When Vengeance Blooms

aybe weeks, left. The abuse intensified. Ethan' s crew, a pack of rough, cruel men, we

all where Nikki's grotesque art piece was being

ice flat and bored. "And you're not he

all, sharp blade.

sing it against my own skin. I squeezed my eyes shut, but the pain was sharp and imme

"Look at that. You're getting blood a

his men. "Get h

me with pure contempt. She slopped a bucket of water onto the floor, and the chemical-laced liquid splashe

rawn by the noise. He saw the ne

eered, looking at me with disdain. "Tr

utside, across the manicured lawn to a small, corrugated metal shed

ounded the shed with old tires and set them on fire. A wall of fire and choking smoke. He knew our people, the Sil

hable. I huddled in the center of the shed, my

Chavez, my childhood friend, a fellow Silvan. His face was bruised and bloodied, but h

lding the same kind of sur

arrying over the crackle of the flames. "This is

efore throwing Luis' s struggling body into the fire. The smell of burning flesh mixed with the s

on the floor of my room. The door opened and Nikki walked in, carrying a b

she said. "Ethan worri

t. The stew was rich, gamey. I swallowed a few mouthful

's a special recipe. I used your little sister, Maria

ending torture-it all erupted. I launched myself at her, my nail

ulled me off her, throwing me against the wall.

n!" Nikki shrieked, clutchi

he man I once loved, the man who had systematically destroyed me and everyone I c

the words tasting like bl

d his face. Panic. He saw the amount of blood pooling around my he

" he started, hi

asp and collapsed, clutching her st

of concern for me vanished. He scooped Nikki int

in hell for th

k, damp cellar beneath the house. As my life faded, I heard him upstairs, his voi

strange, floating sensation. The pain

is face was a mask of grief and fury. He must have felt my life fo

shell and up the stairs.

she?" Andr

se," Ethan said, h

did it to save you! Nikki's corporation poisoned you. The river was the only way

vy si

running back down to the cellar. H

she healing?" he asked, his voic

t. "You took her life force. It was her heart

ef and grief. He tried to revive me, injecting me with ex

, and she confessed everything. She poisoned him. She staged his "rescue" to make herself the hero. She manip

ness, she doused my body in ac

thout her ghost, then n

d of pure agony, as he watched the

hes to be buried

l box of ashes, and a vial containing the antidote Gabi di

is to be bur

ikki Lester, and the entire corporate board to his remote mansion for a celebration. He th