Page 129 of Stalker

“I’m sorry, brother.” I had a fleeting memory of that as well.

“You have no reason to be sorry, Wilder. All three of us carry a heavy burden. The scars run deep.”

Yes, they did.

“It seems Daddy dearest has made this very personal.” I gritted my teeth, every muscle in my body tensing.

“Yes, it would seem so. Don’t worry. As I said, the bait had been dropped. Our buddy Drew will make contact one way or the other. We will slaughter the fucker. But I don’t mind telling you, I don’t like this shit.”

“Neither do I, but it’s time to take out our vengeance on the freak. Plus, we’re very, very good at games.” The bastard would escalate the game because I’d taken away his prize.

Cassandra.

“Yes, I guess you’re right.”

A plan had been made to lure the fucker in the open, but we were playing tit for tat.

“Don’t go soft on me, Xander. That’s not like you.”

Xander laughed. “I have my reasons, but if you were capable of embracing what so many tried to erase from your heart and soul then maybe you’d feel the same way. Family is all that truly matters.”

“Youhavegrown soft, brother.” But even as I uttered the words, my thoughts drifted to Cassandra as they’d done so many times when I was embroiled in unforgiving anger. She was the second pure thing I’d ever experienced in my life, the first forced to face the wrath of a man who’d learned to hate what he hadn’t been able to possess.

So my foster parent had hired men to destroy the one good thing I’d experienced in my life.

Now another monster threatened to do it again.

Cassandra was so self-aware, fierce in her every action while still carrying the hint of innocence I’d come to covet.

Something I hadn’t been allowed because of the blood flowing through my veins. She’d acted so defiant in her suggestions on how to deal with Cain Demarco, yet she had no understanding what the man was capable of or how his evil could eventually swallow her whole.

“If that’s the case, Wilder, then so be it. There’s a difference in why I will fight to the death if necessary in order to eliminate our father’s evil. I will die to try and protect Jessica. I’ll ask you a question. Will you do the same for Cassandra Penticoff? If you can’t, send her far away from our world. If you don’t, you’ll never recover from the evil penetrating our veins.”

Rage was a formidable emotion, yet rarely productive. It was only in the calmest moments when all emotions were carefully locked away that the best decisions could be made.

Control was vital.

And at the moment, I had none.

All because one woman had dragged me from the depths of despair.

“Do you know what the old articles in the newspapers called Daddy dearest?” I asked.

“You’re avoiding, but fine. Have it your way. The Grim Reaper?”

“The Scorekeeper. Evidently, he left counts of those he’d killed and others that were on his list. He counted the missing body parts too.”

Xander exhaled. “Such a sick bastard. It’s time to even the score.”

“Yes, brother, but make no mistake. One or all of us could end up dead.”

He hesitated, but only briefly. “Then so be it.”

I ended the call and took a swig of my drink, still staring out the window as lightning creating an artful pattern across the sky.

I’d read that many mental illnesses were transferred from parent to child. I’d been called evil so many times in my life I’d never thought of my desire for violence as anything but normal.

Maybe now I could allow the demons to rest. I knew exactly what I was.

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