Page 69 of Dangerous Silence
“Michael said you went to PGU this morning,” Derek said. “What’s in PGU?”
Where the hell had Derek been? Demi had been wearing that damned PGU sweatshirt almost the entire time she was here.
Then again, I had kept her in a cage.
“I took Demi back,” I said.
“That’s Shep’s daughter, right?” Wil asked. “She was at the wedding?”
It’s not like he went full-mafia-style-wedding on his big day. He kept it small on purpose. And he still didn’t know her name? I wanted to shake him until he remembered her damned name.Demi Walcott, you fucking idiot.Adrenaline rushed through my body.
“Her name,” I said through my teeth, “is Demi Walcott.”
Wil stared at me. I guess I wasn’t being as subtle as I hoped.
“What’s the deal with you and her?” he asked.
There was no me and her.Thatwas what the deal was.
“She’s a liability,” I said.
The two of them nodded. The fire cracked in the corner, filling the silence hanging in the air. Which pissed me off even more, knowing that they were holding back, trying to respect my silence. I clenched the sides of the couch.
“Out with it,” I barked. “Say it. Get it out now.”
Derek took a deep breath. “It’s been a while since you’ve been like this,” he said. “You haven’t been as…” He turned to Wil. “What’s the best way to put it?”
“Angry,” Wil said, that stupid grin on his face.
Derek gave him a look. “I was looking for the euphemism.”
“Axe doesn’t need us to sugarcoat it,” Wil shrugged. “He isn’t stupid. He knows what we’re talking about.”
“You were the one who told me she doesn’t need to be in our world,” I muttered, glaring at Derek.
“Until I realized how she changed you,” Derek said.
I was getting angrier the longer this conversation went on. As if the rage had been suppressed ever since I met Demi, and now was coming back in full force, ready to boil over and burn everything to the ground.
But this was good. This was why she needed to go. I couldn’t be around her like this.
“She must have been good for you,” Derek said.
What the hell was his problem? “She’s a good person,” I said. “She’d be good for anyone.”
“But she took the edge off,” Wil said. “It’s good to have a connection, especially with a woman.”
He said that as if a monster like me wasn’t supposed to connect with anyone. I clenched my fists.
The two of them glanced at each other, then looked at me. I knew that look. I wanted to punch it right off of their faces. But I knew they were right. Demi loved me, but that didn’t mean I was capable of returning that love. If I killed her, this would all be over. There would be no chance to debate the effect Demi had on me, because she would be gone.
But my stupid brain wouldn’t let me kill her. Couldn’t do it. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone to protect beyond my family. I was supposed to be able to kill anyone and everyone. So why couldn’t I look her in her steel-gray eyes and put a bullet in her head?
Fuck.
“She’s a liability,” he shrugged. “You’re right about that. But once this war is over—” he turned to me, “—will she still be a liability?”
“Just fuck her already,” Wil said.
