Silas steps forward. “So you killed Toby, Asher, Victoria, and Marina? Why?”

Jeremy’s grin widens, his eyes alight with a grotesque kind of joy. “Toby? That one was personal. The asshole fucked my girlfriend, so I gave him the heart attack he deserved. Poetic, don’t you think? Died with his dick in a girl’s mouth.”

“Asher?” He lets out a low chuckle. “That was just to stir the pot. Keep everyone on edge. Keep you all looking over your shoulders. It worked, didn’t it? It made you second-guess everything. Perfect chaos.”

“And Victoria?”

“Victoria was the end goal,” Jeremy says, his grin fading into something darker, more calculating. “To them—to the Syndicate—she was a symbol of everything they’ve taken from me. Taking her from them? That was justice.”

Silas’s nostrils flare, but he doesn’t interrupt.

“And your girlfriend?” I ask, “What was she? Collateral damage?”

“She got nosy. Started asking questions, poking around where she didn’t belong. Thought I was cheating, but she didn’t understand. She was going to ruin everything. She had to go.”

“You killed them all for your sick, twisted idea of revenge?”

Jeremy tilts his head, his grin returning like a mask. “That’s the thing about power, Silas. You either use it, or you get crushed by it. But you wouldn’t understand, would you? You’re too busy playing the hero, trying to save everyone.”

“You’re out of moves, Jeremy. Let her go, or I’ll make you regret every second you’ve spent breathing.”

“Go ahead, Silas. Do your worst. I got my revenge. But I won’t go down without a fight. What-do-you-say, spar partner?”