~Reo’s~

“You always were the weakest link.”

My voice fills the still air of the abandoned loft like a blade. It’s cold. Bitter. Truthful. The windows are cracked and dust-stained, letting in just enough sunlight to cast the place in ghostlight. As I walk in slowly, my boots press against broken glass and rotting wood. The man ahead of me, Elijah Crowne, flinches like I’m the one holding a gun.

And maybe I am. Just not in the way he expects.

He tries to run again.

I don’t raise my voice. I just say, “Move one more time, Elijah. Try it. I dare you.”

He freezes.

That’s better.

I take...