30. WYNTER

30

WYNTER

“ W ynter,” Noah says slowly and I startle, quickly closing the computer tabs, but he must know what I’ve seen from the expression of horror that I’m sure is on my face.

“What the fuck is this?” I ask shakily.

He doesn’t say anything.

I get to my feet and slam my palms down on the desk. “Where the hell is my sister?”

“She’s safe.” He holds his hands out in a gesture of peace, but fuck peace.

I can’t bear to look at him. To be lured in by his sweet lies again. “Where the fuck are Summer and Charlie?”

Then it dawns on me. He just left the building they’re in maybe two minutes ago. They’re somewhere on the property.

“The groundskeeper's place,” I say to myself.

“My love, I swear I only did it to help you.”

I hear him coming towards me and I grab the computer keyboard, yanking it free, and throwing it at him. He blocks it with his forearms and keeps coming my way.

“How long have you had them here?” I circle the desk, keeping my distance from him.

“When I found out your real name, I started looking into her for you. It wasn’t long after that I took her in.”

They've been here all along?

It never crossed my mind that he would do something like this. I never thought to question any of it. All those times he told me he was looking for her were a lie. When I went to my old apartment building, he told me Charlie was safe. I suppose in his eyes she has been. But it was still a lie.

“Why?” My voice breaks. “She’s just a little kid!”

“I’ve not hurt her, I swear, I’d never do something like that. You know that.” He doesn’t stop coming towards me.

“But why? Why not tell me?” My voice cracks.

“I wasn’t going to just leave her to rot in the system. I had every intention of reuniting the pair of you. I just wanted you to be ready first. After we killed Grayson I thought you were, but then you asked for the deal. I could hardly say no when you had just agreed to be mine.”

When I agreed to sign my body and mind over to him. I think I might be sick. He used me. All this time he’s been using me.

“And after that?”

“I knew if you saw her you wouldn’t be able to kill anyone. She’d have been your conscience keeping you away from the dark parts of yourself. The ones that I craved from you. The ones that you do too.” He’s got me cornered against the door now. His silky voice and honeyed words trying to trap me again.

“So you turned me into a killer for your own sick fantasy. You made me think she was dead or being fucking abused! After everything that happened to your mom and sister, why did you think that was okay?”

He dips his head, his face is so close to mine now. “I almost broke so many times when you were hurting. But you came out of it each time and then you started to love me. If I told you at the wrong moment it would have ruined everything we built. I’ve made sure she’s been happy here.”

Shaking my head, I push at his chest. I need space to breathe, to think. But he doesn't give me that. This is all so fucked up. “Were you ever going to let me see her again?”

“Yes. I just wanted to make sure that your urge to kill was stronger than your need to be good for her. Once you had that then we could be a family. You and I could go out and kill together then come home and live the perfect life, just the three of us.”

My heart beats faster at the thought of his warped fantasy. It calls to me like a deadly siren's song. But it’s not what I want. It can’t be. I’m not a killer, I only did what I had to do for revenge.

“You showed me parts of yourself that made me fall, but it was all a lie." I can feel the darkness starting to creep back in to my head. The only way I know to rid myself of it is with Noah. Is this what he wanted all along? To make me reliant on him for my own survival. "You’ve been manipulating me this entire time. Making me become someone I’m not.”

He cups my cheek, his thumb tracing my lips, soothing me. “This is always who you were meant to be, I just helped you realize that.” My eyelids feel heavy and I have to resist the urge to part my lips for him and let him in. “The killer was already inside you. You’re my fucking queen, Wynter. I did this for you.”

I force myself out of the sick trance he’s putting me under and open my eyes to his lies. None of this was for me. It was all for him.

When I push at his chest again he finally backs away, giving me room to bend down and snatch my dagger from my boot.

If a killer is what I am now then I may as well use that part of me to save myself from him. “You don’t get to touch me anymore! You knew I loved you yet you still didn’t give me the truth. I can’t trust anything out of your mouth again. Take me to her now or I swear to god I will end this right here.”

With my dagger pointed at him, we head outside. I should toss the thing away once I’m done with him, but it’s become a part of me now and I can't bear to part with it.

Dread weighs me down with each step that I take toward the groundskeeper’s cottage. I think back to the first time I saw it. How the lights were on and Noah lied to me about who was inside. I'm an idiot for believing him so easily.

I should be happy to know that Summer’s safe, but it feels like I’m on a slow march to the gallows.

What do I say to her? Is she even going to want to see me again after I left her all alone? What has Noah been telling her?

“Did she know I was here?” I ask as we reach the door.

