The Truth
I’m splashed with a bucket of ice-cold water. Chilly droplets leak from my hair and cling to my lashes. My eyes slowly flutter open.
What?
Where am I?
Dark lilac eyes stare at me through steel bars. My body is hunched forward and cramped. I try to shake the wooziness away and focus on my blurry vision, but the thick cloud of unconsciousness blankets my brain and threatens to pull me back under.
I nod back off.
“Gamila, wake up.” A soft voice urges me from unrelenting slumber. “Wake up, Gamila. You’re not finished yet.”
I fight hard against the sleep. The water soaks through my gown, now I’m chilled to the bone. I blink a few times, glancing around, confused.
“Why am I in a cage?”
The violet eyes sparkle at me. “This isn’t just any cage, Gamila. It’s the same cage that your beloved Hunter suffered in. Isn’t that right, Hunter?”
Soberness never occurs so quickly to me in my life. Gasping, I stare at the eyes that are looking back at me. I told you so, they yell at me. Hunter sits in a wooden chair with a taped dirty rag used as a gag for his mouth. His ankles are restrained in rope that’s wound around the legs of the chair. His hands are cuffed behind the back of the chair. His clear blue eyes are wide and he’s staring right at me in rage, in mock. His gaze is extremely transparent. It makes me sick with guilt. My heart plummets into my stomach when I notice Max bound in the exact way in the next chair that’s back-to-back to Hunter’s. Max has blood running down the side of his right temple and he’s out cold.
“You took my son away from me, Gamila.”
“Mr. Gabai. What are you doing?”
“Killing all of you soon, but first you must know why, yes?”
My lips begin to tremble. “Mr. Gabai. Please. Don’t-don’t do this. Please.”
“Shh, Gamila. Your beloved Hunter came straight to me when I informed him that I had you. No hesitation. There is no limit in which he loves you, Gamila. It was a trap, of course. But I don’t think that mattered much to him. I can see and appreciate the type of man he is—strong and unyielding. My boy is very different from him. Max is strong and unyielding in such a humbling way that you will not recognize his love until you’re helplessly drowning in it.” He stands, dusting his hands on the back of his black slacks. He strokes Max’s hair a few times, tenderly kisses the top of his slanted head. “I love my son, but he must completely understand with absolute clarity what happens when he disobeys me. I am where his loyalty should lie. Not you, Gamila. But I do acknowledge the powerful influence love can have over someone.” He pauses and flops down in another wooden chair in the corner of the barn. He shoves a frustrated hand through his thick hair.
“Why are you doing this?” I say in a broken whisper, staring at a powerless Hunter and Max.
“Grace if you must know. I love her more than my life.”
Oh.
My.
God.
Omar is insanely delusional like Smith was about my mother.
“Like I said, I do acknowledge the powerful influence love can have over someone. I did push your brother off the bridge. It was storming and I took the opportunity.” He scratches a thick brow and sags in his seat. “What can I say, I’m an opportunist.”
“Did you push me off the cliff too?”
He simply nods as he reaches back to massage the nape of his neck. “You are a warrior, Isabel. I’ll give you that. You don’t go down so easily.”
I stifle the burning vomit that threatens to spew at the back of my throat. “But why did you hide that tape that has Hunter on the bridge with my brother?”
“I wasn’t exactly concealing anything. Max was trying to be undetectable, snooping around my office and buildings, inquiring my employees about where all the security footage is stored. I knew precisely what he was looking for. So I put it in an obvious place he would surely check.” He inclines forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring me in the eyes. “But the most tragic part is that you didn’t give your beloved Hunter the benefit of doubt. You truly thought that he was capable of killing your little brother. Though he is indeed dark, that boy does not have the strength to betray his Isabel—it’s simply is not in his nature. But you thought otherwise, didn’t you, Gamila? Perhaps, that’s the biggest treachery and most fatal flaw of all. ”
The rumble in my stomach grows. Vomit fights its way from my mouth. The vile ejects everywhere, searing my throat in the process. I close my eyes, focusing on breathing.
