16. Arson
Arson
I hate to admit it, but Lilian is becoming an obsession.
When I’m not working on the next step in my plan for revenge, I’m thinking about her intoxicating scent and the way her body felt pressed against mine. Fuck. I should just fuck her and move on. Maybe if I stick my dick in her, that will end this maddening infatuation.
Unlikely. Worst off, the thought of having sex with her leads me to other questions. She’s most likely a virgin. With how sheltered she is, and god knows my pathetic brother wasn’t man enough to take her. If that’s true, then I’ll be the first to slam deep inside her. The mere thought makes my cock ache in a way it never has before.
I sit in front of the security feed I set up on campus, watching and waiting. It’s unhealthy the way my heartbeat quickens at the appearance of Lilian on the screen.
She’s crossing the quad, and something about her movement catches my attention. The careful fragility that’s standard in her steps is gone—no more delicate steps, no performative pauses to catch her breath. She walks with purpose, her head held high, like someone who’s shed their victim status.
I switch camera views, following her progress across campus through the network I installed weeks ago. She’s changed clothes since our encounter—darker colors, practical shoes, nothing like her usual expensive delicacy. The transformation goes deeper than appearance. There’s anger in her stride and determination in the set of her shoulders.
What changed in the few days since I threatened you, little brat?
I’ve been tracking her all day, telling myself it’s necessary surveillance. Can’t have her interfering with my plans, running to Daddy Dearest with suspicions about his prodigal son’s return. But if I’m honest—and I do try to be honest with myself, if no one else—I’m fascinated by this new shift in her.
The laptop screen shows her checking over her shoulder, scanning rooflines and shadows. My lips feel weird, and I realize I’m smiling. Really smiling.
Wait, did I just fucking smile because of this brat? No, I smiled because I’m proud of her. She knows she’s being watched and no longer playing the role of prey.
A sound from the secured area reminds me it’s time to feed Aries. Still, I don’t move from the monitors. My dear brother can wait. Right now, I’m more interested in how his stepsister has gone from frightened bird to potential predator in the space of a few days. I know she visited home this past weekend because I made sure to stop by, but she seemed...fine. The fragile daughter, still, when I left her.
My fingers trace the surgical scars on my wrist—remnants of restraints and “treatments” they claimed were for my own good. Ten years of systematic destruction, and here’s this girl who’s supposed to be weak, supposed to be controlled, walking like she’s ready for war.
She’s headed toward the old botany buildings now, a relatively isolated part of campus. There are fewer cameras there and less foot traffic.
She’s either being very stupid or very clever.
What are you doing, Lilian?
I tell myself that it doesn’t matter. That she’s a means to an end, and the only thing I care to know is what happened that changed her demeanor so quickly, but as I watch her disappear into my camera blind spot, the fear of something happening to her, of someone touching what’s mine, sends me into action.
I shrug on my jacket and head to the door.
Time to have another chat with my dear stepsister.
The drive to campus takes exactly seven minutes. I park in Aries’s usual spot, muscle memory making me adjust the mirrors exactly as he would. The role sits uncomfortably tonight—I’m not here to play the golden boy.
My security cameras track her last known position near the old botany buildings. Perfect hunting grounds. Isolated paths, overgrown gardens, plenty of shadows to hide in. A smart girl would avoid an area like this after our last encounter.
But Lilian isn’t playing the smart girl role anymore—either that, or this was intentional. A way to lure me out of the warehouse. For that, she’d have to know I’m watching her, or maybe this is her way of confirming it.
I catch sight of her ahead, moving between pools of lamplight with unexpected grace. No sign of the breathing trouble from our last meeting. No performative weakness. Her steps are precise but unafraid.
Oh yeah, she knows I’m following her. Knows I’ve been watching her.
The game shifts something in my blood. Usually, I’m calculating, controlled—everything planned to the minute. This feels different. Primal. Her pace quickens as I close the distance between us, but she doesn’t run.
Instead, she veers to the right, taking a path leading deeper into the abandoned gardens.
Interesting choice, Little Sister.
