-Roxy Delgado:
I watched Sloane go dark in my arms like the light had been snuffed out of her. For a second the world narrowed to the weight of her body and the steadying rhythm of her breath, then widened again into the messy choreography of my brothers moving around us — hands, voices, the low thud of boots on concrete.
I tucked her against me and felt the slow, dangerous flutter in my chest that told me I was enjoying this, that the thrill of control had a chemical taste in my mouth. I told them I was taking her to my house, they argued and tried to convince me otherwise, but they gave up eventually. They know me too well to waste breath on objections. If I say I'm going to do something, I do it. That's the rule, I don't why they even bothered to argue with me earlier.
