Chapter 42

FORTY-TWO

E lijah is trying to talk to me, but I can't hear him.

I stare down at my hands, which are red, and blink as I glance at my dress. The entire hem and front are covered in Kage's dried blood. I know I have it elsewhere as well. I should wash, but I can't seem to bring myself to.

That's all I have left of him.

That and the ring on my finger, our shared ring, now stained with his blood from protecting me.

The bright white of the waiting room at the hospital hurts my eyes. I don't even know how I got here. It's all a blur. Once the paramedics surrounded him, everything went so fast. We were flown to this hospital, and I've been kept out of the room . . . .

He didn't hear.

I don't know why, but the thought that he will never hear that I love him for the first time makes me want to scream.

"Fallon," Elijah snaps, and I lift my head to see him. His eyes are red, and he's still crying, but he's more composed than I am. "I need you to tell me what to do. I'm yours now. I signed a contract with Kage that I would work for him and you . . . so now you. What do you want me to do? Please, tell me what to do."

"I'm not your boss. He's your boss," I whisper as I look back at my hands. "It's dry. The dress will be ruined," I murmur. I don't care, not really, but it's all I can think to say.

"Fallon, what do we do?" They are all looking at me, but the truth is, I don't know. "I was told Westie is in custody. He'll be . . . He won't get away with it, and with the evidence you handed over for abuse, he's going to go away for a long time," Elijah tells me.

"Not long enough," I retort, the numbness morphing into anger. "Why should he get to live? Why?" I shake my head, a dark idea coming to mind. "Everyone else uses their money and power to get away with everything, and so will I."

"What do you mean?" Elijah asks as I thrust to my feet.

"Find out where he is being held," I demand. "Now." Elijah hurries away. I don't even know where my phone is or what the news is showing, but I don't care.

I head over to the closed double doors he's behind. "I'll make them pay," I tell him as I place my bloody hand on the door. "I'll make them all pay for what they did to you." Turning away, I head down the hall, my heels clacking as I walk. Elijah is at the end, just hanging up the phone.

"I know where he is."

"Take me to him," I order.

"Fallon, this is a bad idea," Elijah hisses, but I ignore him and the police chief. We bribed him, and when that didn't work, we threatened him.

I used my power and money to get what I want. It should make me feel sick, but it doesn't. I'm just playing the game they created.

Ignoring them, I open the door that leads to the interrogation room. It's empty except for Westie, and when I glance at the camera, the light goes off. I'm free to do whatever I want, just like them.

He lifts his head from the metal table, his eyes widening when he sees me. He looks weak and defeated for once. Gone is the man who haunts my nightmares, and in his place is the monster that hides within—the one who raped and abused girls and boys for fun.

His delusion is almost as big as his audacity, but then again, he is a man.

"So he's dead then?" He laughs. "Shame, I was aiming for you. He was really talented when he wasn't distracted by your pussy, but I get it. It's a good pussy—" His head snaps to the side from the force of my hit. His chained hands struggle against the table, where they are cuffed, stopping him from standing.

He spits at me, and I let it hit my face. He swallows as he watches me, no doubt realizing his mistake. "Fallon, look?—"

I pull the knife from behind my back, my head tilted as his eyes widen, and he starts to panic, yanking on his cuffs. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" When I step closer, he starts to scream. "Shit, help! Someone help!"

"They won't be coming to help you. No one will," I tell him casually as I stroll around him to his other side and press the blade to his chin so he looks at me. "You taught me that. If you use enough pressure and money, you can get whatever you want." He swallows, trying not to move as I press the blade in deeper. "You took the only thing in this world I love away from me. I'm going to do the same for you."

"All of this for revenge?" he snarls.

"No," I murmur as I slide it down his neck. "All of this for love."

Lifting the knife, I aim it at his chest, just like he did Kage's. His scream fills the air for a moment, and I shake it off. I remember the way Kage's blood felt as it pumped from his body.

