UNLEASH | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 6)

[ 15 ]

"I can't—" Aine croaked out as she took a step back from George. She was still staring at his extended hand, tempted but afraid at the same time. Her shred of humanity and self-awareness of what and who she was was still alive inside her and she knows that it was wrong to take the Weasley boy's hand. "I have done terrible things, far worse than you can ever imagine..." Her hands were too tainted with blood to be cleansed away now.

Everyone who chooses to side with her only ends up getting endangered and sullied. So all Aine could do was to be the one to hold that responsibility of getting them involved, even if it meant that she had to keep tainting herself for them to be safe. 

She thought about her dad, Elliot's face popping up whenever she closed her eyes. The lingering feeling of revenge keeps her going each day along with the drive to protect those who were still alive and dear to her. That was the promise she swore to uphold as long as she breathed. 

Revenge for her beloved father and to protect her people.

"You don't have to do this, Ai..." George insisted. He didn't want her to shoulder all of the burdens alone, but what he didn't know was that Aine felt like she had to. She was caught too deeply in all of this mess, her fate woven too tightly with Voldemort's. The reason why she was so essential to the Dark Lord's plans, why she was so desirable to him, George didn't know any of it. Neither did he know the lengths the Dark Wizard would go to make sure that no one else possessed his prized pawn besides himself.

Aine didn't want George to get hurt and should she divulge that piece of information to him or even take his hand and deal, her father would go after him and everyone who dared to stop him from acquiring her. That's how twisted, obsessive and greedy Voldemort was.

"I have to," Aine responded with a bitter smile, moving another step back as George advanced on her. Still reluctant to let her go. 

"You're not a killer, Aine," he told her sternly, words so affirmative that Aine wanted to believe it for a second. "You're our friend... Ai..."

Aine clutches onto her arms, hugging herself back. "Oh, Georgie," she lets out a pained laugh, feeling her heart crack a little at how righteously he thought of her after everything. Even now, he still saw her as a friend, an ally, and a good person and that only made Aine feel more ashamed. Those weren't the words to describe her now, if anything, it was complete opposites. "You have no idea what I have done..." 

The people that I have killed, she finishes her sentence in her mind. Just a while ago, she killed three and all without hesitation.

"You can stop this. You know you want to," he says in her stead, trying to make her thoughts known. Each word hits right into Aine's heart. Deep and harsh.

Aine bites her bottom lip, brows furrowing together. "I can't, George!" she retorted strongly, causing him to flinch slightly. "To end this, I have to finish this revenge. To protect them— I'm willing to kill," she said coldly. She needed to make sure that she got hold of her father's absolute weakness to bring him down once and for all. That was why she had to stay behind, just like him watching over her like a hawk, she needed to eye every facet of his flaws that presented themselves to her when he stumbled. She needed to kill those who hurt her loved ones, who took everything from her.

She had to pay them back a hundredfold for what they had done. And for that, she has to kill. So she could find the peace she needed in her head to move on— So that everything that she had done so far was worth it.

George was in a state of disbelief, he squeezed his eyes shut to think through what Aine had just said. "Then what happens after you kill everyone you need?" he questions and Aine's breath hitches. He squints at her, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl who would agree that it was all wrong. "You won't find peace in this, Ai. If you continue on that path— Innocent people will die! And those deaths, stick with you for the rest of your life like scars. Revenge isn't the key to everything, Aine!"