“When you saw the footage, did a minuscule thought of doubt ever enter your head? Did it ever occur to you that it was the same bridge but different night? Well, I did alter the tape so well that it appeared that Hunter tossed young Tyler off the ledge. Hunter did nothing of the sort. In fact, he was trying to persuade Tyler to leave Cherry Creek before it was too late. Your brother, he was immensely bright. Tyler figured out everything with the help of Taylor. But he refused to listen to Hunter, that’s when Hunter got a little rough with him. He only yanked on his coat, but quickly let go after that. They both went their separate ways. Tyler lived to breathe another night…until I came along. It was raining very hard that night—”
“Grace—she doesn’t love you,” I interrupt him. I can’t stand to hear the gruesome details of Tyler’s death.
He immediately straightens his spine, his gaze growing darker. “She wouldn’t have had my child if she didn’t love me.”
“What?” I choke.
“Rex. The lighter hair. The blue eyes. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”
“Rex is-is Grace’s son?”
He gives his head slight nod.
Max makes a muffled sound. Both our eyes dart to him. His expression is alarmed.
How long has he been up?
“Welcome back, son.” Omar stands and grabs a large plastic jug, popping the cap off. “Let the show begin.” He strolls over to me, dumping the clear contents over my head.
I’m drenched with gasoline.
The pungent odor is undeniable.
“Now you must make the hardest decision yet, Isabel.” He pulls a gun from the back of his pants and carelessly sways it between the two. “Which one dies first?” He shoves the muzzle of the pistol against Hunter’s head. “Will it be your longtime love, Hunter Knight? The one you loved before you were old enough to understand what it meant.” Hunter’s eyes are solely focused on me. His gaze never wavers. Then Omar shifts it to Max’s head without an ounce of remorse. Omar is definitely a PSYCHOPATH. “Or, will it be the man of your dreams? The one you saw yourself contentedly growing old with.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. The acerbic aroma of puke fills my nostrils. I think I’m going to pass out.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
“Choose, Isabel. If you don’t, I’ll kill you first. They will suffer more that way.”
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Keeping my eyes close, I reach out and grab the chilly steel bars with my hands. I can’t choose between them, especially which one gets murdered first. “Rot in hell, Omar.”
“Wrong choice.” There’s a sickening BOOM! A deafening ringing follows.
My eyes fly open. Rex stands inside the entrance of the shed door, his eyes are wide and his expression is petrified. He has a gun hanging limply in his hand.
Omar’s left leg is bleeding and has a gaping hole where his knee used to be. He’s crawling towards the gun that’s flung by me. With shaky hands, I reach between the spaces of the bars and yank it from the ground.
Taylor cuts Hunter and Max free.
Accepting defeat, Omar digs in his pockets and tosses a small metallic key at Taylor. It skids across the panels of the wooden floor, stopping at Hunter’s foot. He picks it up, unlocking the cage door.
The center of my universe shifts. I no longer see Hunter holding Max back, Rex’s tears streaming down his cheeks, or Taylor urging me on with her direct gaze.
They all fade away.
The only sound I hear is the steady rhythm of my heart that leads me to my ultimate destiny.
It’s just Omar and I in this moment. He smiles at me as I make my way to him, unafraid and…grateful. The gun is smooth metal in my hand, feels as light as a feather in this moment.
Beautiful.
Squatting next to him, I desperately search his face for something.
There’s nothing.
Not even pain.
With every ounce of concentration, I peer into the depths of his eyes.
They mock me.
My index finger curls around the loop of the trigger as I press the muzzle of the gun to his chest, over his heart. I ease the trigger back, in no hurry. “Tyler, he never begged for his life. I never thought the Angel of Death would be as beautiful, Gamila.”
Keep both your eyes open, baby girl. My father said to me.
You want to be able to see what you’re doing.
Unblinking, I push back the trigger.
I swear I can hear the bullet tear and rip its way through his heart.
I’m so sorry, Tyler.
You can rest now.
Swiftly standing, I empty the entire magazine until there are no more bullets left to shoot. Only then am I able to breathe.
The gun falls to the ground with a hollow thud.
Max and Hunter drag Omar’s lifeless corpse from the barn. Taylor wraps a supportive hand around my back, leading me out.
Hunter asks Rex something. Rex nods, wipes his nose with his hand and rummages in his tux jacket. He throws something that glints silver at Hunter. Hunter flicks it until a bright flame appears.
I watch my dragon set our enemies on fire.