"Help!" he roars as I go to stab down but change my mind at the last second and slam the knife into the metal table as he screams. "You crazy fucking bitch! You all deserved it! Even that model bitch. She was going to tell. I thought if I took them all away, you'd stop!"

"You killed her," I comment idly.

"Not by my hands," he says. "I hired someone. You know how good our money is. Fallon, stop this now. It's over." The panic in his eyes makes me happy. I can almost taste his fear.

"I was going to kill you, but I won't. I'm not like you. That's what he showed me, and you don't get the mercy of death. You'll live and rot in jail, with everyone knowing what you did. Enjoy prison."

That's where he's heading. I'm sure the police will connect him to Evelyn Mitchel's and Giles Horn's murders. With that and the attack on Kage, he's going away for a long time.

The thought should make me happy, but it doesn't.

I hesitate at the door, my need for vengeance unfulfilled, so I turn back, and he starts to struggle again. Grabbing the knife from the table, I grip his chin as I yank his head up. "Hold still, I don't think I'm a very good artist," I warn as I press the tip of the blade into his forehead.

He screams and struggles as blood runs down his face, making it worse, but I hold him as still as I can, focusing on what I'm carving, and when it's done, I step back, eyeing my work with a numb smile.

"Better, now enjoy prison." I toss the knife and head out, seeing Elijah's wide eyes.

"Is he dead?" he asks.

"No, but he'll wish he were. When he's sentenced, find some people inside and pay them to make his life miserable, but don't kill him. I want him alive and scared every day."

"Jesus, Fallon, you're kind of terrifying," he says as he falls into step at my side.

"Really? I'm not done yet."

We sit in the car as I stare out the window. "You want what?" Elijah asks.

"Take her house. Take everything Westie's wife owns. I want her reputation destroyed. I don't even want anyone to let her stay on their couch. Ruin her," I tell him truthfully. "I don't care how, just do it. I want her to suffer every single day."

"Fallon—"

"Do it," I order as I look back at him. "As for the others, put pressure on the police. I want them to be made aware that they can't fuck this up. Release every single name of every person at those parties. Destroy them all. I want them to suffer like I'm suffering. I want them to feel every drop of the pain I have right now. Do you hear me? I want this entire fucking industry to bleed like he did. I want them to not be able to look at me without being scared. If you can't do it, I will find someone who can. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," he murmurs. "I'll do it for Kage. I have some contacts."

I look away. "Good, make the calls."

While he does that, my eyes catch on the ring on my finger, the other half still on Kage's at the hospital. They should be together.

They are a pair, so they shouldn't be separated.

"It's done," Elijah says sometime later. "The news is already exposing people. Everyone is on your side. The outcry has started. There are walkouts at nearly all major labels. Hell, there is a goddamn riot outside the studio that was hosting the docuseries. You did it, Fallon. You and Kage did it."

It means nothing without him. He should be here to see it. I'm finding victory isn't the same without my partner.

When I don't answer, he lapses into silence, no doubt feeling my fragile mental state. I feel it too, though I am not sure which way it will go. Either I will crawl into a hole and never come out or I will kill everyone.

Either is possible. It should scare me, but it doesn't.

Kage was my reins. He was the one who connected me to this world. He was the one who kept it safe from me, and now he's gone.

Everyone always called me the ice queen, but I don't feel very royal right now. Queens and princesses are supposed to have happily ever afters, right?

So why don't I?

Why must I endure a life filled with tragedy and pain? Do I get a taste of happiness just for it all to be taken away again? What kind of fucked-up world is this where people who hurt others get to live long, blissful lives, yet I'm stuck suffering alone?

It's fucking bullshit.

"What now?" Elijah asks tiredly .

"Now I'm done. Take me home to him."

"Fallon."

I ignore him, my eyes drifting to the window.

Kage is my home and always will be. I want to go home.

I want to go to sleep and never wake up.

I want to be at his side.