Chapter 4

I wake up in my cell. The lock on the door is open. It wasn' t latched properly.

A faint sound drifts down the corridor. A scream. A young man' s scream.

It' s a sound I know. A sound I' ve dreaded hearing in this place.

Andrew.

I force my screaming muscles to move. I stumble out of the cell, following the sound to a small, sterile-looking outbuilding I' ve never seen before.

Through the window, I see him. My younger brother, Andrew. The one person I have left in this world. The reason I' ve held on for so long.

He' s strapped to a chair. Two of Sabrina' s men are with him. One is holding a bag, collecting the blood dripping from a tube in his arm. For the "pigment."

The world dissolves. My legs give out. I collapse against the doorframe, a strangled cry escaping my lips.

"Sabrina!" I scream, my voice raw. "Stop! Take me! Use my blood!"

The door flies open. Ethan is standing there, his face a thundercloud. He sees Andrew, then me. Before he can process it, Andrew, in a surge of adrenaline, headbutts Sabrina, who had been standing over him, gloating.

She stumbles back, crashing into a metal tray of instruments.

"He attacked me!" she shrieks, clutching her head. "Ethan, he tried to kill me!"

Ethan' s rage is instantaneous. He doesn' t question it. He sees his "loyal" partner on the floor and a stranger, my brother, looking defiant.

He pulls a knife and presses it to Andrew' s throat.

"Tell me the truth, Maria," he snarls, his eyes wild. "Tell me who you worked for that night. Tell me everything, and I' ll let him go. I' ll even marry you. We can fix this. Just like we planned."

My heart shatters. He' s offering me the one thing I ever wanted, at a price I can never pay. Telling him the truth will get him killed.

Tears stream down my face. "I can't," I choke out.

Sabrina, "stumbling" as she gets to her feet, bumps into Ethan' s arm. A subtle, calculated push.

His hand slips.

The blade slices across Andrew' s throat.

Time stops. The only sound is a wet, gurgling noise. Andrew' s eyes, wide with shock, find mine for a second before they go vacant.

Ethan stares at his hand, at the knife, at the blood. He' s in shock.

"Oh, Ethan, you saved me!" Sabrina sobs, throwing her arms around him, pulling his attention away from the body, away from me.

He lets her lead him out of the room, leaving me alone on the floor with my brother.

The fire in my veins explodes. This is it. The end.

I crawl to Andrew, holding his cooling hand.

I hear footsteps returning. It' s Ethan. His face is a canvas of confusion and horror.

I use my last ounce of strength. I look up at him, the man I loved, the man I died to protect.

"The people I killed..." I gasp, my vision tunneling to black. "They were never your real family."