Rage and Ruin | 2

2 | 7

K A N E

Over Jake's shoulder, Delphinium locked eyes with me. "What did you just say?"

"Benny is my older brother. He went missing five years ago, and now I know where he's been this entire time."

"Okay, but Kane-"

I cut Jaxon off by pushing myself off the car and taking a few purposeful steps towards Delphinium. "You said that you had no idea whose face was behind that mask."

"I did." I hated that I couldn't read her expression.

"You lied. Why?"

She said nothing.

"I know why you lied," I said, taking another step closer to her. "I know why you couldn't bear to tell us his name."

Her voice was quiet. "Why?"

"Because you're guilty," I spat, pointing a finger at her. "You escaped. He didn't."

"Kane," she said, noticing the anger rolling off of me. "Okay, I did make an unwise choice, but-"

"You left my brother there to rot. To die!" I yelled; the echoes of my voice pierced the quiet neighborhood. "You knew how horrible is was to be there and you still left him."

"Wait." I remembered how she'd told us about how she'd burned down the fortress during her escape. "You didn't just leave him there. You purposely torched the entire place, even knowing that he was still enslaved there. You knew that he could die and you still did it."

I was getting closer to her now, so angry that I didn't know what to do. "He was your only friend, the only one who helped you there," I threw her own words back at her. "And look how his kindness was repaid."

      "He's still alive," she told me in a controlled tone. "His life isn't over yet."

      That meant almost nothing to me. He might have been alive, but that didn't erase the years of trauma and abuse he'd gone through. Friends didn't leave each other behind, especially not in a place like that.

      "My brother is a murdering assassin now, like you. Do you have any idea of how that happened?" My voice shook with anger. At my sides, my fists curled.

      "No." Another lie. What was she hiding this time? "I only ever knew that he was their prisoner. He was never an assassin when I was there."

      "Or," I drew out, "Their favorite assassin escaped the fortress, leaving the spot open. He was probably the next one in line to be groomed as you were."

      She looked at me. I was close enough to her to see her calm face in detail. Why was she calm? Did she know all these things already?

      Nodding slowly, she said to me, "That does sound like them. They need someone to garner a dangerous reputation, someone to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. Of course they'd fill that spot once I was gone."

      I glanced downward when I caught a flash of movement. She was holding one of her knives in her hand, ready to hurt me if I got any closer.

      She left my older brother alone against Imperium, lied about it, and now she was ready to attack me? That was it.

      I lunged forward. She didn't even seem surprised as she stepped to the side and kicked out her leg to trip me. I almost fell, but caught myself and got back on balance.

      "Guys, we all know how much I love a good fight, but please-"

      I didn't hear the rest of Jaxon's plea to us because before he could finish, I grabbed Delphinium's arms and pushed her against the brick wall that surrounded the community. There was a thud as her body gently collided with the stones. The knife fell from her hand with a clatter.