The hall, full of people with righteous faces and sharper convictions. The kind that saw the world in black and white, and people like me as traitors or fools. They didn’t know what it meant to be on the edge of something dark, and still chose not to look away.

I stayed at the back, where no one noticed me.

Kai stood at the centre of it all, motionless. His mouth was still raw from when his mother had tried to kill him, shoving cloth down his throat to silence him for good. But he survived. Of course, he did.

When his eyes opened again, something in him had changed. There was no fury. No smugness. Just a strange, glinting stillness. Like he was waiting to see who would betray him next.

Then he asked, his voice ringing through the room:

“Who wants me dead?”

The response came all at once—the whole room answered, in unison, “We do.”

But I didn’t join them.

I stood still, too, like I was trying to make myself invisible. I could feel their eyes on me, sharp and accusing. I whispered under my breath, just loud enough for myself to hear, “I don’t.”

Then, without thinking, without giving myself a chance to hesitate, I said it, loud and clear.

“I do.”

The words rang out too steadily, But they had to be. People were watching me, unsure if I was on his side. And I had to let them believe I wasn’t. Because siding with Kai openly… well, that wasn’t something you survived in a room full of moral advocates.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Diamond stiffen. She didn’t look at me, but I could feel her calculating. Ellie’s expression cracked a little. She’d always been the cautious one, never fully with us, never fully against us either. Just enough loyalty to be suspicious. Just enough distance to stay clean.

But I wasn't clean anymore.

Not after what I had done next.

I killed them. Not Kai. Not Diamond. Not Ellie. The others, the ones who would’ve torn us apart in the name of justice. It wasn’t justice I had just served. It was survival. It was silence.

And I did it without looking back.

I didn’t take the larger staircase where Kai had been pushed toward death. I took the narrow and dark stairs instead, old wood shouting under each step, shadows wrapping around me like a second skin. I didn’t want them to see where I went. I didn’t want anyone to know whose side I was truly on.

But Kai knew.

He always knew.

He was waiting for me when I reached the top. Alone. Quiet. Blood still dried in the corners of his mouth, but his eyes were steady, watching me like he already knew what I’d done. What I’d chosen.

I couldn’t speak. There was too much weight between us now—what we said, what we didn’t say. What I claimed. What I hid.

But then I saw it.

That twinkle in his eyes. Just for a second. Like he saw something in me worth believing in. Or maybe something dangerous enough to keep close.

We stood there, no words, no lies. Just understanding.

Not love.

But something just as sharp.

The Party erupted with panic. Doors slammed, footsteps thundered, and voices collided in a frantic hum. I didn’t run. I moved in the shadows, slipping away from the centre of chaos, choosing a different staircase so they wouldn’t know who I was with—if anyone. Kai stood at the eye of it all. Calm. Still. Dangerous.

It happened when one of the men—her husband—hit her. Right there. No warning. No shame. The slap rang out and froze the room. His wife, the same woman he had children with, took the blow like a secret, folding into herself. Everyone saw it. But no one acted.

Except Kai.

He has lines he doesn’t cross, and lines he doesn’t let others cross either. One of them is hurting women. That’s where the switch flipped. He didn’t yell. He didn’t hesitate. He just killed the man. Hands around his neck, clean and cruel. The room didn’t thank him. It turned against him. Fear rolled in like smoke. Ellie said it was too much. Diamond stood by him. And me—I said nothing. I just watched. Not cold, not warm. Just unreadable.

And that unsettled him more than anything.

They were all still watching when it happened.

Someone leaned toward me, voice low, urgent: “She’s trying to kill him.”

Kai’s mother was already moving. She said there was one thing that could kill someone like him. One thing is immune to his resistance. And then she tore fabric from the window coverings, ripped it into strips, and stuffed them into his mouth. One by one. Fast. Deliberate. No one moved to stop her.

He staggered, his face losing colour. Then he fell backwards from the second floor, crashing down to the ground below. No sound but the impact.

For a moment, I thought that was it.

But his eyes glistened before he blacked out.

Half an hour passed before his chest rose. Before he stirred. Before he stood.

And when he did, he didn’t shout, He stood up.

He just said, “All right. Who wants me dead?”

They answered in a chorus.

“I do.”

