Page 129 of The Cruelest Chaos

I’ve hated him most of my life. I’ve hated what he did to our family. I hated how he forgot. Malachi. Then Brooklin. My mother. Even me. He forgot he was still my father. Forgot he wasn’t just a pawn for the 6. Forgot he was…moreto his family.

Or at least…he could have been. But he forgot Sid, too, and now he wants me to forget both of these girls in this room because people are nothing to him. He’s forgotten how tofeel.

“Dad…”

I swear his eyes are glistening but he doesn’t back away from Ria.

I know he won’t. Nothing I say will sway him. Not pleading or begging or crying.

There’s really only one way to handle this.

I swallow. “I made a decision.”

My dad smiles at me, any emotion I might have seen on his face gone. “And?” He glances at Ria. “Is this who we’re going to bury?”

I shake my head, smiling back. “No,” I whisper softly. “Not just her.” I enjoy the sight of his confusion for one second. Then, “You’re going to bury all of us.”

Silence rings out in the underground room. No one moves. No one breathes.

“You can kill them both, but you have to kill me, too. I’m not doing this anymore.”

Ella whimpers, and Ria’s eyes finally open as she dips her head to look at me, her eyes red and puffy.

“I’m done. I’m done with you. With the 6. With my…brothers. I’m fucking done.” I stand to my feet and I’m happy to see my father flinch. It’s nearly imperceptible, but it’s there. “I’m done.”

My father sighs, closing his eyes a second before he takes a step back from Ria and lowers the gun by his side.

Ria collapses onto the floor, on her hands and knees as she sobs quietly, not looking up at me.

My heart aches.

I want to run to her.

This is my fucking fault.

She is my responsibility.

I glance at Ella. She’s staring at me, and her expression is unreadable. If I leave, I’m leaving behind Brooklin. Lucifer. Sid. Their…baby.What’s going to happen next to them.

How Lucifer is going to hurt.

I’m leaving behind my mother.

Cain, Ezra, Atlas. I’m leaving all of them.

But it’s got to be better than this. Anything is better than this. Jeremiah Rain might actually bebetter than this.Sid might have made the right decision.

I pick my head up, stare at my father. “What’re you waiting for,Dad?”He holds the gun in both hands, clasped in front of him. “Fucking shoot me.”

He smirks, but he’s still looking down at the floor. And then, in a blink, he raises the gun and fires.

The shot is so loud in the small room, the echoes ricocheting off the brick walls. I dart toward Ella, who is covering her head with her hands, sinking to her knees.

I throw my arms around her, my heart nearly shooting out of my fucking chest.

Ria is still sobbing. She’s okay. She’s not hurt.

I pat my arms over Ella. “I’m okay,” she says, confirming.