Chapter 17 · Sister Vs Sister

"Get away from her!"

That scream didn't come from the shadows. It came from Lily—the girl I’d spent three years trying to buy back from the cartel.

But she didn't look like my little sister. She looked like a weapon. Her pupils were bleeding into her irises, and a jagged, violet aura flickered around her wrists. She didn't walk toward us. She lunged. Fast. Fluid. Like someone was pulling her strings from the ceiling.

I didn't even have time to shout before she slammed into me. We hit the stone floor hard. The air left my lungs in a sharp wheeze, and then Lily’s hands were around my throat.

Her grip wasn't human. It was iron.

"Lily, stop! It's me!" I clawed at her wrists. She didn't even blink.

"Liar," she hissed. Her voice was wrong—two people speaking at once. My sister, and something ancient. Something hungry. "You left me. You sold me to the dark."

"I never—" I gasped, my vision blurring. "I'm here to get you out!"

Suddenly, the air shifted. Heat. Carson.