Chapter 18:


    “Go,” Isolde urged gently.


    Effie took a step toward the hallway.


    “Target practice!” Kaiden shouted.


    He jammed the throttle forward.


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    The ne banked sharply. It dove. Not away from Effie, but directly at her.


    “No!” Isolde screamed.


    She lunged.


    But she was too far away. The ne swooped down, its carbon-fiber propeller spinning at 5,000 RPM. The hard stding gear mmed into Effie’s calf, and the edge of the wing sliced across her skin.


    p.


    Effie shrieked. She fell to the floor, clutching her leg. Blood—bright red and terrifying—welled up instantly from a deep gash, soaking her white sock.


    “Bullseye!” Kaidenughed, jumping up and down.


    The sound of hisughter snapped something inside Isolde.


    The world went red.


    She didn’t run to Effie first. She ran at the ne, which had crashed into the rug and was still buzzing, trying to take off again.


    She didn’t turn it off. She stomped on it.


    Crunch.


    She stomped again. And again. stic shattered. Metal bent. The expensive electronics sparked and died.


    She reached down and grabbed the broken fusge. The jagged edge cut her palm, but she didn’t feel it.


    She hurled the wreckage at the wall. It exploded into shrapnel, embedding pieces in the drywall inches from Belle’s head.


    Belle screamed, ducking.


    “Isolde!” Grayson roared, rushing forward. “Are you insane? That cost two thousand dors!”


    Isolde spun around. She was panting. Her hair was wild. There was blood on her hands—her own and Effie’s.


    “Look at her!” Isolde screamed, pointing at Effie, who was sobbing on the floor. “Look at your daughter!”


    Grayson looked. He saw the blood. He paled.


    “It… it was an ident,” he stammered. “Kaiden is just ying…”


    “He yelled ‘Target practice’!” Isolde advanced on him. “He hunted her. And you bought him the weapon.”


    She turned to Kaiden. The boy was still holding the remote, but his smile was gone. He looked terrified of the woman looming over him.


    Isolde crouched down. She got right in his face. Her eyes were ck holes.


    “Listen to me, you little psychopath,” she hissed.


    “Isolde, don’t you dare threaten him!” Belle shrieked from the couch.


    Isolde ignored her. She grabbed Kaiden’s wrist—the one holding the remote.


    “If you ever,” she whispered, her voice trembling with lethal intent, “ever touch her again… I will break every toy you own. And then I wille for you.”


    Kaiden dropped the remote. He burst into tears.


    Isolde stood up. She walked over to Effie. She ripped the hem of her own shirt to make a bandage and wrapped Effie’s leg.


    She picked Effie up.


    “We’re leaving,” she said. “We’re not taking anything else.”


    “Isolde, wait,” Grayson said. He looked at the blood on the floor. He looked shaken. “Let me call the doctor. We can’t let her leave like that.”


    Isolde walked to the elevator. She hit the button with her bloody hand, leaving a smear on the polished brass.


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