Page 34 of Buried in Blood
But I see it now. The sweat at her temples. The way she breathes is too fast. She thinks I’ll spare her if she gives me blood. She doesn’t realize—I don’t believe in mercy. My Harmony wouldn’t touch another man. She wouldn’t look at one. Not after everything we’ve been through. Not after everything I’ve done to keep her mine. Would she?
No.
No.
“Get out,” I growl.
“But—”
“GET OUT!”
She stumbles to her feet and bolts for the hallway.
I stay seated. My pulse is pounding in my ears.
I look at Reese. He scrolls on his phone, unbothered.
I shouldn’t be thinking about it.
I shouldn’t be imagining Reese’s hand brushing hers.
I shouldn’t be wondering if her laugh sounds different when it’s for someone else.
She wouldn’t betray me.
She’s mine.
Isn’t she?
But still, I sit in the silence…
…and I wonder.
* * *
Monday, 5:42 p.m.
The Orchard
The gravel crunches beneath our boots as we walk side by side, dusk bleeding into the sky above us like a wound left untended.
Reese hasn’t said a word since Brooke’s confession. Good. I don’t like the sound of his voice lately.
The silence stretches, cold and dense, until I finally crack it with a casual tone—too casual.
“You think Brooke learned her lesson?”
He shrugs. “Hard to say.”
“You think she’s lying?”
Another shrug.
Motherfucker.
I narrow my eyes on the side of his face. He’s trying to be unreadable, and he’s good at it. That makes him dangerous. But it also makes him valuable.
We reach the south wing of the Orchard—six girls and one boy. Fresh. Prepped. Almost ready.
