Page 70 of The Heir
But that would be insane.
Dante sighs and leans against a tree. "Must have just been an animal."
I hum in agreement. The jungle really is beautiful. Lush greenery in every direction—their broad leaves and swaying branches just feel calming.
Bang!
"Fuck—" Dante gasps as he stumbles to the ground.
"No!" The word rips out of my lungs. As Dante falls, so does my world. My husband. The father of my twins. The man who sees me for who I am—who doesn't run,who doesn't hide, who doesn't want me to make myself smaller—falls to the forest floor. Blood blooms from his hip. He drops the rifle, and it skitters across the layer of decaying leaves.
My husband looks up at me with tears in his eyes, gasping for breath. His mouth flops open, but no words come out. Only a wheezing breath. One after another. I'm frozen. I'm entirely frozen. I want to cradle him. I want to kill for him. I want our family to be safe. But I can't do anything. I'm stuck. I'm fucking stuck.
"Isn't this cute?" Ella sings out, striding toward us. She slings her own rifle across her back, not bothering to point it at us. It's like she doesn't think we're a threat. My husband is bleeding out on the jungle floor, and she thinks I'm not a threat?
My hands shake, and my lips curl back, exposing my teeth. A haze of red clouds my vision. The familiar gnawing in the back of my skull roars to life, and images of her disemboweled corpse flash through my mind. I've wanted to know what her intestines look like for a long time. And she stole that from me—almost. I swore I'd never kill again after Forge, but I guess I lied to myself.
I can't stop this. No one can stop this. She was a fucking idiot for thinking she could control me.
"Look at you two. Hiding out in the woods together. So romantic." She smirks. "Congrats, by the way. Twins? What, are you some kind of overachiever?"
I still can't fucking move, and I hate myself for it. All I can do is watch her casually saunter over. She's got a nasty bruise blackening her eyes and a split lip. My body finally allows me to react, but just a tiny bit: I smile at the memory of beating her stupid skull into concrete.
"Better be careful, Melly-bean. Remember what happened last time?"
"Fuck you," Dante gasps out. "Fuck you, Ella. You're going to die. I'm—" He wheezes in another deep inhale. "—going to watch my wife tear you to shreds."
"You're not in a position to watch anything," Ella sneers. "Except maybe your mouth. Or should I put another bullet in you? Oh, I was looking forward to keeping you alive. Just long enough to give Melly-bean some hope. Just long enough to watch her break."
She already saw me break. She saw me lose control. She watched me tear Forge limb from limb. She watched me panic and heave in hysterics over his death. She stomped out my first baby—just a fetus, just a tiny clump of cells, but it wasmine.
She doesn't get to take him from me.
My fists ball up on their own, my nails digging little stinging half-moons in my palms. I wish I still had my acrylics. I wish I had claws of steel. I wish I had that goddamn machete—my favorite blade—so I could lop her fingers off, one by one. I need to see what her guts look like, splayed out and decorating the jungle floor.The monster in the back of my skull screams for her blood, aching for her death.
It's going to be so fucking sweet. She took so much from me. I'm going to take everything from her.
Dante's pained grunts draw me from my violent fantasy. He looks up at me with hope and rage filling his vibrant green eyes. "Get her, love."
His deep, gravelly voice stokes a fire in me. My love. My husband. My obsessive man. The man who stalked me and married me—I know I'd die for him. I know I'd kill for him. Hell, I already have, kind of. But this is different: this isn't just for me or just for him. This is forus.
Slipping my finger around the trigger, I aim for Ella's hands and squeeze. The shot rings out, but it goes wide. Ella cackles with glee.
"You really thought you'd get me that easy? You're weak, Melody. You're weak, and you're pathetic. I can build you up—I can make you strong." She smirks. "Once we get rid of that husband of yours. He's holding you back. He wants to keep you under lock and key."
"Shut the fuck up," I grunt, squeezing the trigger again. The recoil vibrates through my bones, and every cell in me rejoices as Ella shrieks in pain. That fucking gun drops to the earth with a patheticthunk. "You kept me under lock and key."
Pointing the gun directly at her forehead, I take a step closer. "You made me weak."
Another step. "You tried to break me."
Another step. She's not even a yard away, and she looks at me with unadulterated fear. "This is the monster you wanted, right? This is what you wanted me for? This is what you didallof this for?"
"You could rule the world, Melody," Ella whispers. "You could kill so many people—for me, of course, but you could do it. I'd let you have free rein… within reason."
I snort a laugh. "Girl, do you hear yourself? You promise one thing and take it away immediately after. Youshotmy husband. You abducted both of us. You nearly killed Melnyk. You orchestrated Roman's betrayal. You called me crazy for so long, but I think it's you."
Her red hair mats against her forehead as she sweats. A tear leaks from her eye. She stares at me, unblinking. I think she knows I'm going to kill her. I think she's trying not to believe it, but deep down, she knows. And I won't be merciful. I won't make it fast and painless. I won't show her an ounce of kindness.
