Final Debt (Indebted #6)(76)

I held my breath.

The brother grabbed the items and departed through the door.

She made him leave.

We’re alone.

Thirty.

Thirty-one beats.

Thirty-two.

Thirty-three heartbeats.

Stupid, stupid Hawk.

Slowly, I fisted the shears with my unbroken arm, wrapping tight fingers around the handles.

Bonnie didn’t notice, so consumed with her own self-importance as she stood and brushed plaster dust from her blood-red skirt.

Blood-red.

The same colour she wore at the dice game a few days ago.

My fury fired and I held up the twin blades. “You asked me before if my arm hurt. I’ll now ask you a similar question. Do you think this will kill you if I lodge it in your heartless chest?”

She scooted off her seat, shuffling backward. “Drop it, Ms. Weaver.”

I advanced, brandishing my weapon. “No.”

Her mouth opened to scream.

Fifty-two.

Fifty-three heartbeats.

I’d lost my opportunity last time.

I’d been too slow. Too weak.

I had no intention of screwing this one up.

I charged, stopping her before she could make a sound.

I slammed my palm over her mouth, tackling her. My break bellowed and my good fingers weakened around the pilfered scissors, but I didn’t let her go. She tripped, but I managed to right us. Bolts of agony and shards of pain drenched my nervous system from my uncasted arm.

“Ah, ah, ah. I think silence is better in this newly developed situation, don’t you?” My vocabulary mimicked hers, thriving off the power of manhandling the wicked Hawk witch.

Bonnie’s papery breath fluttered over my hand as her nostrils flared.

She struggled. But her brittle bones were no match for my rage. Her eyes tried to hurt me with unspoken curses, but I wouldn’t put up with it anymore.

In a burst of power, she ripped out of my hold, swatting my broken arm.

I groaned in agony as she sucked in a breath for help.

I had two choices. Let her scream, give into the overwhelming pain, and let this end without victory, or fight through everything and win.

I fought.

Tackling her again, I didn’t care about my arm as I wrapped the broken one around her tiny waist and slapped my other hand over her lips.

Seventy-four.

Seventy-five.

Seventy-six heartbeats.

She folded as delicately as her beloved flower petals, crashing to the floor. I didn’t try to protect myself. I didn’t relish the impact or brutal pain.

I fell with her.

Agony I’d never felt before ripped through my bones.

I bounced on her decrepit body, squashing her into the carpet. I gasped, willing myself to keep going. “Not this time, Bonnie. You don’t get to win this time. This time…it’s my turn. It ends here. Just us.”

I was better than this. Better than her and all Hawks combined.

I would take this grandmother’s life, and I would enjoy it.

She was frail, ancient—the matriarch of a power-crazed house. Yet she was just human—same as me, same as Jethro, same as every person on this planet.

She wasn’t immortal or scary.

She’s already dead.

She batted at my hold with wrinkled hands, her strength rapidly dwindling.

“You deserve to die, Bonnie.” I pushed her further into the carpet. “You asked me when I came into this room what I saw when I looked at you. It’s my turn to ask you.” I held her wriggling form, breathing hard. “What do you see when you look at me?”

Your killer?

Your demise?

Not letting her answer, I snarled, “I’ll tell you what you should see. You should see a girl who’s reached the end of her limit. A girl who won’t hesitate to kill. A girl who fully intends to survive this massacre and burn your legacy to the ground.”

Her eyes shadowed with fear.

She fought me—surprisingly strong, but she couldn’t defeat the cold animosity siphoning through my veins. My rage turned into something not entirely sane as I stared into Bonnie’s terrified gaze. “Want to know a secret?”

Her nose whistled as she sucked in ragged breaths around my silencing palm.

“I know something you don’t know.” I had meant to kill her quickly, but taunting was too much fun. I wanted to do to her what she’d done to my family and me.

A dose of her own medicine.

And my secret about Daniel had to be shared. Who better than his grandmother who would soon be joining him in the afterlife?

Her hazel eyes glared into mine. I understood her silent message. You’ll die because of this.

I giggled, hovering over her. “I’m dead already, so what does it matter if I take you with me?”

The fight left her. An eerie calm replaced it instead. Her face filled with conversation, dragging curiosity through my blood.

Dammit.

Despite my need to end her, I had an intolerable desire to hear her final words.

“Don’t scream and I’ll let you speak.”

She nodded.

Was it stupidity or possibly insanity making me trust her? Whatever one it was, I removed my hand.

Her face turned to the side, sucking in oxygen, her white chignon falling apart thanks to the carpet.

I squeezed her tiny body with my knees. I was her death shroud. A crow hovering for murder.