I have love.
I drop my hand and we pass by the office, creeping toward the ballroom. “The cats,” Eli whispers. Noah’s face hardens. We don’t have time to mess around, but he doesn’t stop my Golden Boy as he slips into the ballroom. There’s a howl, and a few moments later Eli emerges again holding Casper by the scruff of his neck, and Queen Boudica curled around his shoulders, her claws digging into his skin.
“Hurry.” He holds the door open with his foot as Queen Boudica takes a swipe at his face. “They’re moving around the side of the house, but this way looks clear.”
The boys crouch low and crawl across the ballroom floor so we can’t be seen through the French doors. I lay over Gabriel’s shoulders as he wriggles forward on his elbows like a WWI soldier. “The things I do for you, gorgeous,” he grunts as he scrapes his skin raw on the hard marble. “You should shoot a video of me looking like a plonker. You could sell it toThe Sunand make a fortune.”
Eli reaches the other side first and lifts the latch, pushing the door open as silently as he can. Noah crawls outside and ducks behind a concrete planter box, his weapon resting over the top. “Go,” he hisses. “I’ll cover you.”
I groan. I can’t even support my own body weight. I’m never going to be able to hoist myself up that wall. I’m no Mackenzie – I was a terrible cheerleader for that brief time, and now I’m a half-dead sack of potatoes.
Gabriel hoists me higher up his shoulders, dropping my arms down his front and wrapping his arms around my legs. “I know you can’t hold on, but hold on.”
We fly out the patio door, Gabriel cursing as he staggers under my weight. Eli jogs ahead of us, his runner’s body perfectly at ease as he ducks and dives around the patio furniture. He weaves around the pool, heading for the spot in the wall where the barbed wire is torn away. The same spot he used to sit and watch the house. That’s Eli, always watching out for me.
Eli shoves a lawn chair against the wall and staggers backward to take a run-up. He surges forward, arms pumping, golden hair gleaming in the brilliant sunshine—
“I wouldn’t move another step if I were you.”
Gabriel whips around. My head falls against his shoulder, my view blocked by a curtain of his dark hair. But I don’t need to see to know who’s stepped off the path that leads around the side of the house and now stands defiantly on my patio.
Nero Lucian.
“Hello, Claudia, Eli.” There’s a smile in his voice, and I can tell from the way Gabriel stiffens that he has a weapon trained on us. “I heard there was some trouble at the house, so I thought I’d pop over to see how you were faring. Now, step away from the wall and put your weapons down before I’m forced to put a hole in your friend’s skull.”
48
Claudia
Gabriel’s breath comes out in ragged gasps. I assume Nero’s talking about shootinghim, but then he whispers, “Claws, he’s got George.”
Eli freezes mid-stride. He lowers his gun, pointing it at the ground, but he doesn’t let go of it. Gabriel turns, holding me tight even as he waves his hands to show he’s unarmed.
I finally see Nero. He stands near the lounger where we played our spin-the-bottle game, holding a struggling George with a beefy arm around her neck. He holds his Glock to her temple.
“I had a very interesting phone call today, inviting me down to the docks to see what my daughter was doing with two Imperators and Howard Malloy’s famous treasure,” Nero says pleasantly, like we’re discussing the weather. “I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, Claudia August, but I think our differences can be solved very amicably, as long as you do exactly as I say. First, drop your weapons. Both of you.”
“Don’t listen to him,” George cries. “He’s gotmmph mmmpha.”
Nero covers her face with his hand.
Eli’s mouth sets in a firm line. He tosses his gun away from his body. It sails through the air – the perfect athlete’s throw – and lands in the spiky bushes on the other side of the pool. Queen Boudica hisses at Nero, trying to be useful, and Casper squeals in fear and cowers behind Eli’s legs.
Noah steps out from behind his planter – I see one of Nero’s stupid sons at his back, pointing a weapon at his head. The French door is open, and I see another two soldiers running through the house. Noah skids his gun across the concrete, and it comes to a stop beside Nero’s foot.
“Very good.” Nero’s eyes remain fixed on Eli. “Thank you for listening to reason, Elias Hart. A good leader knows when he’s outmaneuvered. I must say, I’m impressed at the depth of your loyalty. Not many men would have come back for such a woman after she spurned you. Unfortunately, you fell for the wrong sister. Mackenzie has been a step ahead of you this entire time.”
Hearing my sister’s name on Nero’s lips draws a strangled wail from deep in my chest. How was this going on and I didn’t see it? How could I have been so clueless?
I think about that time weeks ago, when Eli told me Mackenzie had been to Vault. We thought it was just her messing with us, but she must’ve been there to see Nero. The answers were right in front of me, but I’ve been too distracted, too cocky, to see what I needed to do.
“Mackenzie and Antony came to me some time ago and explained everything,” Nero says. “I admit, it was a pretty crazy story, but it became obvious they told me the truth. Initially, I was prepared to string them along until it became convenient for me to expose them to you, but then you became troublesome. Unpredictable. When you took my girls, I found a grey hair right here.” He taps the side of his head. “No matter how often I plucked or dyed them, the greys kept poking through. I wasn’t about to let you turn me old before my time. My life will be easier with the new Claudia August.”
“What’s the point in telling us this if you’re going to kill us anyway?” Noah snaps. “Just get it over with.”
Maybe don’t encourage him, Noah.
“I’m not going to kill all of you.” Nero’s eyes flick to Eli as he tightens his grip on George. “Become my heir, Eli Hart, and I will spare this girl. I’ll even spare the two boys, the Barbarian and the rockstar, if you want them. They are certainly loyal. If you refuse, I have no other option but to kill you all. Claudia must die so her sister can take her place. You have to understand that, but you can avoid more bloodshed if you agree to my terms.”
