Page 139 of His Ruin
No, I couldn’t have. The handwritten invites are sitting in the trash along with every other resource I’ve used for the wedding. I canceled the caterers yesterday and denied the cake delivery. Everything has been on hold.
I finally look up, stopping dead in my tracks as the air is sucked from my lungs. Everything around me goes motionless, time standing still as my heart plummets.
“Kodi,” I whisper, my lips trembling. “I have to go.”
“Wait—” I hang up on her.
“How nice of you to join us,” Kaden smirks across the room. Beside him, Dylan is tied to a chair with a makeshift gag shoved between his lips. His whole body sags forward, his chest heaving as he tries to breathe past the pain. His eyes are almost swollen shut with bright purple bruises rimming them, and old blood is caked in streaks from his nose. He looks like he’s been beaten within an inch of his life.
“Kaden,” I say carefully, my eyes flickering between the two men. “What’s going on?”
My brother spreads his hands wide, a gun held tightly in his right. “You’re just in time for our game.”
Game?
Has he lost his mind?
I swallow past my fear. “Untie him.”
Kaden tilts his head, his eyes squinting. “I don’t think I will, little sister.”
Dylan’s head rises at the sound of my voice. What I can see past his swollen sockets is pure apology and terror. He gurgles past the gag, his voice muffled and stunted.
It makes my spine chill as I try to calm the situation by softening my tone. “Whatever this is, you don’t have to do it.”
“Oh, but I do,” Kaden says with sick amusement as he grabs Dylan’s cheeks and shakes his head harshly. “We talked about our little game the whole way here.Dylisecstaticto play.”
Certifiable.
He’s fucking insane!
“What game?” I whisper, my tears clouding my eyes as I bite back a sob. I don’t even want to know, but Kaden isn’t in the headspace to be negotiated with.
He releases Dylan, who groans with pain, the sound wheezing from him. Kaden takes a step to his left, holding up the revolver as he smiles with empty eyes. “Just a little Russian Roulette. Nothing too crazy.”
My heart slams as my hands shake. “What?”
Kaden pops the cylinder before producing a single bullet from his pocket. He shoves it into the gun before spinning the cylinder and snapping it back into place. He doesn’t say a word as he holds the barrel to Dylan’s temple, his smile never faltering.
Dylan croaks a sound, closing his eyes as the gun presses sharply into him. His shoulders shake as a dark, wet spot begins to spread across his lap.
“Oh, that’sembarrassing,” Kaden winces.
“Stop,” I beg, my voice raw. Nothing around me exists anymore as I remain solely focused on the horror in front of me.
Kaden’s eyes snap to me as he squeezes the trigger, and I stop breathing. An emptyclickfills the room as my stepbrother’s brows rise in surprise. “Beginner’s luck,Dyl.”
My knees wobble, and I almost crumble to the floor. But it isn’t over.
Kaden turns the gun onhimself, the barrel pressing into his temple as he squeezes the trigger again. Another emptyclick, and my hand clutches at my chest.
“Stop, Kaden!” I shout, my face soaked with my tears. “Please! Stop!”
He chuckles, the sound dull and lacking light. “We’ve still got four rounds to go. Don’t we,Dyl?”
Dylan cries harder, his whole face pinching as it continues to swell. He can’t even see past his puffy eyelids anymore.
I wave my hands frantically, catching Kaden’s attention. “What do I-I have to do to stop this?”