I mirror her movements, keeping to the darker patches, appreciating the way she checks her surroundings without being obvious about it.
She’s learned something since our last encounter.
Question is, what?
The path narrows between a pair of old greenhouses, their glass panels reflecting moonlight like broken mirrors. She pauses at a junction, pretending to check her phone. What she’s actually doing is checking the reflections for my approach.
Very interesting.
I’m fully aware that I could end this game right now. Grab her and remind her what happens to people who don’t heed my warnings. I’m curious to see where she leads me, though, because she is leading us—each turn she takes is deliberate, moving farther from campus security cameras and emergency phones.
Either she’s developed a death wish or she wants this confrontation as much as I do.
A twig snaps under my foot—intentionally. Letting her know how close I am. Her shoulders tense, but she doesn’t speed up, and there’s no fear in her movements.
She merely continues her unbothered pace toward what used to be the botanical research center like she isn’t being hunted by a monster.
Where are you taking us, Lilian?
The predator in me should be satisfied with this hunt. Instead, I’m increasingly unsure who’s hunting whom.
Time to end this charade. I catch her in the shadow of the old research center, my hand closing around her arm as I spin her to face me. She doesn’t scream. Doesn’t struggle in my grasp. She just stares up at me, her blue eyes shining with honesty and rawness.
“Didn’t I warn you about following me?” My voice comes out rougher than intended.
“I wasn’t.” A slight smile plays on her full lips. “You were following me.”
The confidence in her tone throws me off. I don’t like this change. The control I was so sure of only a couple of days ago feels tenuous.
“Playing dangerous games, Little Sister.” I press her back against the brick wall, using my height to loom over her. “Did our last chat not make an impression?”
“Oh, it did.” Her pulse under my fingers is steady, controlled. “The bruises are still fading. Would you like to see them?”
The invitation in her voice—dark, challenging—catches me off guard. This isn’t how prey is supposed to act.
“What’s changed?” I demand, fingers tightening on her arm. “A few days ago, you could barely breathe when I touched you.”
“Do you ever get tired of playing the same role? Tired of pretending?” She doesn’t try to break my grip, but her free hand moves to her pocket. “Because I am, and right around the same time I decided to stop giving a shit, I discovered there are far worse things out there than a psychotic stepbrother.”
Brothers, I correct automatically. “I’d tread very carefully because you have yet to see me lose control. And I promise, you have no idea of the dark, cruel things I’m capable of.”
“Don’t I?” Something rustles in her pocket. “In fact, I know more than you think. Maybe even more than you.”
I narrow my gaze. “Explain.”
“I know why you hate him so much. I know what they did to you.” Her gaze holds mine steadily. “I know about Northstar .”
That single word hits like a punch to the gut. My grip on her tightens involuntarily, but she doesn’t flinch.
“What do you think you know?” My voice is a dangerous whisper.
“Enough to understand why you’re doing this. What your motive is and what your endgame is.” She leans closer despite my punishing grip. “I know other things, too, things you didn’t know. About Mother. About all the others they made disappear.”
Others? My mind races. I knew about a few cases—heard rumors in the institution about other problem children who vanished into the system.
But the way she says it...
“You’re lying,” I growl through my teeth, but uncertainty creeps in as I continue. “This is a ploy. Another attempt to save your precious stepbrother.”
“Are you sure?” That small, dangerous smile returns to her lips. “If that were true, then why did I lead you somewhere private to talk? Why am I standing here with my head held high instead of cowering with fear?”
Because you think you have leverage, I want to say but don’t.
It hits me. She’s not bluffing. And suddenly, I’m not sure who has the power right now.
“Prove it,” I growl, shifting closer until I can feel her breath on my face. “Prove you know anything worth my time.”
“You’re hurting the wrong person,” she says, still maddeningly calm despite our proximity. “Aries was just as much a victim as you were. He just wore prettier chains.”
