“He called me a fucking genius at being an idiot.” I continue a story I didn’t start out loud and push my fist against the corner of the glass, where it’s weakest. “Then he found a real pebble.” I push the stone against the window. Diamond vs. glass. No contest. But nothing happens. “Not concrete. Too many flaws, he said. Cracks inside. Tempered glass is so hard they slide against each other. The rock breaks or absorbs the energy.”

I push harder, all the weight I have left in my body and all the strength I have left in my muscles.

“Come on,” I grunt, fist to glass. “You were right about this, Nico. You knew. You did things I never could.”

Nico was the one who could shatter the window by pushing a pebble into the corner. The pop was silent, and the web of cracks appeared all at once, corner to corner.

“Holy shit!” I shouted back then in Junktown—a bored and angry little shitstain—placing my hands on the curved surface and pushing so the rounded, blue-tinged shards dropped gracefully into the car, making the passenger seat look like an oversalted pretzel.

“Come on!” I grunt in a prison cell, fist to the glass that keeps me. “Just break!”

Every second that goes by is closer to her wedding ceremony, to new cuts on her fingers, to him touching her.

He could be doing it already.

He could be reaching under her dress as she looks away from him the way she looked away from me when I touched her without affection. He could be bending her over the table just to test her the way I did. He could be spanking her just to dominate her the way I did. And she’s being strong. She’s going to fight through it because I didn’t fight hard enough for her.

Tiny cracks grow around the ring.

“Dario?” Oria calls from the hall. “I heard something.”

The net of cracks expands, filling half the pane. It’s enough.

“Thanks, you smart little fuck.”

With a bare foot, I kick the window and it surrenders.

Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

SARAH

Surrounded by armed men, big cars, and women close to me, I am escorted to Precious Blood like fully veiled royalty. I check to see if Timothy is driving this time, and he is. Denise holds my arm so I don’t trip getting in the back seat.

Back when I did what I was told without question, Dario dragged me here. If he did it now, I’d do everything in my power to kill him. Teeth. Nails. Random sharp objects.