Page 64 of The Psychopaths

The next punch he delivers is right to my kidneys, and it sends me to my knees. I grit my teeth through the pain and continue. “Did she tell you she pities you? Poor, broken Arson, twisted by trauma? Bet that gets her hot—thinking she can fix you, save you?—”

“Shut up!” His control slips, showing the cracks I’m looking for. “You know nothing…”

“I know her.” I look up at him, and the coppery tang of blood fills my mouth. “Known her for years. Watching her manipulate everyone around her with that fragile act she pulls off so well. Even Mother can’t handle her like I can?—”

He hauls me up off the floor, his hand wrapped tightly around my throat. Then he slams me against the wall. Pain encompasses my entire body, but I do my very best to hide it.

“You handled her by ignoring her. By making her think she wasn’t good enough. Well, guess what? I’m going to give her everything you denied her.”

“Yeah?” I wheeze through his grip. “Going to love her? Make her whole? You can’t even love yourself. You’re too broken, too damaged?—”

“I’m going to corrupt her,” he snarls, face inches from mine. “Turn her into something even you won’t recognize, and the best part is, you’re going to watch it happen. Watch her fall in love with the monster wearing your face.”

I bare my bloodied teeth at him in a mockery of a smile. “She’ll never love you. You’re just a replacement. A cheap copy she’s settling for because she can’t have the real thing.”

His eyes go flat—that institutional emptiness I remember from the day they took him filling his eyes.Got him.

“I think it’s time that we test that theory.” His free hand moves to his pocket, and out of the corner of my eye, I watch him pull a syringe out. My body tenses instinctively—memories of watching nurses sedate him when we were younger filling my mind. “You know what they taught me in that place?” He taps the barrel, checking for air bubbles with practiced ease. “The exact combination of chemicals needed to keep someone compliant without causing them permanent damage. Had a lot of time to perfect the ratios.”

I try to push off the wall, but I’m weak, weaker now after our fight. “Big whoop, you’re going to drug me like they drugged you? Prove you’re just like them?”

“No.” He steps closer, needle glinting. “They used drugs to control me. I use them to create opportunities for education. Class is in session, Aries. It’s time to learn some hard truths about our little Lilian.” The needle slides into my neck with clinical precision, and ice spreads through my veins as he depresses the plunger. “She’s not some delicate flower you need to protect,” he continues, watching my legs give out. “She’s got poison in her veins, just like us.”

I slide down the wall, my vision blurring. He can do whatever he wants to her, but I won’t be able to live with myself if he hurts her. “Do whatever you want to her. But please… don’t... hurt her...”

“Hurt her?” He crouches down beside me, and I can barely make out his face, my focus swimming in and out. “I’m going to set her free. Then I’ll bring her down here when the time is right.” A cruel smile twists his lips. “Let you see exactly what she becomes when she’s not playing your precious stepsister.”

“She’s...better than...this...better than...us.” My tongue feels heavy, all of my thoughts scattering like marbles being kicked across the floor.

“Better than what? Hmm...” He cups his ear, mocking my fading tone. “The family who’s been planning to make her disappear at the slightest inconvenience? The stepbrother who rejected her? Or the man who finally sees her true nature?” His hand pats my cheek. “No need to answer yet. You’ll have plenty of time to think about it.”

The drugs pull me under, but not before I hear his parting words.

“I hope you have sweet dreams about your precious Lilian. While you’re sleeping, I’ll be teaching her exactly how good it feels to be yourself, and believe me, she’s such an eager student.”

Noooooo!!!Darkness claims me, but my last conscious thought is of Lilian. Not the innocent I tried to protect, but the warrior she might become in my brother’s hands.

God help us all.

Lilian

One week. Seven days.One hundred and sixty-eight hours.

That’s how long it’s been since he pressed me against that wall and promised to destroy me so beautifully that I almost gave in to temptation.

Not that I’m counting.

My phone mocks me from my desk—no messages, no calls, no threatening appearances.

Something happened. The security camera feeds I begged, cajoled, and paid Lee to hack around campus show nothing. It’s like Arson was never here at all, taking both his identity and Aries with him.

“Miss Hayes?” Professor Harris’s voice startles me, and I look up at him. “Class ended five minutes ago.”

I blink and peer around the room, realizing I’m sitting alone in the lecture hall. How long was I daydreaming? I look down at my notebook and see that it’s empty except for a couple of compulsive sketches of the warehouse.

“Sorry,” I mutter, while moving out of my seat to gather up my things. “I guess I lost track of time.”

I quickly shove everything into my backpack and leave. As I cross the quad, my head moves on a swivel. Hope swells in my chest at the thought of seeing his familiar frame looming in the distance, but there’s nothing. I know how stupid it is to crave the villain, to want the monster in the story, but Arson isn’t the monster he claims to be.

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