I gather all my tools and weapons, stuffing them into a bag before I throw it over my shoulder.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Dylan asks as I put on my protective vest.
“War,” I growl back, grabbing my sharpest knives from the toolkit I keep hidden in my room.
I don’t even care to look at those two while they’re groveling.
They don’t deserve even an inch of her fucking forgiveness, let alone the air she breathes.
Because of her, we now know the truth about what really happened to Eve.
And I’m not going to let this go.
That baby … it could have been mine. Or Dylan’s. Or Alistair’s.
But we’ll never fucking know.
It’s dead because of the decisions of one fucked-up man.
I’m going to fucking annihilate him.
With determination, I tuck some more knives into my belt and pocket. This is how I will repent.
“A war against who?” Alistair asks.
“Oh, fuck my life,” Dylan mutters, shaking his head. “You’re going after—”
“The dean,” I reply, adjusting my belt buckle so all my knives are in the right place, ready to be used when I need them. And I’m gonna need all of them.
When I turn around, Dylan’s all up in my face.
“Hold up. You don’t actually want to go at him, do you?” He holds up his hands. “C’mon, Felix. We need to talk about this first.”
“Talking is for guilty people to avoid responsibility,” I reply. “I made that mistake once. I’m not making it again.”
He frowns. “When have you ever thought things through?”
But I ignore him and focus on getting all my gear ready. I’ll be nice and save some spares for Ali and Dylan too, in case they finally decide to man the fuck up.
“Felix!” Dylan tries to catch my attention. But when he blocks my way, he’s got it. “He’s my father.”
“And he killed Eve along with her baby.”
He’s staring at me like I’m making the gravest mistake of my life. But there’s no way back for me.
“I made a fucking vow to Penelope, and I intend to keep it, even if it costs me my own fucking life. Because that is what she deserves.”
Penelope’s eyes widen as I say the words, but I’m not ashamed.
“He’s right, D,” Ali says, glancing at both of us. “Your father … he ruined literal lives.”
“Felix.” Dylan’s right up in my face. “Don’t do this. You’re my friend. Don’t make me your enemy.”
“Then choose,” I growl back, leaning my forehead against his. “Because you can either stand in my way and get crushed … or help me bring that motherfucker down.”
His teeth grind as we engage in a death stare.
But eventually, he caves.
His eyes avert, and he punches the air, grunting out loud.
Behind him, Penelope has gathered a big white shirt and put it on, covering up her private parts. “Wait, are you really going to …?”
I tuck my last knife into my pocket and say, “I’m gonna fucking kill the son of a bitch.”
I grab my collection of knives and chuck some at Alistair. “You’re gonna help me.”
He briefly exchanges looks with Dylan but still tucks them into his pocket, nodding.
I look at Dylan and hold out a knife to him. “Are you in?”
He stampedes around the room, looking pissed as hell, but eventually, he gives in and snatches the knife out of my hand. “This is a mistake. It has to be. There’s no way—”
“Your father would rather destroy your lives and kill Eve and her baby than let you be a dad,” Penelope interjects as she steps forward.
Dylan swallows his pride. “You’re asking me to hurt my own damn father.”
“I’m not asking anything,” Penelope says, and she grabs one of my spare knives and pushes it into his hand. “I’m telling you to.”
She holds Dylan’s hand like it’s her last lifeline, and she tiptoes around him, leaning up to whisper into his ear. I don’t know what she says, but his eyes light up like she just sparked an inferno.
And fuck me, it’s been too long since I last saw that side of him.
He twirls the knives around and tucks them into his belt with the same confidence he usually sports. All the conflict seems to have disappeared from his face as he steps forward and stares me directly in the eyes. “I’m ready.”
I nod and march to the door together with them, but as Alistair and Dylan exit, Penelope stops me. Her hand latches around my wrist, forcing me to stay. I can’t rip away. Not even when I want nothing more than to taste his blood on my lips and rip his heart out of his chest.
But her …
Her needs are more important.
“Wait,” she murmurs, and I oblige.
Not because I should but because I need to. For her.
She swallows as I look at her, my chest filling with discomfort, making it hard to breathe. I know I’ve hurt her. I put my trust in the wrong person, and it damaged her and her sister beyond repair.
But I would fucking die today to give her back even a sliver of her honor.
“Take me with you.”
Her words slice through marrow and bone.
Fuck.
Out of all the things she could’ve asked from me, I did not expect this.
“No,” I reply.
“It wasn’t a request,” she says as she puts on a pair of oversized pants along with some boots that don’t even fit her. “I’m coming with you.”
