on

ardrobe when someone starts hammering on my door. An

lready kno

ugh, it's Alexa. She's standing there with fire in her e

eaten half to death." Her voice slices straight into me, thin but

out blinking. She wants me to deny it, maybe, or to co

't have my gun on

shut with more force than necessary. She plants herself

ou murdering people on my behalf. I'm glad you wore a mask,

ust a little, and

herself, but for me. It twists someth

, it's for Marcus, for every worthless idiot who thinks they can play with her heart

t hangs in its dusty frame. Men sitting stiff in

o you s

onfused. "Men

can stop it. "None of them exist

head, half amused, half bitter. "The only reason I hold back now is because getting caug

ws feels heavier than

e looks at me like I've morphed into a stranger, like the man who pulled her out

whispers, her voice small but s

"Nobody taught me to be cold-blooded. My godfather told me o

ls. Monsters. Responsible for horrors you couldn't imagine, including my mother's

if she should argue or run. "So you

ason," I admit. "

space from me. "I'm starting to think I'm not safe in this

aved your life twice, Alexa. Three times, if you count the warning I l

oice stays sharp. "A killer

like a blade, c

out before I can thi

breath, drag a

women, not after everything I've seen, everything I've done. But Alexa isn't like the oth

want to deny it, I alread