Page 184 of Hexed
“Yes,” she says, but I can sense the uncertainty in the air.
“Fair enough. But if you kill me…” I continue. “He’ll have something to hang over your head. Something that ties you to him, and to this place, forever.”
“I’m not staying in Atlantic Cove.”
“I’m sure you believe that,” I agree.
“He wouldn’t.”
“The only constant in life is change,” I say. “Heraclitus said that.”
Aria’s face screws up. “Okay, and?”
“And the one thing I know is your father would move heaven and earth to keep you here, locked to his side. That is a constant in this life. So, what’s the part that’s changed?” My eyes flick to the knife. “Once your hands are dirty, Aria, there’s no amount of washing that can clean the stains. He’ll always know how to make them show.”
She lets out a frustrated groan. “I’m supposed to kill you. Iwantto kill you.”
“Kill me, then.” I say lackadaisically. “Or…”
She leans in slightly.
“We could make a deal.”
FIFTY
VENESA
Fisher is still standing silentlynext to my pookies’ aquarium with his head hanging, his hands in his pockets.
He really is nothing but a pathetic guppy.
Hurts to admit, but here we are.
“Why would I make a deal with you? You don’t have any power,” Aria says, drawing my attention back.
My fingers twitch, and the chains rattle against the metal table. “Power’s in the eye of the beholder. The only reason you think I’m powerless is because you’ve got me chained down. Aria…you don’t know the things I’m capable of.”
“Like what?”
“Like getting you out of Atlantic Cove without tying yourself to Uncle T.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re just trying to trick me.”
“Believe what you want.”
Aria looks at me from her periphery. “And why would you help me anyway?”
“Self-preservation, obviously. I don’t want to die, and if that means we have to work together, then so be it.”
Her gaze narrows. “What are you planning to do, kill Daddy?”
A smile spreads across my face. “Now, I can’t tell you everything. Where’s the fun in that?”
Aria looks to Fisher. He’s stone silent, still staring at the ground, and a small part of me, beyond the hurt and anger at his betrayal, wonders if he’s letting me try to talk myself out of this because he cares. Maybe. Just a little.
“With me, you’ll be free.” I purse my lips, going in for the kill. “And I can get you back to Enzo. Back in his good graces.”
She lifts the knife again. “How?”
