Deviant Descendants (Descendants Academy #2) - Belle Malory Page 0,36
patted my arm. “We’ll catch up later. For now, let’s deal with the situation at hand.”
I nodded. Without a word, I dropped myself into the nearest chair.
Grandpa hovered over Riley, his expression deadly serious. He looked every bit the experienced military veteran, ready to go to battle. “Now, then.” He leaned down to her eye level. “Your father had his turn. Now, it’s mine. All I want is to ask one simple question—is it genuinely your goal to murder your sister?”
“She tried to kill me first,” Riley answered simply.
“That’s an excuse, not an answer. The question is, do you want your sister dead?”
My whole body tensed up, and I curled my fingers around the arms of my chair. I wasn’t sure why I cared to hear this; I already knew what her answer would be. From the moment Riley arrived at Arcadia, she made her intentions abundantly clear, playing a deadly game of cat and mouse.
“Answer me, girl.”
“Yes.” She swallowed. “I want her dead.”
We all stayed quiet, waiting for what he would do next.
Grandpa simply nodded. “Okay, then.”
He walked around his desk, reached into the top left drawer, and pulled out a small pistol. “Here’s your chance.” He spun the cylinder around to show her it was fully loaded with bullets before clicking it shut. Circling around the desk, he tossed the gun into Riley’s lap. “Kill her.”
I immediately stood. Dad shuffled around the desk, and we both rushed to speak at the same time.
“Grandpa, you can’t—”
“Have you lost your mind?” Dad’s eyes bulged, making it obvious he didn’t have prior knowledge to this insane plan.
“What? I’m letting the girl carry out her vengeance.” Grandpa leaned against the side of his desk, his arms crossed over his chest, as if he didn’t just hand my murderous sister a deadly weapon.
“You are playing with fire, Pa!” Dad shouted, his face red and blotchy. “You know the seriousness of their situation.”
Grandpa steered him back, guiding him to move out of the way. “Stay over there, Daniel. This might get messy.”
I shifted my gaze between Grandpa and my sister, unable to believe what was happening.
Then it hit me.
Grandpa was forcing Riley to face her demons head-on, because he didn’t think she had the guts to actually go through with it. She said she wanted me dead, and she probably meant it. Or, at least, she believed she meant it. If she couldn’t pull the trigger, she would have to face the fact that it wasn’t what she truly wanted. Then we could all get down to the business of searching for a cure. Finally.
Good grief, if his plan wasn’t so crazy, it would be brilliant.
Riley fumbled with the gun for a few seconds, stunned, looking unsure of how to handle it. I stood still as she aimed it at me.
“Get on with it, girl,” Grandpa said, his tone impatient.
Dad let out a long breath, his forehead creased with worry. “This is madness,” he said, shaking his head. “Absolute madness.”
Grandpa ignored him, focusing on Riley instead. “Everyone is tired of dealing with this damnable curse. End it now, so all of our lives can return to normal. I haven’t slept in the last seventeen years and neither has your father. The two of us have spent every spare moment searching for a cure. All of that work, the sleepless nights, the worrying—it will be for nothing, but that’s fine. Kill her. Be done with it. Put us all out of our misery.”
Grandpa was ramping up the reverse psychology. I had to hand it to the guy. He knew how to take risks. I just hoped he was right about this one.
“I know what you’re doing,” Riley snapped, visibly trembling. “You don’t think I’ll do it.”
She had always been smarter than people assumed. I wasn’t surprised she was onto him.
Grandpa shrugged. “Prove me wrong. You’re the one holding a loaded gun. Hell, kill us all. Plenty of bullets to spare.”
Behind us, Dad groaned, running a hand over his weary face. “This is going too far, Pa.”
“Keep quiet, Daniel. We’re at the end of a road here. It’s time we all face that.”
Riley tightened her grip on the gun, looping her finger around the trigger. She was shaking so bad that if she did shoot, I wasn’t all that sure she would make her intended target. Perhaps a bullet to the leg, arm, or a graze on my side. I swallowed and held my breath, afraid this might not end the way Grandpa expected.