“Caelian… no… please…”
“Do what you must, Nevi,” he chokes out. It’s a grunt that’s coarse and rough with agony. His hand finds mine, squeezing with what strength he has left. “Nevi… do what… you must.”
I nod, tears blurring my vision as I look into his storm-gray eyes.
I understand what he’s telling me.
Survive.
Whatever it takes.
The next gunshot makes me flinch. I turn in time to see Mom’s body jerk, tipping over onto her back. She had been kneeling beside Dad’s body like I am Caelian’s.
Mourning the death of their scheming. Their get-rich-quick plans.
I wish I could say I give a damn about seeing either of them go down. But after everything they’ve pulled, I’m left numbed to their fates.
Too overwhelmed by how losing Caelian—the only one who’s ever cared for me in this web of lies—would crush me into pieces.
Nero’s girlfriend shrieks at all the violence, her chair toppling over as she scrambles. She flees the room in a blur of blonde hair and clingy fabric. Her screams fade along with the click of her heels as she retreats farther down the hall.
Nero doesn’t even glance in her direction. His cold eyes are fixed on me and Caelian bleeding out on his expensive floor.
“And then there were two,” he says on a note of cruel amusement.
He steps closer, his gun still smoking, still aimed.
A man so obsessed with his hair and clothes, there’s normally nothing predatory about him. Not in the same sense there is with men like Caelian, who are beastly and dominant.
But in this moment, Nero feels like the Big Bad Wolf closing in. He’s the monster I’ve been terrified of all these years finally materializing in front of me.
He might not be physically powerful, but he’s powerful in all the ways that matter in a moment like this.
“You’re a stupid girl, Nevaeh,” he begins conversationally. “So naive to believe you were ever going to win against me. Did you really think a broken crime lord and a runaway ballerina could stand against an empire?”
I press my hands against Caelian’s wound, applying pressure as more blood slicks my fingers. His breathing is shallow, labored. The color is draining from his face with terrifying speed.
“Even now, in this moment, I control everything.” Nero gestures around the room with his free hand, the contrast between the gleaming dining room and the dead bodies more disturbing than ever. “I’m the one truly in charge. It’s always been that way. It’s always going tobethat way.”
He stops a few feet away, looking down at us like we’re insects he’s about to squash with his designer shoes.
“Your parents thought they could steal from me and profit. Foolish. Ignazio believed he could play both sides and survive. Pathetic. The Ziccardis imagined they could use me as a stepping stone to greater power. Delusional.”
I sniffle and dare a glance up at him. His cold smile meets me, showing off his large pearly veneers fit more for a horse’s mouth.
It makes his smile even more unsettling paired with the mad glint in his gaze.
“All were foolish to ever believe they could stand in the way ofmyempire. I’m going to profit from this cure. I’m going tocontinue growing my power until I rule not just Dresden, but the entire country. Because I’m just that unstoppable.”
A sob catches in my throat as Caelian’s hand goes slack in mine. His eyes are still open, but they’re losing focus. The man who taught me strength, who showed me I was worth more than my parents ever believed, is dying in my arms.
“Please,” I whisper, then louder, “please.”
I turn to Nero, tears streaming down my face, my voice breaking. “I’ll give you the key. I’ll give it to you so you can profit all you want. Just... just let him live. Please. I’m begging you.”
Nero tilts his head, considering me like I’m a curiosity. “That’s not possible.”
“Why? Why can’t you just let him live?”
