Pete chuckled softly, his gaze indulgent, as if observing a misbehaving pet he couldn't bear to punish. Felicia's face turned icy as she hurled the last knife at him, aiming precisely for his heart. She wasn't bluffing; she truly meant to kill him. This time, Pete didn't move, but a subordinate deflected the knife with a metallic clang. It fell harmlessly to the ground.

Felicia felt a pang of regret. If only she had brought a larger blade.

Pete's eyes darkened. His tone held a cryptic nostalgia. "When I first saw you," he said, "you were a skinny little thing, covered in bruises. But even then, you were as guarded as you are now. You threw a rock at me with everything you had. My dear cousin, you haven't changed a bit."

She was speechless. She racked her brain, unable to recall such an event. Before the age of seven, she'd lived in Alverton with Howard, Tabitha, and Shawn. She had been beaten often, always fighting back. She'd also been bullied, often retaliating with rocks. If she had met Pete then, it must have been because he'd threatened her.

Felicia decided not to dwell on it. Lingering on the past would only let Pete manipulate her. Instead, she bypassed him, cautiously circling Pete and his men, keeping a wary eye on them as she approached the crevice from another angle. Reaching the edge, she peered down and called out, "Stephan!"

A flash of light momentarily blinded her. Before she could confirm if it was Stephan, a thunderous explosion echoed from above. Rocks tumbled down, though the blast, about thirty feet away, still sent sand and debris raining down, striking her. Before she could recover, a second explosion rocked the area. She staggered, struggling to maintain her balance.

What baffled her was that the people in the crevice still showed no intention of returning. Was whatever they sought so important? Clenching her teeth, she decided to descend, gripping the jagged edges and carefully sliding down.

Reaching the bottom, she froze. Something was terribly wrong. The area was littered with corpses. At the center lay Kayla, her legs shattered and twisted.

When Pete had pushed Kayla into the crevice, she'd screamed as she fell. Despite trying to protect herself, the pain of her broken legs was excruciating. She'd heard the sickening crack of her own bones and passed out from the agony. When she awoke, she couldn't feel her legs.