But the spell connected with the guard’s shoulder instead as he raced toward Delilah to stop her. The wet tear of flesh and the splintering of bone was punctuated by a howl of pain. The guard dropped at once, writhing and clutching the wound, blood pooling on the floor. As the spell’s violent light faded, little more than sinew was left attaching his arm to his body. I covered my mouth with my hand, stifling the urge to retch.
The other guard lunged, scooping up the zip ties and cloth. Gritting his teeth, Cliff wrestled Delilah’s hands down. Her glare roved the room wildly, chest heaving as she ran through her options, which weren’t many.
The guard bound her wrists tightly and strung the cloth across her open mouth so no more spells could escape her lips. Cliff gingerly set her on the floor, hesitant as he withdrew to stand.
“You can do better than this,” Eros said, attention set back on his son, all but ignoring the fallen guard’s quieting gasps of pain as he bled out. “Misplaced loyalty and frailty are all around you like a virus.”
Cliff strode around the sofa to snatch up that expensive whiskey and downed it in one long pull. He inhaled deeply, surveying the room. “I get it. I come back, and I’m another tool in your belt to pull off acquisitions,” Cliff scoffed, bitterness dripping from every syllable.
Eros shrugged tightly. “I won’t bullshit you. If you weren’t useful, I wouldn’t be standing here. These very creatures—” He gestured at the glass case housing Zia and Rowan, thenme.“They’re going to an honest-to-god genius who’s on the brink of a formulation that can cure any illness.Any illness. Imagine a world with no disease. No pain. Help me save the goddamn world, son.”
Cliff tapped a finger on the side of his glass, his expression stony. The entire room held its breath, watching him. “If I agreed… I’m not your fucking pawn. I’d want negotiating power. We do things my way, too.”
“What?” I blurted.
“We’ll come to a compromise,” Eros said, his stern features easing slightly. “I want all this to be yours when I’m gone.”
My focus tunneled onto Cliff, and for a moment, I forgot about the gun trained on Delilah and the others in the room with me. I flew to him, hovering before his face, trying to understand. Nothing in his expression made sense.
I took in his tightened jaw, familiar green eyes framed by long lashes, and narrowed in thought. Iknewthat look, and it made the meager food in my stomach churn.
He was mulling over this madness with a hunter’s focus.
Tears sprang to my eyes, thickening my voice into a thready, pathetic thing.
“Cliff—fuckingstars, look at me. We can still get out of this. You don’t have to do this.”
The resignation in his gaze stole my breath. Where was that sparkle of charm I’d seen daily, the shared mischief we so often mirrored? Right now, he looked at me like a child he pitied, like I couldn’t possibly fathom the weight he was grappling with.
“I’m really sorry, kiddo,” he said so softly that I wasn’t sure anyone else could hear. “I think this is the next move. For all of us. Maybe for a better world out there.”
No.This was a nightmare. This wasn’t real.
“Better forwho? You’re not making any sense,” I said, each frantic word bleeding into the next.
I reached out a hand, but he held up his own, pushing me away in midair.
“I don’t expect you to understand,” Cliff said, disdain surfacing. “How could you? You think you know me after lessthan a year? You didn’t even know my real name. I’m tired, Sylv. So goddamn tired. You’ve been too head over heels in your fantasy with Jon to see that.”
My flight staggered, lips parting but no words escaping.Stars above, he had stolen the air from my lungs.
“Look, my father is an ass, but he’s right about a few things,” Cliff insisted. “I was never meant to do this forever. Not like this.”
“So you’re just giving up?” I snarled. “After everything?”
“Don’t ask me to be your martyr,” Cliff hissed back, leaning closer. “Make your own sacrifice. I’ve done enough. And Anna… I need to see Anna again. She’s my family.”
My lip trembled. “I thought Jon and I were your family, too,” I said softly.
Cliff laughed. It was the warm, rich sound I’d come to adore, but the look he gave me made my blood curdle. My cheeks went hot.
“I knowyoubelieved that. You’re adorable for being an idealist, but look at us. We will neverbe the same.”
Each word drove a blade deeper into my heart. Just hours before the gala, he’d come for me in the spectral plane, wrapped me in his fierce embrace. Tears blurred the edges of my vision. I had never felt safer than when tucked in his arms.
“So everything you’ve said, everything between us for months—you were just entertaining me? I don’t believe you.” I gave a cold scoff of laughter tinged with venom. Could you die of humiliation and heartbreak? At present, it felt possible.
Cliff glanced around like he wanted to spare me from having this conversation in front of everyone. “Look, it’s been pretty obvious you’ve been obsessed with my approval from day one. I just thought humoring you might be a little more pleasant.” His gaze sharpened, something cruel surfacing. “Besides, what wasit you said?I wish I had never met either of you.Pick a lane, sweetheart.”
