Page 54 of Silent Schemes

He's talking about my future, about what happens when this game ends.

When I betray him—because we both know I will—he's telling me he'll let me go.

And it will destroy him.

"Maybe they'll come back," I say quietly.

"Maybe. But it won't matter. Some things can't be undone."

We lie there in silence, two broken people finding solace in shared damage.

But reality creeps back in, as it always does.

Vincent's threat echoes in my mind.

One week.

Tomorrow night.

The poison in my pocket feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.

"What are you thinking?" Varrick asks, fingers tracing lazy patterns on my bare shoulder.

"That this is going to end badly."

"All the best things do."

I sit up, reaching for my ruined clothes. "I should go shower. I still smell like Vincent."

"Burn the clothes," he says. "I'll have new ones sent up."

"Possessive much?"

"When it comes to you? Yes." He sits up too, catches my wrist before I can stand. "Sienna. Whatever your father has on you, whatever he's threatening, I can protect you. Both of you."

For a moment, I want to believe him.

Want to confess everything—the escape plan, the money I've hidden, the desperation to save Maya from becoming me.

"No," I say softly. "You can't. Not from this."

I leave him there on the ruined mat, knowing I'm walking away from the only person who's ever seen me as more than a weapon.

Knowing that in less than twenty-four hours, I'll have to make a choice that will define the rest of my life—however long that might be.

The shower is scalding, but it can't wash away his touch or the truth that's becoming harder to deny: I'm losing my fucking mind.

And for the first time in my life, I don't care.

Tomorrow night at the gala, I'll have a choice to make.

The poison or the truth.

My father or my freedom.

Death or something that might be worse—hope.

But as I stand under the burning water, feeling Varrick's marks on my skin, I realize I've already chosen.