“Who are the Pythons?”
“A rival gang.”
Alyx placed her palm on her forehead, and I knew she was trying to make sense of information overload. “Why…why would they take Neon?”
I glanced across the garage to where Dutch stood. With a slight nod, he urged me to tell the truth, and my gut burned like the flames of hell had just ignited inside me.
“They’re forcing my hand,” I answered simply, wiping my palms down my face.
“What are they forcing you to do?”
I clasped my fists together, legs bobbing up and down. “To take you back home.”
“Then take me back. Let me go home so he can let Neon go.” She spoke the words like it was the simplest solution ever. But it wasn’t.
I shook my head, unable to speak.
“What? Why are you shaking your head? Take me home so they can let Neon go.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It sounds pretty fucking simple to me.”
I straightened. “Well, it’s not.”
“Why?” Her eyes searched my face, desperate for answers I couldn’t give her right now. “Why is it not that simple?’
My heart raced, and the walls around me seemed to close in. I looked over at Dutch, then to Ink, before looking at Alyx. “I’m not taking you home, Alyx. I can’t. Not now.”
She recoiled, her eyes narrowed and lips parted. “Are you telling me that you’re such a selfish bastard that you won’t let me go, even if it means saving Neon’s life?”
The way her lips curled, her eyes cold and flat, and eyebrows pinching together as she stared at me, I knew she felt nothing but disgust at that moment. And even though it killed me to see her look at me that way, this wasn’t a fucking popularity contest. This was war, and every war had its casualties.
“Dutch,” I called, “escort Miss Green back to her room.”
She shook her head with panic. “Granite, don’t do this. You can save Neon’s life.”
Dutch grabbed her elbow, and she tried to yank free, but he pulled both her arms behind her back, gripping her in place. I hated that he had his hands on her in such a way, constraining her, hurting her while she fought so desperately to free herself. But she had to leave.
“Granite, stop, please. Don’t—” She froze, her face pale as she glanced down. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “Oh, my God, is that…is that Neon?”
The phone Ink dropped earlier was laying by her feet, the image of Neon suspended in the air by a giant hook through her skin still on it.
Instantly, her blue eyes were filled with tears and a million questions as she looked up at me. “Jesus, Granite. What are they doing to her?”
I grabbed the phone off the floor, and Alyx started to thrash against Dutch’s hold. “Granite! They’re killing her. Stop them, please!” Tears ran down her cheeks like a river of pain, and it killed me. It fucking shredded me from the inside out.
“Granite, please help her! Let me go, and help her.” Alyx kept screaming, pleading, begging with every tear she shed, and it gutted me four ways.
“Take her back to her room, Dutch.”
“No! No!” she yelled, kicking and screaming while she wept what could have been tears of blood. “Don’t do this, Granite. God, please don’t do this. Let me go home.”
“Take her!” My voice boomed through the garage. I couldn’t fucking take it anymore. Her cries were breaking every bone, slicing through every inch of my flesh.
Alyx screamed. She didn’t stop. The sound only grew softer as Dutch dragged her back to her room.
Rage possessed me, like a thousand demons eager to rip every living creature apart. Slither was making me choose. He was forcing me to choose between the girl who was like family to me—to us—and the girl I’d waited years for.