Page 97 of Shades of Ruin

“Fuck you, I’m not playing this game.” I tug frantically on the rope, hoping for a miracle. Hoping this isn’t the way it ends.

“Option two it is then,” she announces with a maniacal edge that’s terrifying before stalking to the other end of the table.

“Wait!” I shout, trying to stall. I get one leg free and start to work on the other, my fingers trembling with adrenaline.

She turns toward me, and it’s like looking an angel of death in the face. “I’ve waited for ten years, Grey. I’m not waiting any longer.”

She reaches Angélica sooner than I expect, and I have a sinking feeling that I won’t be able to get to her in time. I won’t be able to save her. I’m going to lose her after I’ve only just found her. And that’s the cruelest injustice of all.

“You don’t have to do this, Aurélie. This isn’t you. You aren’t a killer.”

“Darling, I’ve never been more myself in my entire life.” Her blue eyes glisten brightly, and I know she’s telling the truth. This is the version of herself she kept hidden when we shared a kitchen all those years ago. The sweet innocence was merely the calculated mask of a monster. “This isexactlywhat I am. Nowstop begging for her life before I decide to really make it hurt for her.”

Aurélie holds the knife in one hand and yanks the gag from Angélica’s mouth with the other. “Any last words before I spill your blood all over this pretty knife?”

No, no,no. This can’t be the end.

I capture Angélica’s gaze from across the table. Her warm brown eyes are still filled with determination. That fire of hers will never fade, not even when there’s no hope left. “I love you,” I mouth, and I know she feels the truth of my words. She smiles up at me, the satisfaction on her lips so out of place with our situation. She won’t give Aurélie the satisfaction of her fear.

“I love you, too,” she whispers back, the words so faint I have to read her lips to know she feels the same.

“What was that, whore? I couldn’t hear you,” Aurélie hisses. She leans in closer, intent on relishing the last words of a dying girl. The only fucking girl I ever truly loved.

“I said rot in hell, you crazy bitch,” my little ruin spits, vicious to her last breath.

And I can’t wait to join her in the peaceful silence of death.

The knife slides in, and my world stops for a moment.

Chapter Forty-Five

ANGÉLICA

Irip the knife out with the last of my strength, blood spraying all over my face from Aurélie’s severed carotid artery. A choked gurgle escapes her throat before she collapses against me, her body writhing as her blood pours out hot and fast. It’s less than a minute before her body stops moving altogether. She’s so heavy on top of my injured abdomen, crushing me under her weight.

It’s a wonder I could even wrap my fingers around the handle of the blade stuck in my stomach, my fingers slick with blood and quivering after I dislocated both my thumbs to get the goddamn cuffs off. I thought I would pass out when I slowly pulled the knife from my belly as Aurélie stalked toward me. I had to breathe through the pain. Had to reassure Grey that it would be okay with a smile on my face. All so I could stab the bitch in her fucking neck when she least expected it.

I didn’t do her the favor of last words. The blonde cunt didn’t deserve them.

My vision starts to flicker in and out, and it’s a struggle tohold on to consciousness. I’m so tired. Maybe shutting my eyes for just a moment wouldn’t be too bad.

“Fucking stay with me, angel!”

Grey. I need to hold on for Grey. He’d be so sad if I left him. I’d be sad too.

I hear a loud crash and look up to see his chair has disappeared from the table. He groans in pain as he tears himself from the broken pieces and starts to drag himself across the floor toward me. “Just stay with me a minute longer, angel. I’m almost there.”

“I f-feel cold, Grey. S-s-so cold.”

“I’ll get you warmed up. Just keep your eyes on me.”

I try to focus on him, but my vision is blurry. I think I may be bleeding out.

Strong hands land on my legs, jolting me from my stupor for a moment. The weight of Aurélie’s dead body disappears, and I feel Grey’s hands push against my stomach. I cry out, the pain of the pressure on my open wound nauseating.

“Jesus Christ,” he breathes in horror. I hear the tear of cloth before his hands are on me again, pressing a rolled piece of shirt against the hole to stop the bleeding. “Hold this here as tight as you can. I need to call emergency services.”

I let my eyes close as I hold the cloth to my stomach. I just want to sleep. I doze in and out of consciousness before Grey shakes me awake.

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