Page 21 of Pulling Strings

Exposed, he gaped at me, startled, then angry. “Where are we?” he asked.

I stabbed a finger toward the darkness ahead, where the wall around the city remained unseen. “You’re going that way, and I’m going back. When you run into the border guards, tell them who you are. Tell them the Bloody Hex has held you prisoner for the past twelve years. Tell them you’re seeking asylum.”

Donovan’s gaze flicked over me from head to toe like he was seeing me for the first time. His forehead scrunched in a deep frown.

“You’ve lost your mind,” he said.

“Get. Out.” I caught him with mental hooks and dragged him, staggering, from the Porsche.

A shove sent him tumbling into the grass past the edge of the pavement. I swung the car door shut andlocked it, for good measure.

Donovan scrambled to standing, then almost fell again as he backed farther away.

“Don’t use that shit on me,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m not one of your puppets, Marionette.”

He never called me that.

I swore and kicked the scrubby grass. The motion started me pacing, cutting a line between Donovan and the parked car. I didn’t have time to argue. Grimm and the others would be at Jacoby Thatcher’s house soon, if they hadn’t made it already. First, they’d be suspicious, then my phone would start ringing. Then I’d have to come up with a lie that would cover my ass while giving Donovan enough time to get out of town.

If I could convince him to go.

“You know what?” I rounded on him. “Fuck you, all right? You’re a shit witch, Donnie. Hell, you’re not a witch at all, and that’s a good thing. You don’t have to be like me—like them. You shouldn’t be.”

“Iamlike you.” He flapped his tattooed hand like a flag.

I swiped through the air, knocking his arm aside with a wave of force. “I said cut that out. It’s not something to be proud of.”

“It’s no different from you bragging about kill number thirty yesterday. Aren’t you proud?” His voice strained. Pissed off as I’d ever seen him. Scared, too.

“Fuck, no.” I laughed again, but there was no humor in it. “What’s there to be proud of? I marched some poor sap out a window. He couldn’t even fight back.” Words came as fast as I could spit them out. “He was just a powerless old man who found his way onto Grimm’s shit list. Why should I be proud of killing him? I couldn’t give a damn whether he lived or died. Samewith the rest of them.”

I stopped moving long enough to stare down at my hands. The black lines ringing my fingers seemed darker somehow.

“This is Grimm’s agenda,” I said. “Not mine.”

“But you get all the credit,” Donovan muttered.

“You want to know something?” I asked. “Some of these people—most of them if we’re being honest—were investigators. Like Dad.”

My stomach formed a hard knot. Grimm didn’t tolerate talk of our lives before the gang. It was something I’d learned to keep private, a secret only Donovan and I shared.

“Some of them were his friends,” I continued. “And, when I showed up to kill them, they recognized me. Not as Marionette. As Thierry Farrow’s son.”

I’d resumed pacing at some point, but my brother’s puzzled expression stopped me. Over the years, we’d talked less about the past and more about the future. I should have taken it as a sign.

“I knew these people, Donnie.” I raised my hands again. “Weknew them. We had dinner at their houses. We were friends with their kids. And I killed them because that’s the kind of loyalty Grimm expects. That’s the kind of sacrifice he’ll wantyouto make.” When I stabbed a finger at Donovan, he stepped back, but I closed the gap. “He will destroy you then replace you with someone you don’t recognize. Someone you hate.That’swhat would make you like me. And that’s why you can’t be like me. I won’t let you.”

He was quiet for a long moment, standing with his fists balled until he finally said, “You just don’t get it.”

“That’s your takeaway?” I swayed back, stunned. “Did you even hear what I said?”

“I don’t remember any of them, so why should Icare?”

“The investigators?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“What about Dad? Do you remember Dad?”

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