Jarvis picked up a necklace from the table and dangled it in front of Tamara.
"What the hell is this thing?"
It was my foster father's ashes pendant. The only keepsake my foster mother had left to mourn him by.
"A necklace with ashes in it. Disgusting. Don't touch it!" Tamara glanced at the pendant with open contempt and flicked her wrist to throw it away.
I clenched my teeth, lunged to my feet, and dove for the pendant. I craned my neck up and clamped it between my teeth.
Jarvis saw this and kicked me over. I lost my balance and collapsed directly onto the still-burning portrait.
The licking flames swallowed my already-festering wounds in an instant. The smell of scorched flesh filled the air as searing, bone-deep pain tore through every nerve in my body.
"Who let this piece of trash in here?!"
Jarvis planted his foot on my head and ground down with all his weight.
"Spit that filthy thing out!"
A suffocating pressure exploded through my temple. I kept the pendant locked between my teeth, glared up at Jarvis with bloodshot eyes, and forced the words through my clenched jaw.
"You animal. You'll pay for this."