Page 39 of Ravage
I slip into fight or flight mode. My heart rampages in my chest at a dizzying pace, its thundering beat drowning out all other sounds. I manage one shaky step after another, my muscles vibrating with the instinct to bolt, until I'm finally facing him.
The gun is aimed at my chest from a mere four feet away. There's no chance of missing me if he fires now. He's close enough that I can see the flecks of green in his amber eyes. The sharp angle of his jaw and the tic of its muscle. His hair is shorter than how he used to wear it when we were younger, though its dyed color is the same. He's in jeans and a blue shirt that reveals a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm that hadn't been there on the island.
“Dane,” I breathe out.
“Don’t talk,” he barks and waves the gun at me.
I bite my lips and hold my hands up so he knows I’m ready to cooperate. The best I have on me are knives, and even if I could get them out before he pulled the trigger, what would I do with them? I killed his sister to save him.
If I turn and run, I’m dead. Step closer to him, dead. If there’s anyone in the world who wants me dead, Dane is at the top of that list.
Self-preservation tells me to shut the fuck up and do what he says until I can see an opportunity for me to escape.
He rubs his face with his free hand. “Fuck. Why did it have to be you?”
It’s obviously a rhetorical question, so I keep my mouth shut.
He glares at me. “Why did you do it? I want answers. Then I’ll decide what happens to you.”
Holy shit balls.
I’m going to die.
I swallow to give myself more time to decide how to respond. I know that I’m fucked no matter what I do. Even if I told him the truth, he wouldn’t believe me while he’s still buried in his grief. And I still want to hold on to my promise.
But if I lie to him, he’ll know and probably kill me. If I keep my mouth shut, he might kill me out of frustration.
How the fuck do I get out of this?
When I don’t answer right away, he steps forward and yells, “Answer me! Why did you kill Vera? Why did you kill my sister?”
I take an involuntary step backward and bump into the filing cabinet. Damn it, this office is too small. There’s nowhere to go if he keeps getting closer.
“She was my sister too,” I say finally, avoiding the actual question that will probably get me in trouble. She was the only girl I talked to on the island. The one who talked to me about boys. About kissing. She meant something to me too, which made her betrayal hurt that much more.
Because she’d turned her back on all of us.
His face reddens, and it’s like seeing a bomb about to go off.
Fuck me.
“How dare you say that!? You don’t get to say that after what you did to her! You killed her! And she was mine by blood. I was supposed to protect her. I just didn’t think I had to protect her from you!”
I hold my palms out in front of my chest in a placating gesture. “Dane, please. Put the gun down so we can talk about this.”
“How long did you plan on killing her? Were you just playing all of us to make us care about you so you could get close to her? Or did she try to stop you when she found out about you, so you killed her?” Another step closer. He’s a step away from being able to reach me now.
“No, it’s not like that! Dane. Please.”
The rage turns manic in his eyes. “I know you were with GE all along. I’ve seen the proof. You tricked us. And suddenly, after all this time, you just appear in our city and keep bumping into us? I don’t buy it. What do they have you here for? To get close to the others again so you can take me in? Are you going to kill them like you did her if they get in your way?”
Proof? What proof? And why does he think GE wants him?
My brain barely has time to register what he’s saying before he reaches out and snatches my wrist. He shoves my palm against his chest and holds it there. I try to tug it back, but his hold is immovable. Then the barrel of his gun pushes into my forehead, and I freeze. “Go ahead. I want to feel what Vera did in her last moments before I shut you down.”
I take a shuddering breath, but I don’t look away from him or close my eyes to hide from his pain. I did this to him. But there’s nothing I can say or do to fix it.
My gaze meets his, trying to convey how sorry I am for what I did. Moisture gathers in my eyes, and I have to bite my lip to stop the fine tremble that’s taken over me out of fear of what’s going to happen next. I try to focus on Dane instead. His eyes. The feel of his heart beating beneath my hand. His signature citrusy scent that I used to tease him for smelling sweet and tart at the same time, just like his personality.