Except me.

I whispered, “I don’t.”

But I knew they’d heard me. Their eyes were on me now. Their expectations pressed against my skin.

So I said it again. Louder this time.

“I do.”

I stepped forward. The knife in my hand. And even then, he didn’t look away from me.

Because deep down, he was still trying to understand who I was.

Silence. That’s what filled the air after I killed everyone.

I turned to Kai. He looked stunned—frozen in place. I suppose I understood his silence. I had been quiet through the entire thing, after all. Diamond and Ellie stood behind him, equally flabbergasted.

She killed them. Every single one of them with no emotion in her eyes or her face.

The only ones left standing were Diamond, Ellie, and me. I looked at her—still, no emotion on her face. Nothing in her expression gave her away. I caught myself chuckling. Not because it was funny, but because it was unbelievable. Calculated. Exact.

I watched how she moved. Unbothered. Calm. And out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ellie and Diamond whispering to each other. I stepped closer.

“Which one of you disagrees with what just happened?” I asked.

Ellie raised her hand.

Of course she did. Ellie always had that moral line, that rigid sense of right and wrong—even though she’s killed more people than she wants to admit. But when it comes to others doing it, especially without permission, she can’t stomach it. Not even when it’s for safety. Not even when it’s necessary.

That’s what makes her dangerous.

But her... she's the most dangerous out of all of us.

You can never tell what she's thinking. Not really. That scares me—and I don’t scare easily. I don’t fear God. I don’t fear any man. But the one person who truly shakes something in me… is a woman.

Not because she’s fragile. Not because she’s weak. No, she’s neither of those things. I say it because I, Kai Black, am afraid of her.

I don’t think she’d ever hurt me. I believe that. Somewhere deep down, I trust she wouldn’t. But it doesn't matter. Because the truth is... she could. And the not knowing, that’s what eats at me. She is unpredictable.

And unpredictability is the closest thing to power that still makes a man feel helpless.

Half an hour has passed.

No one has said a word. The silence is deafening.

Kai had called them his siblings. I don’t know exactly when, maybe while he was still getting back to his feet. But they arrived quickly, storming into the house with urgency, brushing past blood and wreckage like it was routine. They always came when he needed a clean-up. When the damage was too big to ignore.

Now, the bodies are gone.

And Kai is being interrogated again, surrounded by the voices of those who know him too well. His brother's harsh tone, his sister's sharp questions, they understand him, and that’s exactly why they ridicule him. They know every pattern, every excuse. And they hate how often he makes them clean up the mess.

I can tell it grates on him. His fingers twitch. His eyes narrow. He stays quiet, but his silence is heavy.

No one has said a word to me.

Not even them.

No one questioned what I did, how or why. And maybe that’s what unsettles them the most. That I did it without flinching, without explanation.

Kai watches me. He always does. Trying to study me like I’m a code he can crack.

But he can’t.

And I like it that way.

I prefer not to be read, because people can’t hurt me if they can’t understand me.

That’s my greatest weapon.

Because strength draws fear, but mystery makes people hesitate. And hesitation is all the time I need.

So much talking.

My siblings always ridicule me after I do something they deem unethical. Every single time. Now, I understand, killing people isn’t exactly the most law-abiding thing anyone can do, but come on. They act like I’m reckless. Like, I don’t think things through. But everything I do is calculated. Maybe it doesn’t look that way, maybe it feels spontaneous, but it’s not. I know what I’m doing.

I’m not stupid.

And yet here they are, tearing into me again like I’m the problem. Like I’m the one dragging the family name through the dirt. Never mind that they’ve all killed too. They all have blood on their hands. Is it because I’m the youngest? Because they think I’ll break? Please. That ship sailed a long time ago. If they’re still trying to preserve what’s left of me, they’re late. Real late.

And you know what pisses me off the most?

No one’s questioned her. Not once. Not a single word was thrown her way. If they do, I’ll be furious—but the fact that they haven’t? That stings even more. Why am I the one getting burned alive under their judgment while she stands there untouched?

Maybe because she’s unreadable. Untouchable. They don't even know what to make of her.

She’s the break I need.

Two days later, we’re all sitting around the table, talking about what happened.

The murders. My siblings are showing up. The mess we’re all in now.