Without a word, I wrap my arms around Zara and pull her to the side, pressing her face to my chest. “Don’t watch.”
“What?” Her voice is muffled against my shoulder, her body tense, but my hold is unyielding as I cradle her head against my chest, covering her eyes.
In the split second that I hear the guard aim his weapon at me, Seb darts in front of him. His claws have snapped down, and I catch sight of his bared and sharpened wolf’s teeth. Also, the fear in his eyes as he glances at Zara.
At that same moment, I raise my voice, clear and strong. “Oliver Draven, this is for murdering my mother.”
Oliver’s face is contorted in anger. He seems oblivious to the figure who appears behind him, a silent assassin. One of the most formidable.
Slade steps out of his blur, coming into view in the blink of an eye. He wraps his hand around the side of Oliver’s neck and releases his powerful wings.
Oliver doesn’t have time to shout.
Slade’s solemn eyes, flooded with silver, meet mine.
He gives me a somber nod as killing power flows through his body, an electric force that fills the air all around me, making my skin prickle. It’s a terrifying power, a force that should alarm me, but instead, I take comfort from it because I trust the man who controls it.
Zara freezes in my arms. Seb flinches. The human guard gapes and stumbles backward.
My stepfather’s eyes are already blank.
The final echoes of his curses and commands fade.
He will speak, think, and breathe no more.
Slade takes a firm hold of Oliver’s body before my stepfather hits the floor. Then he gives me another nod, and they both disappear.
The human guard appears to be in danger of shooting his weapon out of shock alone, the barrel wobbling dangerously between me and Seb.
“What the hell was that?” the guard shouts.
His exclamation confirms for me that this man probably doesn’t know anything about the supernatural world he serves, and a glance at Seb tells me that the claws and teeth he was revealing only moments before have disappeared. I doubt the human saw them.
Seb lurches forward, grabs the man’s arm, and swiftly disarms him. Then he turns back to me, and I take note of the way he hasn’t put the gun away.
“Who the fuck was that?” Seb growls.
Slade may be invisible again right now, but he won’t have left yet.
Without answering Seb’s question, I focus back on Zara.
Carefully, I release her from my hold, giving her the freedom to step away from me, but her hand closes around my arm, refusing to let me go.
She looks up at me, her lips trembling and tears suddenly streaming down her cheeks. “Father’s dead, isn’t he?”
I give her a single nod.
Pulling her gaze away from mine, she looks around the room. “Then I’m ready for my fate.” She raises her voice. “Slade Baines, I know you’re still here. I’m ready to pay for what I’ve done.”
Slade doesn’t reappear, and I keep my voice low as I speak to my sister. “You’re not dying today, Zara.”
She’s pale and wide-eyed. “I’m prepared for justice, Striker. You know I am.”
“You have a second chance, Zara.” I take her face in my hands. “Someone thought I was worth a second chance.” I pause as my heart squeezes again at the thought of Peyton. “I think you are, too. Prove me right. Okay?”
She swallows her tears, searching my eyes for a moment before she gives me a nod. “Okay.”
Her focus quickly flickers to the human guard who, while we were speaking, has veered back toward the elevator and is frantically reaching for the down button without taking his eyes off us.
