Page 224

He knows.

He also knows our deal.

“You want to tell me what happened here?” he asks.

I open my mouth, but Zaiya speaks first.

“That man tried to kill me,” she says, pointing at Frank.

Her voice trembles in the right places. Her eyes glass over. She doesn’t have to work hard to summon pain tonight.

“They saved me.”

Chief Granger assesses her, lingering on the soot on her face, the way her hands pull the jacket closed, the way she stands close to me.

He nods.

“You need medical attention?”

She clutches my good arm and pulls herself against me, then looks towards the firetrucks pulling in.

“I’m not going to a hospital.”

“At least let the paramedics look at you.”

She hesitates, then nods.

Granger pulls a small handful of black jelly beans from his pocket and pops them in his mouth. I’ve always wondered if they were made with more than sugar and corn syrup.

“You got it from here?” he asks me.

“Yes, sir.”

He turns, already making his peace with whatever report he’ll file.

But Zaiya calls out to him. “Wait!”

She looks towards the bluff with concern. “Calista is still in her house. Calista Bolton. Frank tied her to a chair in the kitchen.”

Even now, she’s thinking of someone else.

He nods. “On it.”

Then he goes right back to his car.

The paramedics reach us before we can get far. I hover while they clean and bandage Zaiya’s wounds. She tolerates as much as she can before she starts pushing everyone away.

The whole time, I can see the thoughts rolling around in Zaiya’s head. She killed Calista’s mother. She protected herself. Both truths will live inside her, and I would cut them out if I could.

I pull Zaiya in and press my lips to hers again, slower this time, needing to feel her more than I need fresh air. She breaks the kiss with a small grin that fades too quickly.

“Patrick is still going to try to kill me, isn’t he?”

Marcus appears on her other side, eyes bright with dangerous humor.

“I’m not so sure about that,” he says. “Follow me.”

CHAPTER 50