Page 18 of Crossover

“There’s nothing good left in you,” I spat. “You’re evil.”

“You think you’re so much better?”

“I’m not a cold-blooded murderer who kills innocent people,” I said.

“Ah, but Grayson is.” Daniel’s words were heavy with accusation.

My stomach turned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Daniel’s chest swelled as he glared at me.

“Grayson is the one who killed your father.”

7

IVY

A dark chuckle of violent disbelief escaped my throat.

To think, for a minute there, Daniel had me going—wondering, at the very least, if what he was saying might be true. About my father. About the reasons Daniel had taken me and intended to kill both me and my mother.

But all of this must have been nothing more than a psychological mindfuck—part of some twisted game. Pretending he felt he had no choice in what he was doing while feeding me lies and watching me squirm as I questioned everyone in my life.

The cold from the cement floor bit into my legs as I sat, bound to the pole, the air smelling of mold and hopelessness, while in the distance, a door shut with an ominous clang.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, noting the change in my face.

“I don’t believe anything you told me.” Not anymore.

“I’m the one that sent Grayson to do it.” Daniel tilted his head, like he was trying to see if I believed him—a man who’d threatened to torture me in front of Grayson.

I have news for you, buddy. I’m well aware torture can come in psychological form, and I’m not going to fall for it.

“And the purpose of telling me Grayson killed my father is what, exactly?”Proof this is all a mind game—that’s what.

“You demanded answers. They might not be the ones youexpected, but they’re the truth.”

Sure. “Come up with a more believable story next time.”

“Sometimes, the truth is the hardest to believe.”

Yeah. Okay.Screw you, asshole.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms.

“You can ask Grayson yourself.”

“I’ll be too busy being dead, in case you forgot,” I snapped.

“I plan to torture you in front of him, in caseyouforgot. So, you can ask him, then.”

My stomach dropped. Grayson had to stay safe, period.

“I wouldn’t have to ask him.”You imbecile.“If Grayson knew he was the one who’d killed my father, he would’ve told me.”See? You have massive plot holes in your game.

“I doubt Grayson made the connection. Do you not share a different last name from the man you called your father?”

Ice shot into my heart. But I immediately doused it with my angry fire. There was no way Grayson killed my father.