Page 456 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Riley remembers how happy Kade was that he didn’t die.

He kissed him like that. He loved him like that.

‘Hurt,’ he says. ‘Are you hurt?’

Lachlan looks down at himself. ‘I don’t know. Why?’

‘Because you’re not immortal anymore. I can smell it. Follow me.’

He falls in, follows Riley. The kitchen is somewhat still intact.

Riley drains a glass of water before he hands one to him.

He then downs four painkillers at once.

No more quick healing.

His body is in agony.

‘What happened to you?’ Lachlan asks, still in that deeply disconnected way, a form of shock so severe it comes all the way around to borderline functional normality again. ‘Your neck.’

‘Sorrenko bit me.’

‘Why?’

‘I asked him to.’

‘Oh.’

‘We’re gonna get through this, OK?’

It’s such a ridiculous thing to say, but it’s all he has.

‘Yeah. Of course,’ Lachlan says and then laughs softly.

‘What?’

‘That staircase.’ He looks out towards it. ‘That’s where I killed them.’

‘The Resets?’

‘Jules and Mimi,’ he murmurs with all the inflection of someone describing the weather. ‘You too, I think. I remember seeing someone your age. You were shot in the heart. It’s funny, isn’t it?’

Riley looks at him. ‘The fuck are you talking about?’

‘Doesn’t matter.’

‘Then lock it down for now. We work with what we have.’

‘Heard.’

Riley blinks back tears.

Vasily and Savannah are coming over.

He asks Lachlan, ‘Did you kill Blaire?’

‘I can’t remember. I don’t think so.’