Headlights gleamed along the state highway.
I straightened, briefly wondering if a traveler headed this way to pull over and take a piss.There’s sure nothing out here.
A glowing silver Mercedes pulled to a stop behind my SUV. It’s headlights shut down, its purring motor quit.
My brother stepped from the driver’s seat, tall, handsome, smiling in greeting as though he never murdered anyone and had no such intentions toward me.
“Jacy,” he said, his voice expansive. “Good to see you.”
I stepped away from the car and put my hands on my hips. “You wanted to talk. So talk.”
He clasped his arms over his chest, shivering in his expensive coat. “Why way out here? We could have chatted at a nice restaurant where it’s warm.”
His answer took me aback.He wouldn’t shoot me in a restaurant, would he? Uh, Mafia dons were assassinated in their favorite dining halls. Why wouldn’t he follow their example?
“In case there’s trouble,” I replied.
Carter paced closer, his breath smoking in the icy air. “I guess I can see that. Look, I’m not sorry I killed Dad. All right? You know how we felt about one another. He’d have done the same to me if given the chance.”
“I couldn’t see him killing you. Or anyone.”
He snorted. “Jacy, you know damn well he’d killed several people, then climbed over their corpses to get where he was. Yeah, I’m the same as he was. I’m sorry you had to see it, that’s all.”
“You chased me halfway across the country, set your goons to kill me, just to say you’re sorry I saw you kill our father?” My hands trembled with rage. “I’m not stupid, Carter. You know I’m a threat.”
“Are you?” He stepped closer. I refused to back up and stared into his hooded gaze. “If you swear an oath right now tonever tell the authorities about that night, I’ll never bother you again.”
I almost believed him. I wished fervently that I could. To let this all go without bloodshed, for us to simply walk away from one another seemed too tempting to believe in.
Except.
He murdered my father. We may not have loved one another much, but my dad was my dad.
His blood cried out for vengeance.
“Too late, brother mine,” I said. “I already told the local detectives you killed him.”
“That’s too bad, sis.” Carter turned and walked a few paces toward his car. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to do this. Now you made it impossible to walk away. You won’t testify against me.”
I shifted the instant he spun around, the gun in his fist.
His bullet pinged off my hide to whine into the cold dark.
Carter’s mouth dropped. He stared at me with his eyes bulging from his head. “What the ever lovingfuck?”
“I warned you to leave me alone,” I said, bending my long neck to stare into his face at eye level. “You didn’t listen. I asked you once, bro. I’ll ask it again. Are you ready to die?”
His mouth a grim slash, Carter tucked his gun away in his coat. “How’d you know?”
“Your goon – James? That’s his name? When he attacked Declan and me, my dragon took over. His ashes are mixed up with the slag that was once his truck.”
Carter shook his head slowly, chuckling. “You did warn me that day. I guess I should have listened to you.”
His casual confidence warned me.Be careful. He’s very likely a –
Carter shifted.
I instantly leaped skyward.
