His words hit me like a blade—sharp, sudden, buried deep in places I thought had already gone numb.
I looked at Vinie, stunned. “What do you mean you're scared of me?”
He didn’t answer at first. He just lowered his gaze.
“I won’t say anything again,” he muttered. “Just… leave the country, Ryder.”
I clenched my fists, voice low and bitter. “And do what? Pretend none of this ever happened? Pretend they didn’t kill Mom and Dad? Pretend Erebus didn’t turn me into a monster?”
His jaw locked. I could see the anger returning to his face.
“Why are you even trying to act like a good child now, huh?” he snapped. “You were the one who always gave them a hard time. Have you forgotten how stubborn you were? How much hell you made them go through when they were alive?”
The air left my lungs.
I d
