Page 59 of Broken Queen
Because the truth was that I had trusted Zira. I wanted her more than anything in this world, and she had betrayed me.
I couldn’t face that reality.
I flung her to the ground and grabbed the switchblade from my back pocket, flicking it open and putting the sharp edge to her throat, pinning her against the ground. Dirt and cement particles clung to her neck, her body soaked and shivering.
“Tell me who it is,” I said.
“I can’t,” she cried.
“I’m not going to repeat myself again, Zira,” I breathed, exasperation taking hold of me. “Who killed my sister?”
Those blue eyes begged me to understand everything she was hiding. That she truly had no other choice. And that’s when I realized it was obvious.
The only person she would protect, the only person who could truly give her what she wanted, was her father.
She was protecting her abusive, rapist father from me.
I threw myself off of her. My heart raced, my throat tight and sore. I buttoned up my pants, my movements harsh. Everything was blurry as I tried to find my place. I angled toward the staircase, ready to leave.
“Hazard?” Zira asked softly. I stilled.
Her father had killed Gabby, and Zira cared more about keeping him alive so she could get her little secret society, than she cared about telling me the truth. And Bloom had raped Zira. Bullied her. Disrespected her for years. Treated her like an object. Made her feel like garbage.
How could she protect him from me?
“Hazard, did you kill Ernest?” she asked in a quiet voice.
Madness filled me. Every muscle in my body tensed as I laid my eyes on her. Crumpled on the floor. A mess of wet fabric and bleeding makeup. A disgraced queen.
The best way to get revenge for Gabby would be to kill Zira, Bloom’s only offspring.
And why shouldn’t I kill her?
I pulled the gun out of my holster and aimed it at Zira’s head.
“You know what I think?” I asked. “I think I know who killed Gabby, and you know what would hurt that son of a bitch the most? Killing his only daughter before he got his grandson.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zira snarled, staring straight down the barrel of the gun.
“But I do, don’t I?” I said. “I killed Ernest. There. I said it. Does that make you happy, Bloomy?”
She narrowed her eyes. “You broke your promise to me.”
“Why don’t you go run to your daddy?” I said. “You’re just like those men that you hate. Just like your daddy.” I spat to the side of us, wiping my face on the back of my free hand. “You’re selfish to your fucking bones.”
“Fuck off, Hazard,” she snapped. “You’re doing the same thing to me. I just happened to do it better than you.”
A crash of heat landed on my shoulders, trickling down to my toes. This is how she wanted to play? Digging the knife in deep and twisting it?
Then I was going to emotionally gut her too.
“You know what hurts you the most?” I asked, jabbing the gun closer to her. “If you had been the least bit competent, your daddy would have made you a board member. You know he could. He always had that power. There ain’t nothing stopping him. But you never measured up, did you? Not even after everything you did. You’ll never be able to change anything. You’ll end up here like the rest of these corpses.”
“Fuck you,” she rasped.
“You’re protecting someone who thinks you’re trash. A vessel to be used. Married off. Forgotten. Just like the rest of them,” I growled. “You mean nothing.”
She balled her fists. “Stop talking.”
