“You didn’t kill my dad,” I said numbly. “It’s not your fault.”
“I knew he was in trouble. Why else would the Black Hand want to make sure he made it to the meeting safe? I should have gone. If I’d followed the Black Hand’s orders, your dad would be alive.”
“It’s in the past,” I whispered, trying not to let this information cause me to blame Scott. I needed his help. Together, we could get out of here. I couldn’t allow myself to hate him. I had to work with him. I needed to trust him, and I needed him to trust me.
“Just because it’s in the past doesn’t mean it’s easy to forget. Less than an hour after I was supposed to follow your dad, my dad called with the news.”
Without meaning to, I made a small whimpering noise.
“Then the Black Hand came into the convenience store. He was wearing a mask, but I recognized his voice.” Scott shuddered. “I’ll never forget that voice. He gave me a gun and told me to make sure it never surfaced again. It was your dad’s gun. He said he wanted the police report to say your dad died an innocent and unarmed man. He didn’t want to put your family through the pain and confusion of knowing what really happened that night. He didn’t want anyone to suspect your dad was involved with criminals like himself. He wanted it to look like a random mugging.
“I was supposed to toss the gun in the river, but I kept it. I wanted out of the society. The only way I saw that happening was if I had something I could use to blackmail the Black Hand. So I kept the gun. When my mom and I moved here, I left a message behind for the Black Hand. I told him if he came looking for me, I’d make sure the police got their hands on Harrison Grey’s gun. I’d make sure the whole world knew he had ties to the Black Hand. I swore I’d drag your dad’s name through the mud as many times as it took, if it meant I got my life back. I still have the gun.” He opened his hands, and it dropped between his knees, clattering on the cement. “I still have it.”
A dull and furious pain ricocheted through me.
“It was so hard to be around you,” Scott said, his voice brittle. “I wanted to make you hate me. God knows I hated myself. Every time I saw you, all I could think about was that I chickened out. I could have saved your dad’s life. I’m sorry,” he said, his voice cracking.
“It’s okay.” I said it as much for myself as Scott. “Everything’s going to be okay.” But it felt like the worst lie yet.
Scott picked up the gun, fingering it. Before the whole moment made sense to me, I saw him raise it to his head. “I don’t deserve to live,” he said.
A veil of ice choked my heart. “Scott—,” I began.
“Your family deserves this. I can’t face you anymore. I can’t face myself.” His finger slid to the trigger.
There was no time to think. “You didn’t kill my dad,” I said. “Rixon did—Vee’s boyfriend. He’s a fallen angel. It’s real, all of it. You’re Nephilim, Scott. You can’t kill yourself. Not this way. You’re immortal. You’re never going to die. If you want to make amends for any guilt you feel over my dad’s death, help me get out of here. Rixon is on the other side of that door, and he’s going to kill me. The only way I’m going to survive is if you help me.”
Scott stared back wordlessly. Before he could answer, the service room door scraped open. Rixon appeared in the opening. He raked his hair off his forehead and cast his eyes around the small utility room. On an impulse of self-protection, I drew closer to Scott.
Rixon’s gaze shifted from me to Scott.
“You’re going to have to go through me before you get to her,” Scott said, laying his left arm across me and shifting his weight to shield my body. He was breathing rapidly.
“No problem.” Rixon raised his gun and fired several rounds into Scott. Scott slumped, his body lax against mine.
Tears streamed down my face. “Stop,” I whispered.
“Don’t cry, love. He’s not dead. Make no mistake—he’ll be in tremendous pain when he comes around, but that’s the price you pay for a body. Get up and come here.”
“Screw you.” I didn’t know where my courage was coming from, but if I was going to die, it wouldn’t be without a fight. “You killed my dad. I’m not doing anything for you. If you want me, come and get me yourself.”
Rixon brushed his thumb across his mouth. “I don’t see why you’re so worked up about it. Technically, Harrison wasn’t your dad.”
“You killed my
“Harrison Grey killed himself. He should have stayed out of the picture.”
“He was trying to save another man’s life!”
“A man?” Rixon snorted, rolling his wet sleeves up to his elbows. “I’d hardly call Hank Millar a man. He’s Nephilim. An animal, more like it.”
I laughed, actually laughed, but it seemed to swell like a bubble in my throat, choking me. “You know what? I almost feel sorry for you.”
“Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you.”
“You’re going to kill me now, aren’t you?” I expected the realization to draw another measure of fear from deep inside me, but all my fear was spent. I felt a certain frozen calm. Time didn’t slow down, and it didn’t speed up. It looked me right in the eye, as cold and unemotional as the gun Rixon was now pointing at me.
“No, not kill. I’m going to sacrifice you.” His mouth curled up on one side. “Makes a world of difference.”
I tried to run, but the searing fire exploded, and my body was thrown back against the wall. The pain was everywhere, and I opened my mouth to scream, but it was too late. An invisible blanket suffocated me beneath its folds. I watched Rixon’s smiling face swim in and out of focus while I clawed uselessly at the blanket. My lungs expanded, threatening to burst, and just when I thought I couldn’t stand it any longer, my chest went soft. Over Rixon’s shoulder, I saw Patch move into the doorway.
I tried to call out to him, but the desperate need to draw air dissolved.
It was over.
CHAPTER 25
“NORA?”
I tried to open my eyes, but while my brain relayed the message, my body wasn’t listening. A slur of voices drifted in and out. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew the night was warm, but I felt bathed in cold sweat. And something else. Blood.
My blood.
“You’re okay,” Detective Basso said as I cried out, my voice sounding strangled. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. Stay with me, Nora. Everything is going to be fine.”
I tried to nod, but still felt as if I existed somewhere outside my body.
“Paramedics are taking you to the ER. They’ve got you on a gurney. We’re on our way out of Delphic right now.”
A few hot tears tumbled down my cheeks, and I blinked my eyes open. “Rixon.” My tongue felt slippery, the words stumbling out. “Where’s Rixon?”
Detective Basso’s mouth pinched at the edges. “Shh. Don’t talk. You took the bullet in the arm. Flesh wound. You got lucky. Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Scott?” I said, just now remembering. I tried to raise myself up, but found I was strapped down. “Did you get Scott out?”
“Scott was with you?”
“Behind the electrical box. He’s hurt. Rixon shot him, too.”
Detective Basso yelled at one of the uniformed officers standing off to the side of the ambulance, and he jumped to life, striding over. “Yes, sir, Detective?”
“She says Scott Parnell was in the mechanical room.”
