Chapter 37

Ifind Rebecca in her usual cell, one that she shares with Haley.

She sits on her cot, a blanket on her lap as she flips through the pages of a book. Despite her hands moving, her eyes don’t appear to be reading the words, a forlorn expression in her teal gaze. The robust woman barely glances up when I enter, though I can tell she senses my presence when her hands freeze.

“You know.” It’s not a question or even an accusation. Instead, it’s a tired statement that leaves her lips on a heavy sigh.

“I didn’t. At least, not for sure.” I fold my arms against my chest and lean against the opened bars of her cell. At one point, the guards closed them every night to lock us monsters away. But when we overran the prison and kicked them out, all of the cells remained open. It’s both a blessing and a threat. You can never close your eyes in this prison when there’s no place for you to hide and escape. It’s why gangs formed and alliances began. People are desperate to protect themselves against the killers who stalk in the shadows.

Like me.

Like Rebecca.

“I know you used to work for Lionel,” I continue, watching her reaction carefully. There’s not a flicker of surprise as she finally drops her book and folds her hands together in her lap. They’re shaking, tiny trembles that reverberate through her entire body, but I can’t find it within me to care.

“I was his secretary,” Rebecca admits without preamble, though I already knew that. I knew that years ago, when the older woman was first brought into the prison, sniveling and sobbing. I had Tessa take her under her wing and show her the ropes. Despite her previous relationship with Lionel, I never questioned her alliance to me and my people. Not until now.

“And you were his lover.” I have the immense satisfaction of seeing surprise in her gaze before she smooths her expression out. Now, this…this I didn’t learn years ago. I only put the pieces together recently when Damien told me what Lionel confessed to, how it was a woman inside of the prison whom he contacted.

There are thirty-three women in prison, but only one of them ever had contact with the disgusting, vile man. I placed a call to a released inmate in the outside world and confirmed that Rebecca had in fact been in a relationship with Lionel Green…until she went crazy and murdered everyone on his staff. She claimed that she did it because she was tired of his brutal nature, that she hated the man with a searing passion.

Passion was involved, but I don’t think it was hate she felt when she killed those people.

“I didn’t even put it together until recently,” I continue, watching as her face pales beneath her dark red hair. I shouldn’t enjoy the fear I evoke in her as much as I do, but I never claimed not to be a twisted, demented monster. But I’m Nina’s monster, which is why this conversation has to be made before we can leave. “You killed those people—Lionel’s staff—with a bomb, didn’t you?”

Her hands shake as she smooths them down her dark, faded skirt. There are numerous holes adorning the fabric, because unlike Nina, she doesn’t have anyone to gift her new clothes. If she would’ve asked, we would’ve happily given her some, just because she was Nina’s friend. Perhaps she was trying to avoid being on our radar. Perhaps she felt guilt. I suppose I’ll never know for sure.

“I discovered Lionel was fucking his intern,” she confesses in a breathy whisper. “But I swear to you, I didn’t know he was fucking the twins as well. I didn’t know about the sick sex club. Not until I arrived here. And I wasn’t lying about hating the man. I do hate him.” Tear tracks mar her pudgy cheeks as she wipes them away with the back of her hand.

“Then why did you do it?” I demand when she finally turns to stare at me. I’m not gonna lie—the guilt and regret in her gaze give me a pause, but I force my features to harden before she can see me crack. Nina has made me soft, but she hasn’t made me weak. I’ll do what I always do to protect my family, even if it means killing one of Nina’s only friends.

“Lionel reached out to me a few months earlier.” Rebecca’s hands twitch in her lap as she holds my gaze. “He had the hit list, and he wanted me to pass it around the Labyrinth. He offered me—” She hiccups, squeezing her eyes shut as more tears cascade down her face. “He offered me money. A lot of money. Just to give the list to some of the men inside of here. I have children, Kai. You know this.”

“Blade,” I interrupt forcefully, and she winces at my acerbic tone. “You will call me Blade.”

“Blade,” she corrects automatically, her voice frail and tiny. “I have children, Blade, and this money would help put them through college.”

I throw my head back in dry, humorless laughter. “But that wasn’t enough for you, was it? Not only did you try to kill us all by handing out the hit list, but you also attempted to kill Nina with that bomb.”

Rebecca’s shaking her head vehemently before I even finish talking. “I never planned to hurt that sweet girl. That bomb was meant for Damien.” She cants her head down to stare at her interlocked fingers, still resting on her lap. “He’s a serial killer, an assassin, a monster. I thought I would be doing the world a favor if he was dead. And you can’t judge me for that.”

“And the reward money was just a happy bonus, wasn’t it?” I scoff at her ridiculous mentality. If she truly thinks killing someone for money makes her a better person, then she’s more delusional than I thought. We’re all monsters here, and no sweet words or false promises will change that.

“If it makes any difference, I’m grateful no one was seriously hurt,” Rebecca offers, her voice subdued. Defeated. She knows she’s fucked up, and now she’s paying the price. There’s a reason I’m the king of this prison, why my nickname is Blade. Justice is always served in a quick, timely manner, usually by my hand. “I never wanted…” She takes a shuddering breath, her shoulders seeming to reach her ears before lowering. “I never wanted people to die. I did what I had to do to survive. You understand that, don’t you? I did it for family.”

And maybe…

And maybe I do understand that, in a twisted, demented way. I know I would do anything for the people I love. Sacrifice anything. Maybe we’re not that different after all. Just two monsters struggling in a world full of shadows and malevolent silhouettes and moonless skies.

“Are you going to kill me?” Rebecca spears me in place with her teal gaze, her eyes glimmering with tears. It makes her look younger. Not months or even years, but centuries. In her gaze, I see the woman who befriended Nina, who loves her children fiercely, even from within the confines of prison.

“No.” That one word shocks both of us. I can see confusion and hope splay themselves across her face, dashing away instantly with my next words. “But your fate will be left entirely in Braelyn’s hands. I won’t kill you because I know that would hurt Nina, but I can’t promise you anything beyond that. If you die, it won’t be at my hands.”

Rebecca’s lower lip trembles, because she knows as well as I do that Braelyn has never been lenient when it comes to her punishments. Maybe, just maybe, Braelyn will offer Rebecca a second chance, but we both know that chance is slim.

I watch a myriad of emotions cross her face, before it finally settles on grim resolve. She has accepted her fate, though I can tell it’s taking everything within her not to argue. Not to fight tooth and nail.

After all, we only become predators because we want to survive.

“I agree to those terms,” Rebecca whispers at last, lowering her gaze back to her hands. Hands that created a weapon that sent Rion to the infirmary. That could’ve killed Nina. They don’t look like a murderer’s hands, but then again…are they supposed to? Does a killer have a black stain somewhere that the entire world can see? And I’m not talking about the stain on a killer’s soul.

My own hands are colored red with blood. Does that make me any better than Rebecca? Do I even want to be?

The inmates of Nightmare Penitentiary have simply accepted the shadows. Me? I command them.

As I leave her cell, my whole body sluggish and heavy, as if the entire force of Earth’s gravity is pushing down on me, I notice Haley standing against the wall, her mouth agape and tears in her eyes. It’s apparent she heard everything Rebecca confessed to, that she knows the truth about her best friend.

As her gaze hardens, I realize that death might be the best option for Rebecca. It might be her only option. Without us at her back, without Haley and Braelyn and Jenny…

She’s alone.

And lone wolves never survive for long.