Page 113 of Lady Killer

“Stop agitating her,” Alister ordered his twin as he pulled me from him.

It had been Mami and me, and then just me, for so long. Alone.

Then Autumn had wormed her way into my life, dodging past all my defenses, and it was only in her absence that I understood how good it had felt to be something other than alone.

Now she was gone, and it hurt more than I could have imagined. I rubbed a hand over my breastbone, unable to soothe the ache there since her disappearance.

“You realize she’s as good as dead?”

“Nixon,” his brother admonished him, but the damage was done.

His harsh words slapped me across the face. It was one thing to tell myself that, it was another thing to hear it out loud.

This time, when I collapsed into Alister’s arms, it was real.

“I need to do something.” My voice came out like a croak.

“You need to stick to your schedule and stay with us, ma petite diablesse. You can’t save your friend if the killer catches you.”

“I can’t save her if she’s dead either,” I said bitterly. “She’s in danger every second she’s gone, and pretending otherwise is simply painting a pretty lie on an ugly truth.”

No one had a pithy response to that.

“Use me,” I said.

Alister’s eye twitched, while Nixon’s went wide before he smirked. “Finally ready for the twin sandwich?”

His brother and I turned in unison to glare at him before I shook my head and continued. “Use me to draw out the killer. Like bait. I know you’ve considered it, it’s only logical.”

“No,” said Alister.

Nixon took another haul and tilted his head. “She’s right.”

“No.”

“If she was anyone other than your and Ever’s girlfriend, she would have been tied to the flagpole with a giant carrot dangling from her tits by now.”

Alister and I interrupted him at the same time.

“That’s not—‍”

“I said no.”

Nixon blew out a puff of smoke. “What made you change your mind, brother? Yesterday, you were on board.”

“I said it was a better option than torturing Royal,” he snapped at Nixon, turning to look at me. “It was an idea.”

“And now it’s a plan,” I countered as I turned in his arms to face him, planting my hands on his chest.

He gritted his teeth. “Everest will never allow it.”

“Everest isn’t my keeper, none of you are,” I said, raising my chin before looking over my shoulder at Nixon. “Tell Lucian I’m going to set something up with Clayton and that if he wants this killer caught, he’ll have to keep Ever from interfering.”

Alister opened his mouth to argue, but I kept going.

“I agreed to stay with you because you promised to keep her safe. You failed, and now it’s my turn.

“No, demoness.”

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