“Shut your fucking mouth.” My free hand finds her throat, and I press my thumb against her pulse point. “I think I’m done listening to you talk. Maybe I should end this game now. Fuck you until you beg me to stop, until the tears are running down your cheeks, and your screams become faint. I could record the whole thing so my dear brother could see what he made me do to your sweet little cunt.”
She shivers, and her pulse quickens under my hold.
Is it fear or something else? Does the thought excite her?
She doesn’t try to escape me, even as fear trickles into her eyes.
“Or maybe that’s what you want? Do you want me to fuck you, Lilian?” I whisper softly against her ear.
“Stop. Stop trying to mess with me. Stop trying to make me fear you.”
“Your fear is all I desire, sweetheart. Without it, you’re useless to me.”
“That’s a lie, even if you don’t want to admit it. You need me. You just don’t know how much yet.”
“I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone,” I snarl.
“Are you sure? I know things. They didn’t erase only you.” Her words rush out in a breath. “You were their test subject. They needed to see if they could really make it work, and they did. Through you, they perfected a system that they went on to use on dozens of others. Children of business rivals, witnesses to corporate crimes, anyone who threatened their perfect facade or agenda.” Icy dread slides down my spine.
She believes what she’s saying.
More importantly, she’s not saying it to negotiate or plead—she’s stating facts.
“And how do you know this?” I lean closer, using intimidation to mask my growing unease. “Been playing detective, little brat?”
“No.” Reaching out, she brushes the exposed scars on my wrist—the ones usually hidden by Aries’s expensive watches. “I’m playing my part. Just like you played yours in that institution. Just like Aries plays his now.” She pauses for a moment, and her voice takes on a softness that strokes the beast inside me when she speaks again. “I know you’re angry, and rightfully so, but just remember that all of us are victims here. We’re all their puppets, dancing on different strings.”
Her touch, coupled with the gentleness of her voice, sends bolts of electricity zinging across my skin. No one’s touched those scars since they were made.
Brat. I should break her fingers for being so daring. Instead, I find myself pressing closer, caging her against the wall, using my body to keep her where I want her.
“You think understanding makes you safe?” My lips brush her ear. “Makes us allies?”
“No.” She turns her head, bringing our faces dangerously close. “Understanding makes me dangerous, even more so since I know where the bodies are buried. Literally, in some cases.”
I’m shocked. Astonished. “What?”
“Northstar wasn’t just a facility for treating problems.” Her fingers trace over my forearm, mapping more surgical scars through my sleeve. “It was where problems permanently disappeared. And my mother kept records of everything.”
The implications of her confession hit me right in the gut. My revenge has been focused on Aries, on the family who threw me away, but if what she’s saying is true…then this goes deeper than family drama.
“What’s the point of telling me this?” I study her face for signs of deception. “Why not go to the police?”
Her laugh is bitter, surprising in its darkness. “Do you hear yourself right now? Would you believe such a story if you didn’t know what you know? They wouldn’t give a shit. If anything, they would try to cover it up. I certainly doubt they want the public knowing the police commissioner’s daughter was one of the problems they made disappear.”
Confusion and anger bleed together. What the hell is she getting at?
“Then why?—”
“Because you’re not the only one who wants to burn it all down.” She presses something into my hand—a folded paper thicker than standard printer paper. “You’re just the only other person I know with nothing left to lose.”
The power dynamic between us shifts, but it’s not about physical control this time. She’s offering me something more potent than my current revenge—she’s offering me proof of a systemic evil that goes beyond personal betrayal. This makes her infinitely more dangerous than I ever expected.
“This is a joke, right?” I can’t keep the mockery from my voice. “Do you really expect me to believe sweet little Lilian, Patricia’s perfect invalid, wants to assist in destroying her own family?”
“Not assist.” She lifts her chin defiantly. “Partner with. However, I have a few conditions I need you to agree to first.”
I slide my hand from her throat and up to her jaw, cupping the delicate bone. Without thought, I gently brush my thumb across her plump bottom lip. I’m reminded of the way she looked with her lips wrapped around my cock that night in her dorm, when she still thought I was him . “You’re not in a position to demand conditions .”
