Page 106 of Born into Madness
“I didn’thelpthem,” she says, climbing back up on her high horse. “I just made sure the side door was unlocked.”
“So you didn’t help them drug the girls, but you made sure they could escape with them?”
She can tell I’m making fun of her logic, and it pisses her off enough to say, “Whatever, it’s not like I forced them to drink it, and the women always showed up the next day at class. It’s not like any of them tried to press charges.”
“Not all the girls are showing up for class the next day,” I tell her. “Some are never heard from again.”
“I heard they just quit school and ran off,” she says, but I can tell she doesn’t quite believe her own bullshit on that one.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess. I don’t suppose Tom has said anything about that?” I ask.
“No.”
Knowing I’ve gotten everything she has to give, I say in Russian, “It’s about to get bloody, Val.”
I wait until I hear him say something to Savanna, something that’s gentle and soothing and a complete lie, but one she needs to hear so she doesn’t panic. Once I see him lead her to the back and the door shuts behind them, I don’t give Christine a chance to react. The blade is sliding through her ribs on her left side and piercing her heart before she even realizes I’ve stabbed her. When I hear the familiar hitch in her breath and she starts to crumple, I know I’ve hit the left ventricle, exactly what I was aiming for. I don’t bother catching her. She slides off my blade asshe collapses in a heap at my feet. She’ll be dead in less than two minutes.
“Damien,” I say, and he immediately says, “Still driving, but I think they’re slowing down.”
“We’ve got our men tailing them,” my dad says. “They’ll surround whatever building they take her to.”
I hear my Uncle Roman giving orders for someone to come and get rid of the body I’ve left them, and when I look at my family, I can tell they’re torn about what I’ve done, but I don’t care. They can sit around debating the morality of it all they want. I’m going to get my girl back.
Without a second thought to the life I’ve just taken, I pull my keys out and say, “I’m leaving.” I hold my hand out and Damien hands my phone over. I check the map again so I know where I’m headed and then start to leave.
“Sasha,” my dad starts to say, but I cut him off right as Mia comes running in.
She meets my eyes and says, “I’m sorry. I was following something up on the other side of the city. I got here as soon as I could.” She looks at Christine’s dead body and then asks, “Did she give you anything useful?”
“Not really,” I say. “I’m on my way to get Cyn.”
Without missing a beat, she hauls ass to meet my stride and says, “I’m coming with you.”
“We all are,” our dad says. “I just need you to not lose your shit until you’re away from witnesses, Sasha. That’s all I’m asking. Busting you out of prison would be such a pain in the ass.”
“I won’t get caught,” I tell him, but then I turn my head before I push open the back exit. “But if I do, promise me you’ll keep Cyn safe.”
“Of course I will,” he says.
“We all will,” Luka adds. “Don’t worry about that, but we’re not going to let you get caught.” He hollers for Val to join us, and when we get outside, I yank my helmet on to keep my face hidden while the others either get into cars or onto their bikes. I lock my phone onto the mount by the throttle so I can easily see where Cyn is, and then I’m starting the engine and racing into traffic. I know the others will follow me, but I’m not about to slow down and make it easy for them.
As I speed up and skirt around traffic, following the same path Ben had taken when he’d left the club, I’m not surprised to see Mia in my rearview mirror. She stays right on my ass with our dad right behind her. The rest are following in cars behind him. It’s the shortest drive of my life and also the longest. Taking my eyes from the road, I watch the red dot stop and feel my heart start to race at the thought of Cyn passed out in the back of that fucker’s car.
Making a quick right turn, I race down the side street before cutting through an alley and stopping near an apartment complex. The house across the street is rundown, but not more so than any of the other houses around here. Nothing makes it stand out. Nothing puts it on my radar except for the blinking red dot that’s stopped right at this address. Now it has my attention, and every single person inside this house is dying tonight because of it.
I don’t have my mask with me, but even if I did, I wouldn’t wear it. I want them to see me. I want them to know exactly who’s ending their lives and why I’m doing it.
“You okay?”
I look down at my sister and shake my head. “Not even close, little witch.”
“I figured, but you’re doing a good job of keeping it together,” she says. “Don’t worry, you’re going to get to let loose in two minutes. Luka’s on the phone with Niki. He’s knocking outsecurity cameras and blocking cell signals. Whoever is in there will be trapped with no way to contact anyone outside this house.”
I’m jittery, too tense to stand still, and instead of the calm I usually feel before a kill, I feel fear instead. Not for myself and what I might find inside, but for her. The mere thought of something happening to her is impossible for me to think about, the very idea threatens to undo me, and I can’t come apart just yet.
Before I lose all sense of everything, I look down at my little sister and say, “Keep yourself safe, little witch. You can’t depend on me to watch your back in there.”
Instead of being worried, she scoffs at me and says, “I can take care of myself. Don’t worry about me. Find Cyn and make sure she’s safe. We’ll take care of everything else.”
