Page 241 of Bitten & Burned
I moved even closer, bent at the waist to look him in the eye. And then, I spit. Directly in his face.
He blinked as if I’d struck him.
“You little bitch—” He hissed, struggling against his chains. I simply straightened, folding my arms in front of me. “Kill me. Kill me now, I can’t bear to see what they’ve turned you into. Kill me and remember me always, you wretched, ungrateful girl.”
Quil’s voice was loud in my head:Killing someone is difficult. But…One on one? Hearing them talk to you? It’s so much harder. It stays with you forever.
Forever.
And that’s when I saw it.
It was finally apparent.
Now that my rage wasn’t so fresh in my mind, and I had him sitting here before me, it came to me clearly.
Silaswantedthis.
He wanted me to kill him. Because then, he’d win. He’d get be on my mind, in my head, for the rest of my life.
If I did what I came down here to do, he’d have won. And I wasn’t going to let him win. Not now. He was going to die, yes.
ButIwasn’t going to kill him.
I huffed out a laugh and began walking, turning my back on him.
“No,” I said simply.
“What?” he asked, sounding as if he either hadn’t heard me or didn’t want to.
“I said, ‘no’,” I replied. “I won’t kill you. I won’t give you that. In your blighted, broken little mind, you think that if I kill you, you’ll stay with me. You’ll win, even if you don’t get to have me. So no. I won’t kill you. I won’t even watch.”
He gaped at me, his mouth working around a possible retort, but I shook my head. I was done with him now. Ready to be done with him forever. I walked back to the door just as Quil opened it and held it for me.
“So what, Rowena, you’re just going to leave me here? I’ll find a way out. I’ll find a way to escape, and I’ll rescue you. I’ll save you from this nightmare.”
I glared at him before turning to Quil. “He’s yours. I don’t care what you do with him. Just get rid of him. I don’t want to know.”
Quil searched my eyes and nodded, his shoulders relaxing a bit. His eyes were dark and searching, but his nod was simply tacit understanding.
“What?” Silas yelled. “What?”
He was flailing, trying to yank his arms free from thechains. I reached out for Quil and ran my fingers down his cheek, pausing on his jaw before I let him hold the door open for me.
“I’ll be back up when I’m finished,” Quil said solemnly. “Shouldn’t be long. Unless I take a page from Anton’s book. Which I may…” He turned towards Silas with dead eyes that saw only one thing.
I nodded, leaned over, and kissed him, no heat, just warmth, and maybe a bit of acceptance. Recognition of our bond.
I reached for Dmitri’s hand, and together we started up the stairs.
“You don’t think I’m a coward…for not doing it myself?” My voice was thin, almost breaking.
His grip tightened, solid and steady. “Of course not, Mishka. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known.”
The door didn’t shut fully behind me, so I could somewhat hear as I went.
Our boots echoed on the stairs.
Beneath the noise, the scrape of a chair as Quil dragged it across the room. It bumped on the stone floor before it stopped.
