"Money, and protection." Rurik's mouth twists into a disgusted snarl. "She wanted me to help her disappear."
A laugh escapes Daithí, but there's no humor in it. "Of course she did."
Rurik reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folded piece of paper.
He slides it across the table, toward me. I unfold it and see that it’s an address in New Hampshire. Exactly the sort of place someone like Daire would think was safe.
"She's there now?" I ask.
Rurik nods once. "Unless she moved in the last two hours."
I look at the address. Then at Rurik. "Why tell us?"
Rurik's jaw tightens and I can see that he’s had enough of the bullshit. "Because she almost killed an innocent woman."
“How do you know that?" I ask, my grip tightens on the paper.
“That was another reason she called. To gloat about what she had done to Quinn.”
Daithí shoots to his feet. “What the fuck did she do to Quinn?”
Rurik holds my gaze. “I’ll let you be the bearer of bad news,” he says as he gets to his feet. “I’ll be glad to see the back of that bitch,” he spits as he stalks away from the table.
“Call me if you need me,” Danil says, giving us all a nod before he follows his brother.
“Same,” Prior rumbles as he gets to his feet. “This shit is coming to an end.” He glances at the exit where the Morozov brothers have just exited. “I don’t trust them. They’re too fucking slick. If they’re involved in this, I won’t hesitate to take them out.”
I nod. “You won’t be alone,” I assure him. “We’ll take out everyone who’s involved in this shit. No one lives to tell the tale.”
The grin he gives is sinister. This is the shit he gets off on.
"Fucking tell me what happened to Quinn," Daithí snaps. "Is she hurt?"
The door closes behind Prior and silence settles over the library.
I look at Daithí, and see that he's already pacing. He’s agitated and worried.
I know exactly how he feels. "Daire poisoned her."
Daithí stops moving. "What?"
"She had Bruno put peanuts in Quinn's food."
His face drains of color. "No."
I nod, swallowing hard to push the memories back. "She went into anaphylaxis."
"Jesus Christ." His hand drags through his hair. "Daire did that?"
The disbelief lasts all of two seconds, then reality catches up. Because we all know Daire, we all know exactly what she's capable of.
"She stopped breathing." My words come out wretched.
Daithí drops into a chair, hard. He looks like he might be sick.
"How close?"
I don't answer immediately, because I don't want to think about it, because every time I do, I see Quinn on the floor. I hear her struggling for air, and I remember the panic that nearly swallowed me whole.
