Page 77 of King of Ruin

Kane sets the glass in front of his father. Lifting his own in a false cheer.He’s not.

My throat turns to fire.

Phineas ismine. He belongs tome. Kane can’t take this from me.He can’t.

“Last signature, Miss Embros.” Lucian points to another line.

This time, I don’t sign, because I can’t see. Red has all but taken my vision, and before I can utter a word, I’m too late.

Phineas has already picked up the glass.

One thing I love so much about Onyx is her ability to figure out a puzzle before she’s even seen half of the picture. She reads people as though they wear their stories on their chest, and her intuition is one of the strongest I’ve ever encountered. I knew she’d figure out what I was doing the moment I poured the liquor.

I knew she’d see the variation in the color and realize it won’t be her who gets to kill Phineas tonight. It will be me.

In doing so, I’m acutely and bitterly aware I’m risking what I’ve worked really fucking hard to build with Onyx. The possibilities, a future–everything is on the line if she can’t understand.

God, I hope she can understand.

The pain, the anger, the sorrow, the deaths. This man owes meeverything, yet can give me absolutely nothing. And while it’s taken me time, I’ve come to peace with all the suffering I’ve endured by his hand. I’ve dug into what he’s done and pulled out the only frail silver lining that can come from his abuse.

I’ve become a fierce protector. Both to my family and those I’ve connected with along the way.

I’ve learned to take on the burdens of others, no matter how great, dealing with the problems they can no longer shoulder.

Perseverance. Resilience. Empathy. All of it came from the situations he put me through in an attempt to steal the little humanity I desperately clung too.

Still, I never buckled. I prevailed.

And as much as I’ve absorbed the weight he’s placed on me, there’s something I still need to find any sort of closure. Something only he can give me whenItake his life. And once it’s done, I’ll spend my life trying to make Onyx understand why it needed to be me.

My chest aches as I walk back to her. She’s sitting in such a quiet manner it’s impossible for anyone else in the room to notice she’s actually seething. But I know when my queen is mad, and she is livid.

She keeps her eyes on the paper in front of her as she finally signs the last line, effectively giving me all she has.

Before she lifts the pen from the paper, Phineas takes a swig of his drink. “Kiss your whore goodbye, son. Then a bullet goes between her eyes.” My father lifts his glass in the air, a toast he holds while I draw my gun.

My heart hammers in my chest as I look down at her. Everyone else in the room has faded into nothing as I burn under her rising gaze. Her eyes find mine and in them, there’s an emotion hidden in her dark depths that cracks my very core.

Hurt.

With it, I realize that no matter what my reasons are, or how I try to make it up to her, she’ll never let me in again. I’m stealing something she thinks belongs to her and nothing I say will convince her of anything different.

I use the reality of it as fuel when my free hand reaches out and grabs her chin in a bruising grip. Use it to justify my selfishness when I lean down and press my lips against hers as hard as I can.

In the kiss, I tell her everything I want to say but know she’ll never hear.

Forgive me.

A sharp spike of pain radiates across my lips driving me to break away. Onyx’s chest is heaving up and down, her eyes full of fire and her swollen lips stained in a bright red.

I press a fingertip to my mouth and when I draw my hand back, I find blood.

My angry girl bit me.

Phineas’ chuckle reminds me of his presence. “I told you once, I’ll tell you again. She can’t be house trained.” He takes a hard swallow of his drink, emptying the glass in one heavy gulp before standing and buttoning his suit jacket. “Now put your animal down.”

A lightness expands in my chest as my pulse begins drumming into my ribs. My eyes flash to Oliver who tosses me my silencer. I catch it above Onyx’s head before spinning it onto the barrel of my gun.

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