Chapter 81
CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
AKIO
Hands covered in blood, I stood in front of Imani’s mother and father, who Mom’s guards had bound and gagged an hour ago. Blood seeped out of their wounds, their eyes were swollen, and bruises had already formed on their bodies.
I hoped—to a god that I didn’t believe in—that Imani wouldn’t get home anytime soon.
But as luck would have it, headlights shone through the living room windows. Mom chuckled darkly and sashayed in front of Imani’s parents, shaking her head and clicking her tongue, as if to taunt them.
After tightening my grasp on my gun, I stared down at her parents with as little remorse as I could muster. Imani’s mother sobbed uncontrollably and stared at the door, shaking her head. Mom smacked the side of her gun against her temple, silencing her.
My gaze flickered up to Mom, then to all the guards around the room, who hadn’t taken their eyes off me since I had walked into my own living room two hours ago. I gazed back at Imani’s parents, trying to come up with something quick.
I was doing this for Nicole, but could I kill my friend’s parents in front of her? Was that what Mom would make me do? Would Imani hate me after that? Would she understand? Why was she here right now? She should be with Poison.
Suddenly, the front door knob jingled.
“Mom!” Imani shouted.
Mom looked at Imani’s mother and gestured for her to respond.
Imani’s mom squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “In here, sweetheart!”
One moment, Imani walked into the room while texting on her phone. The next, she looked up and let out a piercing scream that shook me to my very core. I tightened my grip on my gun and realized that this was much bigger than me.
That tonight someone was going to die, and it might be someone that I cared about.
“Wh-what’s happening?” Imani asked, looking at me.
I averted my gaze, unable to hold eye contact with her. I was doing this for Nicole.
To keep her safe and to keep her alive.
“Cooperate with us, Imani,” Mom said. “And I’ll only kill your parents.”
“Kill them?” Imani whispered.
“Kill them.”
Hot, rage-filled tears welled up in Imani’s eyes. “What do you want?”
A long, heavy silence filled the air, then Mom stepped forward. “Join me.”
My gaze shot up to Mom, and I furrowed my brow. What the fuck was she …
“I’m not giving you—” Imani asked, then mirrored my confused expression. “What?”
“Join me,” Mom said, lowering her gun and stepping toward Imani. “I want you to work with me, Imani. Your mother and father have betrayed me these past few years. They’re backstabbing assholes who can’t follow orders. But you …”
She stalked around Imani like Imani was some sort of prey and pushed some hair back behind her shoulder with the barrel of her gun. I tensed and swallowed hard. Was this one of Mom’s sick games?
“You interrupted Poison’s agenda. You’ve pushed them to do more than they thought capable. They are nothing but loyal to you, as you are loyal to them. You’re stronger than you think. And”—Mom walked all the way around Imani and stopped right behind her, her lips dangerously close to Imani’s ear—“you’ve done some work on my son too.”
My eyes widened, and I finally looked at Imani.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean that my son would’ve never held a gun and shot at someone before you,” Mom said, which wasn’t true. And she knew it too. “I’ve tried hard so many times. I’ve relentlessly tried to inspire him to join us. And tonight, he told me that he would.”
While glancing from me to my mother to her parents and back a handful of times, Imani teetered from foot to foot. Mom placed her gun into Imani’s hand and wrapped her fingers around the grip. I swallowed hard and gripped mine tighter.
What should I do?
The guards were here for me . If I stepped out of line, they’d shoot me . Maybe not fatally. But they would.
“Kill your mother,” Mom said to Imani.
To my surprise, Imani grabbed the gun from her and aimed it at her own mother. From her knees, Imani’s mother stared up at her daughter and let her tears fall down her bloodstained cheeks. Imani’s hands shook, and while she looked confident in herself, I knew she couldn’t do this.
She had no fucking idea what to do either.
But this was better than Nicole, Imani, Allie, and the rest of the girls getting themselves killed. If they had thought for a second that they could capture and kill my mother by themselves, then they had been wrong. I would gladly sacrifice my life for theirs.
“I can’t,” Imani whispered, lowering the gun. “I won’t.”
Mom grabbed the barrel in her fist and aimed it right at Imani’s mother’s forehead. “Do it.”
“No,” Imani growled.
All this time, Dad had stayed quiet behind Mom, holding his gun by his side.
“Do it”—Mom took the gun from my father—“or I’ll kill you.”
“Imani,” Imani’s mother whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Just do it, please. I don’t want you to die at her hands. Kill me and your father. I’ve been nothing but a pain for you all these years. Get your revenge.”
Tears streamed down Imani’s cheeks. “I can’t.”
“She’s done nothing but trap you in this house and hold you back, Imani,” Mom said firmly. “You’ve thrived with those boys and become something admirable to our family. We’ve been watching you every step of your journey. We’ve watched you become a killer.”
“A killer?” Imani’s mom whispered. “Imani, have you killed someone?”
“No,” Imani whispered, shaking her head.
The sick games Mom played unraveled in front of me. The lies …
Mom smirked. “Kill your mother and prove yourself to me.”
Something in Imani snapped, and she gritted her teeth, her eyes turning sour.
“Let go of the gun,” Imani said to Mom, her frown turning into a scowl. “And let me do it myself.”
Mom curled her lips into a devilish smirk and released the gun, turning her body to face Imani’s mother. She shot me a smirk, as if she knew exactly what she was doing. My gaze shot to Imani, who looked at me for the briefest moment before she turned the gun on my mother.
And I realized that this might be the only chance that I would get to end this for good.