“He might as well be.”
“The doctor can save him.”
My eyes protrude with all of my furry. My fists ball, my nostrils flare, and my heart pounds so loud I’m sure she can hear it.
“If he lives, he will carry scars with him forever. You of all people should know that.”
A slow tear rolls down her cheek.
“You don’t get to cry. You don’t get to feel sorry for what you did. You may not have killed anyone before, but you just did—you killed Zeke.”
More tears fall down her cheek, but I harden more. I will destroy her. I don’t know why part of me felt any amount of sorrow for her before, but it’s gone. I want Archard to walk in the door now and say the game starts tomorrow, because I need to take out my frustration on her, now. And killing her wouldn’t be enough.
I need to find a way to fix this. Since I won’t kill Kai, and I want her alive and healthy when I do my damage to her, I have to take my rage out in a different way. By ensuring everyone fucking knows I’m Black, and I don’t show mercy. Alastar’s men will die a torturous death for what they did to Zeke.
And then everyone will know why Kai is married to me. They will know I won her. And marrying her was just a way to claim her as mine. I’ll make her nothing.
I start toward the door. “I’m leaving.”
“What? Where are you going?” Kai asks.
“To get revenge for Zeke.”
“But Zeke needs you here, if he wakes up—”
“Langston will be here if he wakes up.” Which is a big if. “And when he wakes up, I want to be able to tell him I killed the man who hurt him. We can’t show weakness, not fucking now.”
“But—” Kai puts her hand on me.
I jerk back, like her touch burns me—I hate her.
I see the pain from my reaction on her face. “Don’t you dare try to stop me! You stopped me from going before, and Zeke paid the price. If you try to stop me now, I’ll kill you.”
She doesn’t terror at my threat. She stands tall, strong, fearless.
Fuck her.
“And I would deserve it.”
I narrow my eyes. Not believing she said that. But nothing she says will fix anything—nothing.
“Go.”
“I don’t need your fucking permission.”
“And I’m not giving it.”
I shudder as my anger fills me, needing a fucking escape hatch through my body. And then I disappear.
Without Kai’s permission.
Without Archard holding me back.
I go because it’s the only thing I can do for Zeke. A man who saved me too many times to count. My brother in every way that matters.
I failed him. I won’t fail him again. I will kill the man who hurt him. And then when I return, I’ll deal with Kai. Because my father had it right the first time when he ordered me to kill her when we were teenagers. She has no business being in this life. And the only way to prevent her from winning is by killing her.
11