Chapter 30 · He Killed Me Before

The knife feels wrong in my hand.

Not because it's heavy. Not because I've never held one before. It feels wrong because I know exactly how Cain's blood looks on metal, and I'm about to find out if I remember right.

He's standing three feet away in the equipment shed behind the Arena. No guards. No witnesses. Just him and me and the hum of the core generators through the walls. I texted him twenty minutes ago. One line. *We need to talk about what you did.*

He came.

That tells me everything.

"Ivy." His voice is careful. Too careful. Like I'm a bomb he's trying to defuse. "Put it down."

"You don't get to tell me what to do." I adjust my grip. The handle's cold. My palm's sweating. "Not after last time."

His jaw tightens. For a second I think he's going to lie. Deny it. Play stupid. But then his shoulders drop half an inch and I know.

He remembers too.

"How long have you known?" he asks.

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah. It does."

I laugh. It comes out sharp and ugly.