“No?” She cocks her head to the side but doesn’t pull away from my touch. If anything, she leans into it. “Is that so?” My cock grows incredibly hard, pressing against the zipper of my jeans. Her pink tongue darts out and flicks against my thumb. Pleasure consumes me. I want to fuck her against the tree right this second, open her up and see what she’s made of. I can only imagine how much effort it took Aries to keep his hands off her.
“If that were true, if you really believed that, then you wouldn’t still be standing here.” The little minx is testing my patience and resolve. I should tell her to fuck off, but I don’t want to and that’s increasingly frustrating me. “If you don’t want to make a deal with me, then why are you still standing here?”
Because you’re a fascinatingly beautiful creature.
Because you’ve transformed from prey to monster.
Because the darkness in your eyes matches mine.
That’s what I really want to say.
Instead, I growl out a response. “What do you want?”
“No innocent victims. No killing.” Her breath catches as my thumb traces her lip. “Focus on the real monsters—Mother, your father, the board members who helped cover everything up.”
“What about Aries?” I press closer, using my body to remind her of her stepbrother’s imprisonment. “Is he an innocent victim in this scenario?”
“You know he’s not. Not totally.” One of her hands slides across my shirt, and I can feel the heat of her touch through the fabric, not pushing me away but anchoring herself. “But torturing him won’t give you the revenge you seek.”
“What will give me the revenge I seek, Lilian?”
“To destroy them all, and by working together, we can make sure that happens.” Tilting her head, she looks up at me, and our lips nearly touch. “There will be nothing more satisfying than watching them realize the perfect world they built on the bones of others is nothing more than an illusion. That their secrets and lies won’t be buried forever. Making all the evidence I have public knowledge, exposing them for the monsters they are.”
A dark, hungry need for revenge coats every word she speaks. This isn’t the fragile girl I threatened days ago. No, Lilian has transformed right before my eyes. I wonder what other information she’s discovered, what other secrets she’s holding hostage. Fuck, even if she is resourceful, even if she wants revenge, bringing her into the fold would complicate things.
The reality is just because she’s strong today doesn’t mean she will be when shit hits the fan. I look down at her, staring into her eyes, seeing the same darkness there that I carry.
How can I say no to that?
“I’m not sure you understand what you’re offering me,” I warn, but my voice is rough with something darker than anger. “The things I plan to do to them will traumatize you for the rest of your life…hell, the things I might do to you.”
“I’m not afraid of you anymore.” Her fingers curl into my shirt. “I’m not afraid of anything. They made sure of that when they turned my condition into a weapon that they could use against me.”
The admission hangs between us, charged with shared understanding. We’re both products of their manipulation—me through violence, her through velvet-covered control.
“I wonder what precious Aries would think of his stepsister plotting revenge? Of working with the villain?” I drag my nose along her jaw, inhaling the sugar scent of vanilla. She’s so sweet I’m tempted to take a fucking bite. “His innocent Lilian, dipped in darkness and corrupted by evil.”
“I’m not his,” she whispers breathlessly. “I was never his. He made sure of that when he chose to keep me at a safe distance.”
Possession roars inside my chest. She’s right—she’s not his, but she could be mine.
This darker version of her, born of secrets and suppressed rage, calls to the primal beast inside me.
“I don’t think you understand how fucking dangerous this is, how dangerous I am to you,” I murmur against her skin. “Are you sure you want to make a deal with the devil?”
Her answering smile is sharp enough to draw blood. “Who says I’m not the devil, too?”
For half a second I consider that… perhaps she is the devil as well?
“Last chance to walk away,” I whisper, my hands betraying me, sliding possessively down her sides. “Once you’re in, there’s no going back. No claiming innocence.”
“You’re not listening.” Her tiny body arches under my touch. “I don’t want innocence. I want revenge. I want to help you destroy them, but methodically. Completely. Not through physical torture—or death. I want to dismantle everything they’ve built. Burn it down and watch them squirm while trying to escape the flames of their own demise.”
