Page 112 of Creep

“I know you,” he continued. “I know you better than anyone else in the world. And never have you been like this. Never have you let your emotions lead your decisions. And this fire?” He pointed out to the general area of the flames. “It happened because of your emotions.”

“Wasn’t it you who always said I needed to be more in tune with my emotions?”

A little ironic, coming from my brother. Theo had always been impersonal and reserved, even when we were kids. At times, it felt like there was nothing in this world that could affect him, while I had felt nothing but restlessness.

“Not like this. Not when you’re not talking about it. Not when you’re acting rashly. This is going to get you killed, Mael.”

I shook my head. “Never expected to live long, anyway.”

I felt him tense, but he didn’t say anything.

I let out a small sigh and reached over, squeezing his shoulder. It was all I could give him at this time.

“You know it’s the truth.”

“No,” Theo said, disagreeing with me. “Not with her. She gave you a reason to be cautious.”

“She’s not here,” I replied, the bitterness in my voice unmistakable. I was fucking worried about her being in Briggs’s hands, but fuck if I wasn’t angry with her as well.

So fucking angry.

“She ran from me.”

“Maybe… maybe you went about it the wrong way,” Theo said. “She ran because she was scared of you.”

I shook my head. I didn’t give a damn about that. My actions should have shown her just how incapable I was of hurting her.

Theo let out a small sigh. “I know you’re a little out of practice trying to woo someone, but I don’t think stalking her was it.”

“Woo,” I repeated. Despite the burning rage I’d felt ever since I realized she was gone, there was a small amusement over Theo’s words.

I shook my head. “Let’s get out of here before we’re spotted.”

He opened his mouth, probably to say something else, but I shook my head and walked away, leaving all the destruction, the screams, and the fucking misery there.

Burning this place down was supposed to make me feelmarginallybetter. It was supposed to make me feel like I was, at the very least, doing something to get Lia back.

All it did was make me want to kill someone.

31

LIA

I flinchedwhen Leo slammed his fist on the table.

On the computer screen were flames destroying everything in their path.

And the thing in its path?

One of Leo’s buildings.

Fire trucks were called, but the building was in a remote area, and by the time they got there, nothing would have been salvageable.

I couldn’t believe Mael had done this.

Why had he done this?

To punish me by messing with Leo’s business?

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