Chapter 27
Bria
I couldn’t stop looking at my hands.
Even after Kael cleaned them in the warehouse sink, even after he drove us home in silence and I showered, the blood still felt like it was under my nails. Phantom, but sticky. Permanent.
I sat on the edge of the bed in one of his T-shirts, knees pulled up, staring at nothing. Kael leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, watching me the way he always did—like he was cataloguing every crack in my expression.
“Talk,” he said quietly.
I let out a shaky breath. “I thought I’d feel sick. Or empty. Or… wrong.” My voice sounded strange in the quiet room. “But I don’t. I feel… lighter. Like something that’s been sitting on my chest for years finally moved.” I looked up at him. “Is that fucked up?”
“No.” His answer was immediate. Flat. Certain.
I swallowed. “I keep replaying it. The way she looked at me when she realized I wasn’t going to stop. And instead of guilt, all I feel is this… hunger. Like that was only the beginning.” My fingers twisted in the hem of his shirt. “I want to kill Darius next.”
Kael’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t move.
“I mean it,” I said, stronger this time. “I want to be the one who kills him. Not you. Not your men. Me. He took everything first. He should be the one who sees my face when it ends.”
Silence stretched. I could hear my own pulse.
Kael pushed off the doorway and crossed the room. He crouched in front of me, one hand settling on my knee. For a long moment, he just studied my face.
Then he nodded once. “Okay.”
The word landed heavy.
I blinked. “Okay?”
“Yes.” His voice was low and calm. “He’s yours. How do you want to do it?”
The question hung between us. I didn’t have to think long.
“I want him awake,” I said quietly. “I want him to know it’s me.
I want to cut him first—slow. Make him feel every second of what he did to me.
Then I want to put the gun in his mouth and make him beg before I pull the trigger.
” My voice stayed steady, almost soft. “I don’t want it quick.
I want him to pay for what he turned me into. ”
Something flickered across his face. For the first time since I’d known him, he looked almost caught off guard.
“Fuck, Bria,” he murmured, eyes searching mine. “That’s… colder than I expected.”
I held his gaze. “You asked.”
He exhaled slowly, then reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. The corner of his mouth twitched, and I could see the approval in his eyes.
“Alright,” he said. “We’ll do it your way.”