She means it. She fucking means it, and I don’t know if I should kill her right here to save her from my darkness or drop to my knees and worship her.
I sink my fingers into her silky blond hair, sifting the strands through my fingers. How is it possible for someone to be so fucking fragile, so fucking perfectly beautiful, yet sinister and beastly? After a moment, I fist her silky blond hair, yanking her head back to study every inch of her face. Soft peachy-pink pale skin and big cornflower blue eyes, that are far too innocent for all the things I want to do to her. As I inspect her features I hunt for any trace of manipulation or deceit. Nothing. She wants this. She wants to help.
“And if I decide to punish you anyway?” My grip tightens, and she winces. “For interfering with my plans? For discovering things you shouldn’t know?”
“Then you better make it count.” Even as pain shimmers in her blue eyes, the challenge in her voice refuses to waver. “Just remember—hurt me or kill me, and you lose access to everything I have. Every dirty secret, every hidden grave, every piece of evidence that could bring them down disappears with me.”
Clever girl. Using her knowledge as both a weapon and a shield.
“There are worse things than death, Little Sister.” I press my mouth to her ear, letting my teeth graze her sensitive flesh. “I could drop you so deeply into darkness that you’d betray everything you believe in for another taste. All while I watch your precious morality crumble in my hands.”
Her body trembles, but not with fear.
“Maybe that’s what I want.” Determination laces her words. “Maybe I’m tired of being their perfect, pristine daughter. Maybe I want someone to show me how deep the darkness goes.”
Fuck me, her darkness calls to my darkness in a way that makes my cock a little harder and my pulse a little louder. This isn’t part of the plan.
She’s supposed to be a pawn, not a player.
I need to use her to hurt Aries, not let her tempt me .
“Careful what you wish for.” I drag my lips down her neck, feeling her pulse race. “I’m not known for my gentleness.”
“Good.” Her hands slide up my chest to my shoulders. “Gentle is what they used to control me. I want something real. Something that burns. Something that hurts .”
“Last warning,” I murmur, though I’m already lost. “Cross me, and death will seem merciful compared to what I’ll do to you.”
Her smile is all teeth and terrible promise. “Prove it.”
“Prove it?” I growl, shoving her back against the wall. The air escapes her lungs in a gasp. She’s either incredibly stupid or naive. Either way, I’ll need to show her that taunting me isn’t how this works. “Stop provoking me. I promise you don’t want to see the monster they made me into.”
“Yes, I do. I want to see everything. All of it.”
Her words sound like a prayer, like permission, like damnation.
My control fractures, and I give in to temptation, needing to kiss that sweet, sinister mouth. I crush my lips to hers, swallowing up her gasp of shock. I don’t kiss her gently—it’s all teeth and tongue and barely controlled violence—but right now, that’s all I can give her. She responds immediately, fingers digging into my shoulders, body arching into mine.
She kisses me back like she’s been starving for this particular darkness. Like she fucking needs me as much as I need her.
I pull back half an inch, breaking the kiss, my lungs starving for air. “Is this what you imagined it would be like?” I bite her lower lip hard, watching her wince from the pain. “When you thought I was him? When you realized I wasn’t?”
“No.” She shakes her head and drags her nails down my back. “This is better, because now you’re not pretending. Not holding back.”
I lose control and grab her thighs, lifting her against the wall until she wraps her legs around my waist. The position brings us closer intimately, and a soft whimper escapes her bruised lips. That sound is a battle cry, a noise I want to hear over and over again.
“I’m going to ruin you,” I promise, grinding against her warm cunt. “Turn their perfect daughter into something unrecognizable. Make you crave things that would horrify them.”
“Please,” she gasps, rolling her hips against mine.
I bite her neck hard enough to leave a mark to match the others, loving how she moans instead of pulling away. “Going to make you mine in every filthy way possible. Make you forget he ever existed.”
“Yes, please…mmmm...Aries...” Her hands slip under my shirt, tracing over the scars on my back.
Aries!
