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“I’ll do it,” Sam said.
He stepped forward, his hand reaching out to take the canister from Grayson. One by one, we followed Sam back into the mansion of horror, each man leaving a trail of gasoline in his wake. The fumes filled the air, potent and suffocating.
"Is everyone ready?" Sam asked once we were all outside again. His voice was steady, a stark contrast against the adrenaline pulsing through every vein in my body.
There was a chorus of agreement. I looked over at Sofia. She was huddled against her brother, her face pale beneath the moonlight. I moved over to them, taking her hand in mine.
"We're right here with you," I said. Her fingers tightened around mine. The flames flickered in her eyes as she watched Sam light the match. He tossed it towards the mansion.
The fire roared to life so suddenly, it was as if the house itself had been waiting for this moment, yearning for its own destruction. Flames licked the sky, an eerie dance against the backdrop of the night. As I watched the mansion burn, feeling the heat on my face and smelling the scent of destruction in the air, I felt a strange sense of relief. We were free now.
For a moment, all we could do was stare at the blaze, mesmerized by its wrathful beauty. The mansion that had been the Viper's fortress of power was now nothing more than a glowing inferno.
Sofia’s grip tightened on my hand as she watched the flames devour her childhood home. Even in her silence, I could feel her turmoil. She had killed her father, destroyed his empire and torched their home; it was an overload for anyone, let alone someone who still had remnants of innocence in her eyes.
In the dancing glow of firelight, Sofia leaned into me, tears streaming down her cheeks. I wrapped my arms around her as Sam joined us, his arm draped protectively around Sofia's shoulders. The six of us stood there, our silhouettes cast long and shadowy in the light of the blazing ruin. The crackle and hiss of hungry flames was the only sound echoing around us, a funeral pyre for the Viper.
"Will it ever be over?" Sofia whispered into my chest, her voice shaking with exhaustion and pain.
Sam answered for me. “I think it already is.”
As Sam's words hung in the air, a cool breeze blew through the area, carrying away the smoke and the last of our haunted past. The fire grew higher, casting an eerie shadow over our little group. We stood there like statues, watching as the mansion was consumed by flames, our reflections dancing in Sofia’s tear-filled eyes.
“It’s done,” I said, my voice emerging rough and scratchy, matching the rawness that scratched at my insides. Sofia nodded against my chest, her body trembling with silent sobs.
Victor was the first to break the silence that followed. “We need to get out of here,” he said, looking back at the road leading to the mansion. “Someone might have seen.”
“Stephen definitely did,” Grayson said.
“Yeah, I have a feeling he’ll be in deep trouble with his bosses if he says anything,” I replied.
"We'll figure that out tomorrow," Jace said, his voice tight. "Right now, we need to get Sofia out of here."
We nodded in agreement, the decision made without words. Jace and Victor went ahead, scouting the path to make sure it was clear while Grayson extinguished the small fires ignited in the dry grass by the flying sparks. Sam stayed with Sofia, holding her as she cried into his shirt, and I watched our burning past, feeling an odd sort of emptiness in my chest.
Once the way was clear, we moved away from the inferno. Sofia clung to me as if I was her lifeline, her quiet sobs echoing in the silence. We walked through the dark, guided by Grayson's flashlight and the dying glow of the burning mansion behind us.
When we reached the cars parked on a dirt road a safe distance away from the house, Sofia seemed to crumble. She collapsed into the backseat of Grayson's car. I could’ve driven back but I slid into the backseat with her, my hands wrapped around her and holding her close. “Are you okay?”
She looked up at me, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Right. Stupid question.”
She laughed softly. “It’s okay,” she said, leaning her head against my shoulder. “I think I’ll be alright now. I think we’ll all be alright now.”
I kissed the top of her head, which smelled like salt and blood and vanilla. “Yeah. I think you’re right, sunshine.”
Chapter Twenty-Six: Sofia
It had been a couple of months since my father had died. The media had covered it, of course, spinning lurid tales of mafia wars and power struggles, but no one ever mentioned the true details. No one mentioned the four men who had stood by me through it all, or the brother returned from the dead.
Life had settled into an odd rhythm, a quiet peace that I hadn't experienced in years. I was still healing, still trying to reconcile the woman I was now with the woman I'd been before my father's death. It wasn't easy. It isn't easy.
Most days, I could almost pretend things were normal. The six of us lived together in an intimidatingly spacious condo on the outskirts of town, away from prying eyes and looming threats. Jace taught me how to cook, Victor taught me how to shoot, Grayson talked to me at length about anything and everything. Sam and I spent a long time reminiscing about our mother, our dad, who we had believed him to be. Teo...Teo just held me when nightmares clawed their way into reality.
During the day we'd go about our lives as if we were a normal family. Jace and I would run errands together. Victor would spend his morning at the shooting range or working out preparing for whatever threat might come next. Sam was constantly on the phone with Stephen, providing whatever information he could to keep us safe from investigation. Teo, well...Teo did whatever he wanted to do. He worked. He kept his head down. He took reports from people and checked on his venues.
He did his job the way he had before I had shown up in their lives.