“No. I told her you were helping me take down some bad people.”

“She’s a kid, she doesn’t need to know that.”

“I never told her the details. She thinks you’re a spy of some kind.” He chuckles like he’s remembering some inside joke. I feel sick with anger and jealousy. He doesn’t get to bond with her like any of this is normal.

Up close, the building is simply a cute little cottage. Nothing foreboding about it at all. So why do I feel like I’m about to step into a prison?

Unlocking the door, Noah says, “Wynter, let me try to explain.”

“Open the door, Noah. Open the fucking door!” I hiss quietly at him in case Summer can hear us.

He swings the door open wide and steps aside, letting me take the first step over the threshold.

I expected the building to be rundown, but it’s bright and homely. Its cute aesthetic matches the exterior. There's no doubt that this is the place on the cameras. Looking up I see one in the corner of the ceiling.

When I walk further down the hall, I hear Summer's voice and it sends me spiraling.

I can’t do this.

I’ve imagined our reunion in my head over and over. It saved me on so many dark nights, but now that it’s here I want to run in the opposite direction.

Noah comes to my side and takes hold of my hand, but I snatch it back. He doesn’t get to ruin this moment.

“If you’ve hurt her at all I’ll—” My throat closes up around my threat as I realize I don’t want to have to hurt him. He's been hiding all his pain after losing his father. He’s not cried once. But maybe he’s incapable of it. Maybe all of his vulnerabilities have been an act.

Moving forward, I push open the wooden door at the end of the hall.

Charlie sees me first and she looks like she’s seen a ghost. I feel like one. I don’t feel real as I hover here.

She doesn’t say anything, just looks at me then at the dagger in my hand. Shit. I let it go and it clatters to the ground.

Summer finally looks up from where her eyes have been glued to the television. I bite down hard on my trembling lip. The first thing she sees cannot be me crying.

“Sunshine,” I say and she breaks into a huge smile, running at me with open arms.

“Wynnie, you're here! I’ve missed you so much!” She doesn’t sound upset at all. I look over at Charlie and she’s staring behind me, a pensive expression on her face. Noah’s still there, I can feel his presence.

I don’t know what to say. Every word vanishes as it reaches my tongue.

“Told you she’d be back,” Noah says so casually as he saunters past me.

“You said it wouldn’t be for a long while,” Summer pouts. She’s so comfortable with him. It’s what I imagined them being like together once we were reunited.

Grabbing my hand she drags me toward the couch. “You have to tell me everything!”

I look to Charlie for help, but she’s still keeping quiet.

The only option I have left is Noah. I’m sure he’s been telling her lies, but they can’t have been all that bad if she’s this happy. The last thing I want is to screw this up by scaring her.

Noah perches on the coffee table in front of us and smiles adoringly at Summer. My heart breaks for him and for myself. I know how much he misses his own little sister, and it makes me so painfully happy to see him smiling like that. But he can’t expect any of this to be okay.

“Your big sis has been such a great help. We’ve almost taken down all the bad guys. So I’m going to need her for a little while longer.”

Almost? Everyone I wanted dead is gone.

“No. I’m done,” I say flatly.

“That's not fair!” Summer sighs. “Bones said we could all go to Tokyo once you’d finished your mission. Honestly, I didn’t believe him at first, but then he showed me a photo of you in your spy outfit. You looked so cool!”

She’s been calling him Bones?

I look at him in disbelief. He lies so easily. But I already knew that, didn't I? The games started as soon as I woke up in his bed. I'm sure the lies began then as well.

“I see. Have you been okay staying here?” I direct my question to Charlie and she nods.

I so want to believe that Noah hasn’t touched her like he has me, but I don’t know what to believe anymore.

“You can tell me if you haven’t,” I urge her.

“Honestly, Wynter, we’ve had a nice time here. Summer’s played a lot of video games and I mean a lot.”

“Yep! Bones bought me everything off my wish list.”

I should be pissed at him, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Summer so happy before.

“You’ve also been seeing tutors for all your lessons as well,” he adds.

“Is that true?” I ask Charlie and she nods.

All this new information weighs me down and I sink back into the couch. Summer snuggles up next to me and keeps playing her game, oblivious to the reality of her situation. She’s grown since I last saw her. God, I’ve even missed her birthday.

Times and dates haven’t mattered to me while I’ve been with Noah. He took over my life and blinded me to anything but him.

Even now he’s watching me and I want to let that magnetic pull between us win out. To fall into his arms and live in this delusional happily ever after.

But the sting of betrayal is too deep, festering away inside me.

“I want you guys to tell me everything you’ve been up to, I just need to talk to Bones first.”

