She clicks her tongue. “You’ll see.” Her smile is wrong. Twisted. Blood streaking her teeth like war paint.
The boy screams again, raw and hysterical, dragging my attention back where it belongs.
I sigh.
I’m bored.
I turn back toward him, rolling my neck once, loosening the tension in my shoulders. “Let’s speed this process up,” I say calmly. “Do you know anything else that will help me?”
Defeated, he shakes his head.
And this time, I don’t wait for an answer. I look to Reggie. This guy has seen too much. He’s seen our faces. He’s seen Inferno. He can’t survive. “End it. Then turn the lights off and leave her with his body.”
I look Eve right in the eyes and choose my words carefully. “Now the next body that will be in here with you is your sons.”
Her face pales, so I smile.
I leave. Lev needs to tell me exactly what this necklace is fucking linked to. We’ve had the pictures removed from social media, but it looks like it’s too late.
Lily is the face of it now.
The door slams shut behind me, and her laughter follows.
It shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t touch me at all, but it stops me cold.
Despite the rage still burning under my skin, that sound settles something inside my chest. Her laughter is the only part of my day that’s brought me joy.
I lean against the doorframe, forcing my breathing to even out.
Lev and Lily are in the kitchen, talking softly over vodka, like time hasn’t carved a canyon between them. Like, years haven’t been lost. Like blood hasn’t been spilled for her.
I clear my throat.
Her eyes snap to mine.
They track me slowly, from my boots to my shoulders, to the white shirt soaked through with red. Her breath catches. I see her eyes widen just a fraction before she schools her face.
I give her a single nod and dig into my pocket, retrieving a handful of her crystals. I place them on the table in front of her. She looks at them, then back to me.
“I left them out to…” I pause, making sure I’m using the right term. “Charge. I left them outside to charge for you last night.”
She smiles, picking one up between her fingers.
“I know it’s not a full moon yet, but I read that any moonlight is okay.”
“Thank you, Drago” she whispers, and my chest swells at the way she says my name, fuck.
I clear my throat, turning my attention back to Lev. “I need to speak to you, outside.”
I don’t wait for an answer. I turn and walk past them, the smell of iron and gunpowder still clinging to me. I slide the door open and step into the yard, the cool air hitting my skin like a slap.
Lev follows.
“I need to know what the fuck that necklace means, Lev. No fucking around. People are after Lily because of that fucking chain.”
I don’t believe the guy outside Lily’s was part of the Preacher’s organization. He was too scruffy. Too young. Spoke too easily.
No. This is something else.
