38. Grae
Grae
He takes my picture.
He’s an unimpressive, squirrely little piece-of-shit man.
He literally has a mark on his hand shaped like a dick.
I think it’s a birthmark, but it could be his villain-origin story.
Nothing about him seems menacing. Honestly, that’s probably intentional.
He looks as harmless as possible as he chuckles.
“I couldn’t fight Alana, so I had to fight Kinsley.” He says this like it’s his foolproof endgame. Like he’s looked at all the options and run all the algorithms. He’s so smug my stomach drops.
“Wait,” I say. “Wait, wait, wait. You want to fight Kinsley?”
“Yeah. That’s where she’s the weakest. I spent years trying to fight Alana, and I couldn’t do it. But Kinsley? She’s…” It’s his overconfidence that makes his downfall so much easier to understand. He’s like an anime villain that thinks he’s about to win, right before the hero levels up.
“Listen. I love Kinsley with every fiber of my being. And I love Alana but let me tell you—Kinsley is a crazy bitch. Certifiable.”
“I’m not worried.”
“You should be.” I need to assess how bad this is. “Who else do you have?” I ask.
“Her mom. Her dad. Her brother.” He rattles off a list of hostages. “I had to rough up some bodyguards to get to Lena and Amanda.”
“Oh, fuck, man.” My voice almost whines. “You don’t want to do this. Alana at least has limits—Kinsley does not. When she was fifteen she took out an entire family. She had them arrested by the FBI because the daughter was kind of a bitch."
The color drains from his face. I sit in silence, letting my words sink in. He swallows but regroups, eyes focused and squaring his shoulders. I almost feel bad for him.
"Listen, back in high school Kinsley was on the prom committee and had a deal with a guy who did lighting and props for tour companies. But his son tried to spike her drink and was arrested. So, the dad backed out of the deal. Do you know what she did?”
He growls, “no.”
“The kid went to prison, and his family spent hundreds of thousands on lawyers and still lost. The dad’s company went bankrupt.
He lost his house and his car. His wife left him, and his son is still in prison.
All because this guy raised a shitty kid and made a high school dance slightly less cool. ”
I let my words sink in, but I don’t think it’s working.
I clarify, “Kinsley Adams destroys lives as a hobby.
And now you took her family. You hurt her employees.
You took her friends. You took me." I look at him with certainty.
"She's fiercely loyal and drinks the blood of her enemies. And bro—she’s dining on you today.”
We sit in silence for a moment before I whisper, “You hurt people she cares about. If you’re lucky, Alana will kill you. Because if Kinsley takes over? You’ll live.” I shake my head. “Torturing you will get her off better than anything I can do.”
I almost feel bad for him.
Almost.