August Sixth tilts his head down and tsks his tongue. “Sorry. That came out wrong. I mean… Let me rephrase. If only one of you did this, only one of you needs to go down for it. I don’t want to kill anyone, not even the guilty one. And I don’t want the reward money. But we do need to fix this. So please, let us help you. If you didn’t do it, just take this lifeline.”
“He’s right.” I hate the words on my lips, but not half as much as I hate the look of hurt on August’s face. That doesn’t change the fact that they’re all making perfect sense. “Go with them, Slayer. You can start a fresh life.”
“You cannot be serious!” August cries. “We’re five hundred years in the future with this amazing technology and you’re telling me that six of us can’t come up with anything better than shooting me, just because I made one little mistake?”
“Three hundred and eighty-two universes,” says August Sixth. “And that’s before you two met up and went on your murderous sexcapade, blotting out worlds wherever you fancied.”
August’s expression sobers.
Three-hundred and eighty-two universes. Even I didn’t know exactly how many there were. I killed those people. Took all those lives and didn’t even keep count.
But a light of defiance shines bright in August’s eyes. “I’m here to put it all back,” he says. “If you kill me, I can’t do that. You’re complicit in their deaths if you don’t let me fix this.”
“You can’t fix this,” August Sixth sighs out. “Do you think we haven’t been over it? This is the end. It’s a wall. There is no more.”
“Bullshit!” August yells. “That’s bullshit. There’s always a way. There’s always a chance.”
“Slayer, stop.” My heart turns in on itself, but I can’t let him go on anymore. “We both knew this was coming. Stop pretending you’re me and take this opportunity. You’re the Good August. You deserve a life. You deserve to be happy. A person can’t do what I did and expect to get away with it. But you can save your friends, and you can save yourself. August, you always knew this day would come. You and me—we’re impossible. We always were.”
He locks eyes with me, even if his gun stays steady on Navy Coat. “How can you give up on me like this?”
“I would never give up on you.” I mean that with my whole soul.
“How can you give up onyourself?” he spits back. “Anyone can make a mistake. Anyone can have a moment of weakness. You cannot measure by consequences, only by intent.” Stubborn to the very end, clear-eyed and strong, he insists, “I’m a good person. I did something amazing, something only August Blackthorne could do. It’s not my fault it spiralled out of control. I’m a fucking genius, I’m in love with myself, and I’m not going down without a fight.”
His head snaps across, his fingers snap shut, and in a blinding flash, a bullet flies from the chamber of his gun. Ascream tears the night, and Navy Coat August drops to the ground, his knee ripped apart, spraying the wall red.
I duck far too late, but the bullet from Navy Coat’s gun, knocked off course, flies uselessly into a wall. August rolls across the ground, dodging the next bullet that comes from the August who’s had a gun on him this whole time.
Assassin August kicks out a leg, smashing into the back of his knee. He drops. My August aims his gun, and a second volley of screams joins the first as that August is also kneecapped.
August Sixth raises his gun. I dive for him. A bang goes off, screeching across the alley walls. His gun clatters to the ground, and I’m on top of him, holding him down, Assassin August taking his other arm.
“August!” I scream, my voice thick with desperation.
“I’m here,” he calls back. “I’m fine.”
Relief floods every nerve. Breathing hard, I burn the living image of him into my memory, his knee in Navy Coat’s writhing back, his strong hands making short work restraining him with his belt.
“What the fuck?” August Sixth struggles beneath me. “I thought you said he was thegoodAugust?”
“Not anymore.” Slayer climbs to his feet, flashes his abs provocatively as he shoves the gun back behind his waistband. “I’ve had enough of this bullshit. I’m taking my destiny into my own hands. Tie these three up.”
This time, I get to use my own belt to tie an August up. I feel very capable. Even if I’m not a tenth as clever and capable as my hot, sexy boyfriend.
He finds Navy Coat’s Particle Stasis Displacement Pulser, which he gives to Assassin August. “Find the others, and when shit starts getting weird, wake that crowd up. Then head to the spot on the bridge where we came into this world. We’ll find you.”
Assassin August stares down at the device, looking every bit as confused as I am. “Do you think it would be kinder to let them sleep through it? If the word’s ending?”
My lovely August shakes his head, lips set in determination. “The world’s not ending. Not this time. Do as I say, and we’ll meet you soon.”
August takes my hand to lead me out of the alley, pausing only when Assassin August calls, “And what are you two going to do?”
August looks at me with more love, confidence, and faith than I’ve ever seen in his beautiful eyes.
“Science.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
