“You’re the man,” she repeated. “Everything is yours. Everything.”

I shook my head. Damon.

“If you love her, she can hurt you,” Natalya told him. “If you hurt her instead, she’ll never escape you. You’ll always own her. She’s yours. You don’t ask, and you don’t care. Take what’s yours. Take her.” Her voice dropped so low I could barely hear. “Take her.”

And all of a sudden, he finally turned, meeting my eyes.

No.

Tears spilled as I silently begged him. We’d been all alone in the world. We were only safe when we were together. I would never hurt him. He had to know that!

She wanted him to ruin us. To destroy anything left that was good in him, because Damon was the future of the family, and if nothing else, monsters were strong.

Damon might end up being so much worse than my father ever was.

“Take her,” Natalya egged him on, running a hand up his chest. “She’ll feed you. Take her. Show her what you are.”

Stay with me. I held his eyes. I know who you are. You protect me, you take me shopping on my birthday and let me pick out whatever I want, and you wake me up with my favorite fucking milkshakes when you come home in the middle of the night. I know who you are.

“Lick her all up,” Natalya breathed out. “Take her home and claim her.”

The hint of fear in his eyes left, and he suddenly just stared at me like he was a machine. Like he wasn’t really there.

Like it wasn’t Damon anymore.

I sucked in a small gasp, paralyzed.

And then Kai was there. He stepped up, pushing me away, and gripped Damon by the wrist. “Let go,” he demanded. “Let her the fuck go, Damon.”

“We’re all yours,” she whispered to her son as if Kai wasn’t there. “I’ll take care of you, baby. I’ll make sure her sweet, little pussy is yours.”

“Shut up!” Kai shouted at her. “You sick bitch!” And then he turned to Damon who still held my eyes. “Look at me, man. Don’t look at her!”

He wouldn’t. No. He would never come at me like that. Not ever.

“Take her,” Natalya urged again.

And I cried. “Damon!” Wake up.

“Don’t look at her!” Kai bellowed, pushing at him.

“She’s a part of you,” his mother whispered like the taunt of a ghost. “She’ll make you strong. Take her.”

“Shut up!” Kai turned around and whipped his hand across her face, losing it.

And a breath caught in my throat as I watched her body whip around and land chest down on a round dining room table. Glasses clattered as they toppled over, the vase crashed to its side, and plates and silverware slid off the end as she jostled it.

But then I heard gasping and turned away from Natalya, looking at my brother. He hunched over, leaning on the back of a chair, and started dry-heaving with his head bowed as she spat and coughed.

I rushed over, still sobbing. “It’s okay.” I wrapped my arms around him from the side. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m here. Listen to my voice.”

He lurched, nothing coming up but spit as he struggled to inhale any air. I squeezed him tighter.

So many kids who suffer abuse don’t like to be touched, but when Damon was spiraling out, he couldn’t get close enough to me. Like he just wanted to crawl inside my head where he knew it was safe.

“She has no control over you.” I hugged him close, whispering into his damp neck. “We’re free. It’s just us.”

“It’s still inside me,” he choked out. “It hurts.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, crying harder. “Hold on to me. Just hold on to me.”

I knew what he wanted. What he needed. And I couldn’t deny him. Not tonight.

I opened my mouth and bit down on the skin between his neck and his shoulder. Wrapping my arms around him, I felt him grunt as I dug my teeth harder into his skin. His arms snaked around me, and he held on tight, keeping me close. If Kai looked, it would just look like we were hugging.

But he was still focused on Natalya, whom I couldn’t see behind my brother’s back.

It’s still inside of me. It. I didn’t know if he meant her or the terror and fright or something else. I just knew I felt so helpless.

Tears trickled down my face, tickling my skin and hanging over my soaked eyelashes.

“Harder,” he whispered.

I bit harder, tasting his salty skin and surrounded by the familiar scent of his cigarettes. He wouldn’t hurt me. He needed me.

He loved me.

I tasted copper, and I knew I’d broken the skin. He let out a breath and pulled back.

“Thank you,” he said and looked down at me, his usual eerie calm settling in over his body. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “You?”

He gave a weary nod, turning around and adjusting his hoodie to make sure my teeth marks were covered up.

And I finally looked at Kai.

He stared at the ground where Natalya lay, and I couldn’t make out the expression on his face as I moved around to his side. It seemed to change by the second.

Was he afraid? He did nothing wrong. If he hadn’t shut her up, she…

I couldn’t even think about it right now. My brother had completely locked up, and I couldn’t wrap my head around what was happening to him. Would it happen again?

I was glad Kai hit her.

Damon walked up to his side, both of them glaring down at Natalya. She laid on the floor, having fallen back against a chair leg, but she looked like she might be hurt. Her eyes were closed, but her head bobbed lightly as she held her side.

“Are you okay?” Kai turned to Damon. “Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know—”

“Shut the fuck up,” Damon bit out. “She was talking nonsense. Forget it. You understand?”

My brother glared at his friend, a threat lacing his words.

Kai didn’t answer, just closed his mouth and stared at Damon. He knew it was a lie.

Blood seeped through Natalya’s fingers, and I searched the table, finally seeing the stem of a wine glass broken and laying on its side. One of the sharp edges was doused in blood. She’d been cut.

“She’s hurt,” Kai went on. “We need an ambulance. I think she hit her head, too.”

“I’ll take care of it. You’ve done enough.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “You put her in danger. She shouldn’t even be here.”

“I didn’t see you making a move to do anything.”

“Enough.” I stepped forward.

We had bigger problems. Natalya’s sanity had clearly deteriorated even more since she’d disappeared three years ago. All that stuff she’d said, and right in front of Kai…There was no telling how out of control she could become. Gabriel didn’t like to be embarrassed. What were we going to do with her?

“Leave,” Damon told Kai. “I’ll call my father.”

Kai regarded him, looking uncertain. “No, it’s my fault she got hurt. I want to make sure she gets to a doctor.”

“And when she tells someone at the hospital that you hit her?” Damon retorted. “Yeah, I’m sure that’ll do wonders for your college applications.” He shook his head. “Just get out of here. My family will make sure she’s fine and kept quiet. Don’t worry. No one wants a scene.”

Kai hesitated, probably worried about making sure she was taken care of, but the Torrance’s obviously had some serious family history, and he had to understand Damon wanted his father to see to Natalya. No hospitals. No cops. We all had a stake in keeping her quiet.

Kai took my hand. “Come on.”

But Damon grabbed me and yanked me over to him. “Mine,” he said to his friend.

“Like hell.” Kai scowled at him. “I saw it on your face, man. You’re a mess. You would’ve hurt her.”

Damon just shook his head at him, not bothering to defend himself. That was something I admired about my brother and wished I could control in myself. People will think what they want to think, not because they believe they are right, but because it’s in their nature to maintain that they are. By defending yourself, you feed the appetite for drama. By not, you’ve ended the conversation. You. Not them.