Without waiting for confirmation from anyone, I head back into the hall. Noah softly closes the door behind us.

The volume of the television gets louder as Charlie turns it up to protect Summer.

“She was never in danger,” I state. “You fed me that lie. Every tear I shed agonizing over if she was even alive, you wiped them all away. You held me through the pain, made me forget with your— Fuck, I’m so stupid.”

“It wasn’t like that. I gave you a reason to keep fighting.”

“To keep killing you mean?” I shout, forgetting myself. Running my fingers through my hair I take a few deep breaths and pace to the other end of the hall. “You turned me into a murderer."

"Wynter—"

"No! You're going to tell me everything and don’t you dare lie to me again.”

Noah tries to take hold of my hand, but I don’t let him and he keeps his distance. “Summer was in a foster home, it was an awful place. Charlie had been visiting her a lot. She thought I wanted to adopt Summer and warned me off because she thought I was a creep.”

Good .

“I ended up getting her to tell me about how you were Summer’s only family and you were missing. I told her I could help. By the time you asked me to make the deal with you, your body in exchange for her safety, I had already adopted her.”

“She’s yours?”

Does he just go around collecting people as trophies?

“She’s ours . Once we’re married you’ll have rights as well. I have enough money to make it happen today if that’s what you want. It’s how I got Summer so quickly.”

Money. That’s all it comes down to. Whether legally or illegally, all it takes to own a person is money.

The look on Noah’s face tells me he thinks he did the right thing. Ultimately he did. Summer is safe. Being here means there was never a chance of Dmitri or anyone else hurting her. Charlie’s been with her this whole time so she’s not been alone. So why does my chest hurt so much?

“Wynter, now that you know, we can make this work as a family. Charlie can stay and look after Summer like she’s been doing and we can keep killing. There are plenty more monsters out there to destroy.” He sounds so sure of his plan, so sincere about the damn thing and it's difficult not to fall right into his trap.

“No. I can’t keep doing that! If Summer ever found out what I’ve become…” I think back to every man I’ve murdered. Almost too many to keep track of now. Then I remember the first time I saw their faces on Noah’s computer. The numbers don’t add up.

“How many men did you say hurt me?”

“I don’t remember now.”

He’s making a fool of me again.

“Who have I been killing?”

His jaw goes tight.

I try to match all the faces up, but there are too many, they all meld into each other.

“Dmitri. The ones he made you dispose of, you had me killing them as well didn’t you?”

I look towards the door that Summer and Charlie are safe behind. But will they ever really be safe from Noah’s twisted schemes?

“They weren’t mine to kill,” I say.

I never wanted to be this person. All I wanted was revenge, not to be a serial killer. Noah’s stolen my soul and corrupted it. Twisted me into his little puppet.

I can’t do this. “I need time away from you. Either you leave or we do.”

His face cracks at my ultimatum. “Wynter…”

“No more. I can’t take any more hurt, Noah.”

“I’m not losing you. Please, Wynter, I only just buried my father. You’re all I have.” He drops to his knees and grabs my hips.

My throat burns from the threat of tears, but I hold them back. “I’m sorry he’s gone. I really am, but you can’t manipulate me into staying because of that.”

His eyes shine as he looks up at me. Not once have I ever seen him cry. I have to look away before I fall for his lies once more. It’s all a show. None of what he says or does is real.

“Let me go,” I whisper, my voice cracking.

Standing up he presses his forehead to mine. The close proximity that I once loved is now suffocating.

“Fine. I’ll go. You can have time with your sister, but I will be back. You’re not shutting me out forever. I’m still in your mind, remember?" He drags his fingers up the column of my throat and over my cheek before settling the tips on my temple. "I don’t regret a single thing I’ve done. Because at the end of each and every day, you will always be mine.”

His words that once made me feel protected now feel like a threat. “Leave,” I hiss at him. His shoulders bunch like he wants to lash out. His fists clench. I don’t cower. If he’s going to stoop to that level then I'll remain standing strong.

He seems to sense that in me and he takes a step back, hesitating as he looks between me and the door. “I will never stop being yours.” His eyes are dark and deadly, his words laced with even darker intent. I'm shaking as he stares at me, seeing deep into my soul and trying to pull that same darkness back out of me.

"Please, Bones." My voice is barely a whisper, but it hits him hard. He storms out of the door and slams it behind him.

When I hear the click of the lock, I fall back against the wall and gasp for breath.

I’ve become so dependent on him that now that he’s gone all I want is him inside me, calming me. He’s turned me into a sycophant for himself, unable to exist without his guidance.