My nostrils flare. Even though I hate having to disappoint her, it’s for her own good. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t care. I need to be there,” she says, her eyes almost burning a hole into my head. “You owe it to me.”
Fuck.
How could I ever say no when she pulls that?
My teeth grind together.
“I’m not asking,” she says, and she turns around and grabs her bag, stuffing in more knives from my spare collection. Her bag is so full when she returns that it can barely stay closed.
It’s almost cute.
I lean in and say, “Let me do this for you.”
“You can do it while I watch,” she replies, propping her hands against her side. “I’m coming too.”
A lopsided grin forms on my lips. “I won’t be able to stop you, will I?”
She flicks one of the knives open and holds it out like she’s going to cut me. “Try. I fucking dare you.”
I place my hand on her head and scrunch up her hair until it’s all messed up. “I won’t, little one.”
“Little one?” She blushes and shakes her head, freeing herself from my grip.
My brow rises. “What? You prefer slut?”
Now she’s blushing even harder.
I tilt her chin up. “Our agreement ends after today.”
Suddenly, the door opposite my room opens up. And the person walking out of the bathroom is one of the few who could make my rage go from zero to a hundred.
Especially when only a towel covers her body.
And her arm is draped across Jason’s waist.
My nostrils and eyes twitch at the same time. “Lana?”
Her eyes connect with mine as panic slowly fills hers. “Oh …”
“What the fuck—”
I immediately charge at Jason, but she protects him with her body, stopping me from grabbing him by the throat.
“Whoa, chill the fuck out, Felix.”
“Why the hell are you here?” I yell. “Naked?” My eyes settle on his, and I’m about ready to tear his dick off. “Are you fucking my sister?”
She plants a flat hand on my chest. “Listen here, asshole. I’m allowed to fuck whoever I want.”
“He’s from my fucking society,” I retort, getting right up in his face. “You’ve got some nerve, Foley.”
He holds up his hands. “I don’t wanna get between you and your sis.”
“Should’ve thought of that before you drilled your cock into her!” I shove him.
Lana gets between us and pushes me back. “Felix, stop! It was my choice to come here!”
“How many times?” I ask.
“None of your fucking business,” she replies.
“I’m your brother. It is my fucking business to protect you,” I retort.
She steps forward while Jason clutches the door like he’s about to smack it in my face if I get too close.
But Lana’s soft hand on my shoulder distracts me. “Felix, I appreciate that you care about my well-being. But I’m a grown-ass adult just like you.”
“You’re eighteen,” I say through gritted teeth, then glare at Jason for even daring to touch her. “She’s barely—”
CRASH!
I pull Penelope close as we duck to the floor. Something happened in my room, but I can’t look as smoke fills both the room and the hallway.
Lana coughs and crawls to Jason. “Jason!”
“I’m here,” he mutters.
“For now,” I retort.
“Not now!” Lana barks back.
Fine. I’ll use the rage for whoever the fuck just dared to attack me in my own home. I turn around toward my own room and look up at the window. Something broke through it. A metal ball, which is still spitting smoke.
But the worst part is that Nessie’s glass cage has shattered, and she’s crawling across the floor like it’s no one’s business. No one touches my fucking snake.
Enraged, I slam my fist onto the floor. “Fuck!” I help Penelope off the floor. “Someone’s after us.”
Penelope pulls herself from my arms. “No, that can’t be right. They wouldn’t attack—”
Another bomb flies in through the bathroom window, and Lana and Jason duck for cover.
“Fuck, get out, get out!” I yell, grasping everyone and running through the hallway as fast as I can.
“What’s happening?” Lana asks as we walk into the main hall, which is completely covered in smoke.
“Dylan!” I scream through the house.
“Down here!” he yells. “I was in the bathroom. What’s going on?”
More bombs go off, and shards of glass fly through the building. Gunshots fill the house. People scream and run for cover. Alistair’s closest to the door. The blast flings his body against a big support beam, and he groans in pain.
Who the fuck would come for us in here?
Unless …
“Dylan!” I yell. “Open the fucking front door.”
“What?” he yells back. “Are you insane?”
“Do it!”
But before he can even take one step toward the front door, it’s blasted open, knocking him to the floor again.
As I clutch the staircase, my jaw drops when I see who’s in the door opening.
A chiseled bearded, gray-haired motherfucker with tattoos snaking up from his hand all the way into his trench coat steps inside the house with a gun pointed right at us.
An ominous voice booms through the hallways. “Get your hands off my fucking daughter.”
