Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
ANGELICA
The fluorescent lights of the small police station buzzed faintly above me, their harsh glare casting everything in sharp relief.
I blinked against the brightness, my vision hazy, my head swimming.
The cracked plastic chair beneath me creaked as I shifted, wrapping my arms tightly around myself.
Goosebumps covered my skin, sweat slicked against my back despite the cold chill clinging to me. .
“I need…help,” I whispered, my voice barely audible, trembling with desperation.
ANGEL…ANGEL, PLEASE! NOOO! BOOM!
The memory hit me again, as sharp and as brutal as the first time. Mom’s screams. The gunshot. The suffocating stillness that followed. My stomach twisted, my nails digging into my arms until the sting of pain brought me back to the present.
Even sitting here, under these cruel, sterile lights, I felt the weight of betrayal crushing me.
SWEAR TO ME . My mom’s voice echoed in my head as she begged. SWEAR TO ME ON YOUR LIFE. SWEAR IT. SWEAR IT!
I closed my eyes, dragging in a shaking breath. I was breaking my promise just by being here, speaking to this stranger. But I had nowhere else to go.
“It’s okay,” the man across from me said, his voice steady and soothing, like he was trying to coax a frightened animal.
Realisation dawned on me. I guess I was that animal, wasn’t I?
Sergeant Carter, his badge read. He sat on the edge of his desk, his tie loosened, the sleeves of his button-down rolled up.
His face was tired but sharp, dark eyes studying me. Too intently.
“Take your time,” he urged. “Just tell me what happened—from the beginning.”
From the beginning.
How could I possibly tell him that? The truth about the blood on my hands, the gunshot that still haunted me? No…no I couldn’t do that.
My voice came out brittle. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
“Try me,” Carter said, his gaze steady. “You’re safe here. That’s all that matters right now.”
Safe.
That word still tasted foreign on my tongue. I didn’t believe it. I focused on the weathered police officer in front of me, searching those steady eyes for the truth—but I didn’t have any other options, did I? Time was running out…and so were the lies.
“Someone’s after me,” I said finally, the words shaky but certain.
He nodded, grabbing a small notebook and pen. “Who?”
“My brother,” I said, and the word felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. “Silas.”
Carter’s pen paused mid-air. “Your brother, Silas?” He asked, his tone dipping with something unreadable.
I nodded quickly, all of a sudden rushing to make him understand. “He’s not normal. He’s…dangerous. He’ll find me. No matter what I do, and no matter where I go. He’ll drag me back there, to that place.”
A flicker of that room in the Order came rushing back.
“To what place?”
“Home,” the word slipped out before I knew it as the memory of that stark room was replaced with another and the dim light of the den on our family home filled my mind. “He’ll take me home.”
Carter leaned forward slightly, his expression sharpening. “What do you mean by dangerous? Has he hurt you?”
I swallowed hard, looking down at my hands. My fingers twisted together, my nails biting into my palms as I tried to ground myself. The words felt stuck in my throat. How could I explain it? How could I describe the way Silas controlled everything around him, including me?
My lips parted, but no words came out. My mind flickered to the others—Theo’s cruel smirk, Jude’s cold stare, and Gabe’s desperate broken gaze.
They weren’t just brothers. They were shadows I couldn’t escape.
And no matter how much I wanted to run from them, part of me still ached for their presence.
Carter’s voice pulled me back. “Did he hurt you?” He asked again, his voice quieter this time, like he already knew the answer.
I slowly nodded, my voice barely breaking a whisper. “Not…the way you think.”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t push. Instead, he learned back, tapping the pen against the notebook. “Then, why do you think he’s after you?”
I hesitated. “Because I ran,” that gnawing feeling twisting in my stomach. “And Silas doesn’t let go of things that belong to him.” Especially me.
Carter’s eyes flicked up to mine at that, something unreadable flashed across his face. He didn’t write anything down, just watched me with that same, unnerving intensity.
“He controls everything—my life, my choices. I can’t breathe without him knowing about it. And if he finds me…I…I don’t know what he’ll do.”
Yes, yes you do and that’s what terrifies me the most.
Carter set the pen down, folding his hands over his knees. “You did the right thing coming here,” he said, his voice calm and steady. “I can help you.”
The words hit me like a lifeline, and for the first time in a long time, I felt a flicker of hope.
“I need to make a call,” he slowly rose and pulled out his phone. “I’m going to bring in someone who can help you. Can you wait here a minute?”
I nodded without thinking. Too tired to question him.
Through the glass window, I watched as he stepped out of the room, his voice low as he spoke into his phone. He didn’t seem hurried, didn’t seem worried. He was helping me.
My body trembled with the thought as I watched him, the sound of the fluorescent lights buzzing in my ear. I waited for what felt like ages, staring at Carter’s back as he stood there, talking until finally he pressed the button and ended the call.
But he didn’t turn around, not for a while and when he did, he didn’t meet my gaze.
My pulse skipped, then raced as he slowly turned and looked over his shoulder to where I waited. But there was a sureness about him, one I had to trust.
“Someone’s coming,” he said when he stepped back inside the room and headed for his desk. “They’ll be able to help.”
I glanced at the open door to the police station behind him. “Here?”
He gave a slow nod and moved closer, placing his hand on my shoulder once more. “You’re going to get through this, you understand that right? You’ll figure out what you have to do to be safe. You’re a smart girl, Angelica. You’re a very smart girl.”
He slid his hand from my shoulder, grabbing the back of my seat instead.
The word help twisted in my chest, but I stood anyway, my legs weak and unsteady.
“Is this another police officer?” I asked as he guided me out of the station and into the cool night air once more.
“Something like that,” Carter said as we left the spill of light outside the open door behind and stepped back into the darkness.
The street outside the station was quiet, lit only by the faint glow of a single street lamp.
“This way,” he urged, steering me toward the alley beside the station.
A faint warning bell went off in the back of my mind.
But I followed him, too desperate and too tired to resist. At the end of the alley, a sleek black Audi sat idling, its glossy surface reflecting the faint light.
A figure leaned casually against the hood, a cigarette glowing faintly between his fingers.
Silas.
The blood drained from my face as that figure pushed off the car and slowly turned. Even in the darkness I knew him and as his eyes met mine. Cold. Sharp. Unyielding. I stopped walking.
Panic clawed at my throat. My head snapped to Carter, a primal scream of terror resounded inside my head, but all I could manage was. “You called him?”
Carter didn’t meet my gaze. He just stepped backwards, putting distance between us and gave a hard shrug. “Sorry, kid,” he said with little remorse.
Sorry, kid?
That’s all he had?
That’s all he was going to give me?
That hard lump in the back of my throat returned with a vengeance as Silas flicked the cigarette to the ground, grinding it out beneath his heel. He didn’t say a word as he started toward me, his movements slowly and deliberate.
“Get in the car, Angel,” he said, his voice calm, quiet, and utterly terrifying.
I stumbled back, shaking my head. “No,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
His lips curved into a faint, sadistic smile as he stopped in front of me and looked down, meeting my stare. “You don’t have a choice, do you?”
My knees locked as he pushed closer, the suffocating weight of his presence bearing down on me. I glanced at Carter, but he was already walking away, his shoulders relaxed, as if this was just another day for him.
Tears burned down my cheeks.
“You can’t keep running, Angel,” Silas murmured, his voice like silk. “You belong to me, every foul, sick, twisted version of yourself. You always have.”
And as his hand closed around my arm, dragging me toward the waiting car, I knew the truth.
There really was nowhere to run.
Nowhere to hide.
Not from him.
Not from any of them.