Page 72 of The Vixen

“They’re having me find them girls to… you know,breed. That’s why they’re keeping me here.”

“I gathered that.”

“Right… Well, we both know how badly you-know-who wants you back and how ruthless he can be when somebody takes his toys… I think we should tell him where you are.”

“No.”

Sharp. Immediate.Final. Because the very first thought that pops into her head must be correct—no need to think it through.

I slow my pace to a crawl while Liberty sneers.

“You really are a piece of shit, but you aredelusional as hellif you think I’m going to lure him here. You think I haven’t seen the guards? You think Thorne hasn’t mentioned the electric fences? You’re not enslaving meandgetting my … gettinghimkilled.”

She says it so forcefully, like this is actually a discussion. I blow out a breath while rubbing the back of my neck. “Okay, well, what’s your plan then?”

“Watch them smarten up and kill you.”

A sharp buzz pricks my ears as I hum. “Was that your contribution to your friends on the island, too?”

“No, Sawyer. I was much more proactive.”

My lips pinch as something sours my tongue. “Yes, I remember.”

Liberty’s steps falter as the memory must hit her the way it hits me. Liberty is many things, but cold isn’t one of them.

Awkwardness fuses between us until I can’t help but drift away, one foot sloping the edge of the sidewalk. Liberty’s arms fold across her stomach.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen… If I’d known Annie was going to be hurt, I would have…”

“Forget it.” I shake my head. “I’m the monster, right? You—you’re pitifully innocent. A modern day Cinderella. And your Prince Charming?” I belt out a bitter laugh. Shake my head. “If you had any idea the shit I’ve seen him do, you would run for the hills.”

“It’s hard to run anywhere when you shackle me atevery opportunity. Ang—” She cuts herself off. “Hemay have a past. But next to you? Anyone could look like a hero.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

She slides in front of me and shoves a hand at my chest. “No, Sawyer.Fuck you. Fuck you for being such a coward, you’d bring my husband here to fight your battles. Fuck you for stealing years of his life with your mind games and twisted sense of friendship.

“But most of all, fuck you for believing you have any right to be anythingotherthan a monster. I hate you. I know at least a hundred and fifty other women who hate you. I bet by the time you’re in the ground, eventheseanimals will hate you. Because you’refilth. You’renothing. You’re…” Her hand shakes as she combs it through her hair. “God, you’repathetic.”

“I’m pathetic.” Breath fogs in a single puff as I laugh. “If I were like you, maybe I would sit around hoping for backup. Maybe I would bitch and moan and wait for some unsuspecting moron to feel sorry for me.”

She stands up straight, eyes widening as her chest expands, as if making the point before I get to the punchline.

“But I don’t have tits like yours.”

Crack.

I hear it before I feel the sting on my cheek, before I even see Liberty’s hand fly. My head turns on impact. My eyes close. But there’s only a flicker of pain before my face numbs to it, cold nipping heated flesh.

You’re as weak as you look.

I want to say it, but I don’t. The tension seems punctured somehow, the wind whipping colder.

When I open my eyes, Liberty is watching me closely—as one does when they’re trying to piece together a reputation with an ill-fitted face.How could Angel have ever loved him?I wonder if she asks herself that question every day. If I poison her thoughts as often as she poisons mine.

I hope so.

But then…