As Lie the Dead

Damn. If Snow had been that close to me without realizing I wasn’t actually dead, I’d been injured far worse than I first thought.

“After Snow showed me the photo, I recognized you, and I realized Phineas couldn’t be trusted. He was too smart to be fooled by you, so you had to be working together. Although his murdering you was an unexpected twist at the time, and your appearance here even more so.”

“I hate being predictable.”

The bastard actually smiled. “I could no longer rely on Phineas’s intel and realized we had no hope of a successful surprise attack large or coordinated enough to fully destroy the strength of the Triads. You never congregate en masse in one place. I’ve had time to reassess my priorities in these matters.”

“And?”

Cole circled me widely, taking an odd point position halfway between me and Wyatt. The gun stayed on me —smart man—while he addressed Wyatt. “I’ve seen firsthand how far you’re willing to go for something in which you truly believe,” he said. “And for someone you love. I no longer wish to kill you.”

I wanted to celebrate those words; instinct kept me quiet. As did his tone, which clearly said someone else still wanted Wyatt dead. Someone else standing an arm’s reach away, with bloodlust in his eyes.

“Unfortunately for you,” Snow said, “I still do, so my friend has been kind enough to grant me the kill.”

“Over my dead body,” I snapped.

“I’m sure we can work your dead body into the arrangement as well.”

I spread my arms out at my sides, an open invitation. “Go for it, fox boy.”

Snow started for me but was stayed by Cole’s terse “Stop!” He glared at Snow. “Our bargain was for Wyatt. Besides, I think Evangeline will be more entertained by the goings-on at Parker’s Palace.”

Ding-ding! “Parker’s Palace”—the magic words. He had said the curtain would go up in twenty minutes, and the clock hadn’t stopped ticking. I was running out of time. “You’re going to attack the fund-raiser,” I said.

Cole nodded grimly. “It seems a fair trade in lives, don’t you think? Ours for theirs? We balance the scales tonight, and it keeps such a thing from happening again.”

“Or humans retaliate, and this time it’s a thousand lives lost.”

“That’s the risk we take, Evangeline, when it’s an eye for an eye.”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“Yes, it does.” And he believed it. He was convinced of this course of action, and no amount of arguing would change his mind. Still, the Triads knew what was happening and hopefully would act fast enough to prevent any significant loss of lives. Hopefully.

“Cole,” Snow said, “I want to enjoy this and then still be there to watch the performance. Can we get on with it?”

My stomach clenched. “No fucking way.”

Snow laughed—a genuinely scary sound. “He’ll get a sporting chance, sweetheart. Killing him is no fun if he doesn’t try to fight back.”

Wyatt was two days out of back surgery. In peak condition, I wouldn’t worry as much, but now? No way would he last more than a minute in a physical fight with Snow. “Killing him won’t be much fun, since he’s in no condition to fight back,” I said. “Fight me.”

“Evy!” Wyatt said.

“Fight me,” I said again, ignoring him. “You kill me, you still get to kill Wyatt.”

Snow looked ready to deny my request, then faltered. And seemed to consider it.

“Just think of the mental anguish,” I continued, “if he has to watch me die again.” He was still hesitating. “Don’t think you can take me? Or don’t you hit girls?”

“I have no quarrel with you,” Snow said.

It wasn’t working. I fisted my hands to stop them from trembling. I would not lose Wyatt this way, not when we’d worked so hard. We were trying our best to battle our past demons and create a future. It wasn’t all for nothing.

Just to Wyatt’s left, I caught Phin’s eye. Blood stained his upper lip and chin, and his nose was at an odd angle, but he was alert. Something sparked in his eyes, which kept flicking to his right. Toward Wyatt. I inclined my head slightly, hoping I had interpreted his signal correctly. And that he got mine.

Phin slid around so he was on Wyatt’s right side and then punched him in the side of the head. Wyatt’s eyes rolled up and he dropped like a stone, unconscious. He’d be pissed when he woke up. Snow, for his part, was pissed right now. He snarled at me, the sound an open challenge.

“Guess your quarrel is with me after all,” I said.

“Well played,” Cole said. “Eleri, let’s leave them to it. Bring Phineas along for this. We have front-row seats, and we shouldn’t be late.”

Phin met my eyes again as he passed. With the concern, I thought I spotted a little bit of admiration. Could have been wrong, though. I winked, giving him the appearance of more confidence than I felt. Cole deposited his orange crystal on a table close to the door, then the three of them left the greenhouse, and I was alone with Snow. At first, we just stared.

“I can’t decide,” Snow said after a protracted silence, “if you’re brave or just plain stupid.”

I snorted. “I can’t decide if you’ve never heard of a toothbrush or you just like yellow teeth. I mean, really?”

He snarled, flashing his nonpearly yellows. “Stupid, then. You know what that bastard has done, and yet you still protect him?”

“You betcha.”

“Why?”

“Because it amuses me.”

“Why?”

The little shit was persistent. I had a thousand reasons for protecting Wyatt. A thousand reasons why I’d volunteered to fight Snow in his place, and few of them had to do with my own scrapping skills. I couldn’t stand by while someone else hurt Wyatt—not when I could stop it. Maybe I was pissed for what he’d done to Cole and confused by my own tumultuous emotions surrounding Wyatt’s past and my own recent traumas, but I knew one thing for sure. One fact above all else.

“Because I love him,” I said. For better or worse—and with us, it always seemed for worse—I loved him.

Snow’s eyebrows arched. “Good. Then you should put up a worthy fight. I haven’t had a good one in quite a long while.” He cracked his knuckles.

“Are we setting any ground rules?”

“First one to die loses.”

“Works for me.”

Neither of us moved. “Ladies first?” he said.

“Be my guest.”

He cocked his head to the side, regarding me, then kicked Wyatt in the temple. I saw red and flew at him.

Chapter Twenty-two

6:46 P.M.

I paid the price for that stupid decision and for underestimating Snow’s defensive capabilities. He waited until I took a swing at his chin, then he ducked the blow. He simultaneously grabbed my right wrist with both hands and pivoted one-eighty, until we faced the same direction. Bastard used my momentum—and a surprising amount of his own strength—to flip me over his head and onto my back on one of the various long wooden tables. My lungs seized and my back cried out.

He spun faster than I would have guessed and drove his fist at my head. I rolled to my left in time and felt