47 | T Y L E R

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AS SOON AS I OPENED the door to go see Sydney and make sure everything was all right with her, a sharp pain invaded my nose, sending me staggering back into the house with my hands covering my face. I felt liquid on my hands and it did not take a genius to know it was blood...my blood. The sound of footsteps made my heart take a painful leap. I managed to look up at the person who struck me and my eyes widened at the sight.

The corner of his lips twitched upward into a sinister smile and he placed his hands behind his back as he approached me. He looked the same since I had seen him last—he still cut his hair the same way, his facial hair perfectly shaved with no amount of stubble left behind, and his eyes were still the same horrifying shade of blue.

He stepped inside of the house as if he was welcomed and shut the door, locking it in one swift motion. His smile never once left his face as he approached me, his feet covered with black sneakers that were dirtier than ever. My shaky hands left my nose and I looked down at them, seeing the one thing I expected to see—blood.

"I see you've kept yourself well," he said, wiping his bloody knuckles on the shoulder of my shirt. "And I assume Jax is here with you? That is his car out front, is it not?"

My eyes hardened as I looked at him, "What are you doing here?"

His glare darkened as it was covered with the shadows in the room, "Your part of the mission has not been completed, my dear Lucas, and we cannot wait any longer. The girl is still not in our possession and the longer we wait, the better chance she has at figuring out the truth. She betrayed her family and she must be terminated so we can live. How are you able to sleep at night knowing that...that monster is still roaming around?"

"Tyler—"

He was quick to interrupt me, "You agreed to do this, mate." My eyes looked down to the floor and he sighed. "Was it not you who said you would bring Gwen to us the minute you had her in your possession? Cassandra made it very clear you let the girl move in with you. Why did you not contact us when you had her? If I had known poor Cassandra was more cooperative than you, perhaps I would have let her live and killed you off instead."

My eyes immediately shot up to look at him and he widened his smile before winking. As my lips parted, multiple knots formed in my stomach as I tried to process what he just told me. He was the one who killed her? Confusion took over and my mind began to argue with my body.

Stay standing, Lucas. Be strong.

My knees buckled.

Don't let him know how much this is affecting you.

My bottom lip began to quiver.

He's lying to you. He wouldn't betray family and do that. He wouldn't dare.

I fell on the floor and covered my face with my bloody hands.

My body was winning the fight and I was allowing it to do so. How could he do such a thing? Cassandra did nothing wrong. She cooperated and she did everything she was told. Why would Tyler suddenly decide to kill her off? None of this was making any sense and my brain was having major difficulty with the fact that the man before me was Cassandra's killer. It took everything in me not to attack him right now just to get my revenge. He knew how much she meant to me. Was he doing this out of...spite? Hatred?

The sound of footsteps echoed behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Greysen standing there saucer-eyed. He looked at Tyler before looking at me and then back at Tyler before allowing his jaw to drop somewhere in the middle of the Earth. Like me, he was not expecting to see Tyler here and was currently wondering why he was here. If Greysen found out Tyler was the one who killed Cassandra, he was going to officially snap. Wiping some more of the blood away from my broken nose, I rose to my feet and went to stand beside my friend.

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