Hassler charged, but Ethan caught him with an elbow to the jaw and the man’s knees buckled. Ethan landed his first direct hit to Hassler’s face, his cheekbone crunching under the blow, and it felt so goddamned good that Ethan hit him again. And again. And again. Hassler growing weaker, Ethan stronger, and with each punch the need to do more damage grew exponentially. The fear inside of him breaking out in a whirlwind of violence.

Fear of what this man could do.

Fear of what Hassler could take away from him.

Fear of losing Theresa.

Ethan let go of Hassler’s neck and the man moaned on the floor.

Ripping the coatrack out of the wall, he clutched the metal in his hands and raised the heavy base over Hassler’s head.

I’m gonna kill him.

Hassler looked up at him, his face a bloody mess, one eye already swollen shut and the other filling with the realization of what was coming.

He said, “Do it.”

“You sent me here to die,” Ethan said. “Was it for the money? Or so you could have my wife?”

“She deserves so much better than you.”

“Did Theresa know that you orchestrated all of this so you could be with her?”

“I told her I came here looking for you and that I was involved in a car wreck. She was happy with me, Ethan. Truly happy.”

For a long moment, Ethan stood over Hassler on the brink of caving in the man’s skull.

Wanting to do it.

Not wanting to be the man who would.

He threw the coatrack across the living room and collapsed on the hardwood next to Hassler, his kidney throbbing.

“We’re here because of you,” Ethan said. “My wife, my son—”

“We’re here because two thousand years ago you fucked Kate Hewson and destroyed your wife. If Kate had never transferred to Boise, she never would have come to Wayward Pines. Pilcher never would have abducted her and Bill Evans.”

“And you never would have sold me out.”

“Just to be clear, you’d be dead right now if I hadn’t—”

“No, we’d have lived out our lives in Seattle.”

“You call what you and Theresa had a life? She was miserable. You were in love with another woman. You want to sit there and tell me what I did was wrong?”

“You seriously just said that?”

“There’s no right or wrong anymore, Ethan. There’s only survival. I learned that in my three and a half years wandering around that hell beyond the fence. So don’t look at me hoping to catch a glimpse of regret.”

“It’s kill or be killed now? That’s where we’re at?”

“We were always there.”

“So why didn’t you kill me?”

Hassler smiled, blood between his teeth.