I become feral, needing her to realize it’s me, that it will only ever be me. There is no room for my bastard brother in her mind when we’re together. Angrily, I grab her wrists, pinning them above her head with one hand while the other snakes between our bodies, and under her skirt. Teach her a lesson. Show her true darkness.
My fingertips ghost against the front of her panties. Soaked . Already wet and aching with need. Because of me. Only me.
“Arson,” I growl against her lips, rubbing my fingers against her weeping cunt. “It’s me that’s making you feel this way. Me. Arson. Making your pussy so wet you can barely think straight. Now say it. Say. M y . Fucking. Name.”
Her pretty blue eyes flicker with shock, the column of her delicate throat moving as she gulps. I warned you. I told you what I would do. “Arson,” she finally says, while I move my fingers a little faster, teasing her clit through the soaked lace. “God, please don’t stop. Please.”
“Not Aries,” I sneer, pushing the lace aside and sliding two fingers into her slick heat. She gasps, clenching around me like her body knows exactly who I am—even if her head doesn’t. “Not the golden boy. Not the one who made you blush and stammer. He might’ve had your attention back then… but I have your body now.”
Her moan is raw and broken. I curl my fingers and press my thumb to her clit, working her with slow, deliberate pressure. “Do you think he ever thought about making you come like this? Think he ever could’ve touched you like I do?”
She shakes her head, lips trembling. “No,” she whispers, breath hitching.
“That’s right,” I reply, cruel and soft. “Because he doesn’t know how to take you apart like this. He’s too much of a coward.” I drive my fingers deeper, dragging a helpless sound from her throat. “But me? I’ll make you forget him. I’ll fuck every trace of him out of your head when the time is right.”
Her hips jerk, thighs quivering around my wrist, and I feel her getting closer—body pulsing, straining.
“Come for me,” I murmur. “Come with my name on your lips, not his. Show me who owns you now.”
“Arson,” she gasps, eyes closing as she falls apart, clenching tight around my fingers. “Arson—oh my god?—”
I keep going, slow and deep, drawing every last tremble from her body. Her nails dig into my shoulders. Her breath stutters. And when she finally goes limp in my arms, wrecked and panting? I lean in close, mouth at her ear. “You’ll never confuse us again.”
I finally pull my fingers free—they’re wet, glistening with her arousal. Then I bring those same fingers that were just inside her to my lips and suck them deep into my mouth, my tongue swirling around the digits, stroking them.
She watches with curiosity as I savor her juices. Delicious.
“What do I taste like?” She asks softly.
“Mine,” I say low, licking the last trace from my knuckle. “You taste like mine.”
“Don’t say things like that.” She whispers, suddenly all shy when moments before my fingers were deep inside her. “What happens now? Are you going to let me help you?”
If she thinks I will give myself away after a little touching, she’s wrong.
I want more, so much more.
“I haven’t decided yet. What I can say is that I want you. That I want to fuck you, to be able to ruin you properly. Soon enough I’ll have you stripped bare, spread out, quivering—so full of my cock you forget how to speak.”
Her eyes are dark with want as she straightens her clothes. “Wh-what?”
I grab her chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Oh, Little Sister, you didn’t actually think this was only about helping me, did you? I have plans. And not the kind you get to walk away from. These plans will leave marks on you. Scars. Memories you’ll choke on every time you close your eyes.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
Watching her so off-balance gives me more satisfaction than I care to admit.
I step back and gesture for her to go ahead. “You will soon. We’ll pick this up another time when I can claim you the way I want to. Now move, before I make you move.”
She huffs at me as if she’s annoyed, and I give her a smirk. Like a good girl, she does as she’s told and walks back to campus the way we came. I trail her, admiring my own strength. I want her. I want her badly, but I want my brother to bear witness to what he’s given me. He had his chance, and he let it slip through his fingers.
Lilian’s mine now. I thought maybe I could use her as a pawn, but she’s more than that. She’s dangerous. Perhaps she’s my perfect partner in revenge? Sweet Lilian. She has no idea the ways I plan to make her earn her place. I’ll give her what she wants, and in return, she will help me destroy Aries at the same time.