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That’s when Vic’s voice purrs behind me, his breath washing across my cheek. “I brought you a gift, little sister. She’s not in pristine condition, far from it.” He sneers and then laughs lightly. “Sorry about that. I meant to shine her up, but you managed to evade my plans for this evening, so I thought it was time to show you exactly what you’ll forfeit if you fail to comply.”
I speak in a controlled snarl, still staring at the woman seated in front of me. “That’s. Not. Her.” My gaze locked on the figure in the chair and the familiar profile that’s different but the same. I’m barely breathing, holding my breath, and remain frozen in place.
“Are you sure?” Vic’s watching me with delight.
Mind fucks and head games. There’s been so much hurt and anger seeping into my chest that I thought there was nothing left of me, nothing left to tear apart or rip away. Maybe it’s because he’s dangling hope in front of my face that I’m reacting like this. There was nothing that could stop me, no one that could hold me back. Everyone I love is gone, dead. This is just another way to get me to back down. It’s not Mom. It can’t be. I steel my body and fist my hands at my sides, my thumb still on the lighter, ready to flick it.
“It’s not possible.” I’ve not turned away from the woman seated in the chair. The wind blows softly, lifting her tangled, filthy hair from her face. She doesn’t say anything.
Vic strolls over to her, turning the chair around so I can see her head-on. The woman’s eyes lock onto me, watching me as if she can’t take me in, as if I’m not real. She doesn’t speak. Her lips form a weary line, but those eyes are screaming.
Vic scuffs his feet against the gray stones of the balcony before offering a lazy grin my way. I don’t move. I’m frozen, unable to take action. That’s when Vic steps in close to me and presses his palms together. There’s a look of triumph in his eyes, an intense need to gloat, and prove that he won no matter which hand I play.
He sniggers, glances at the woman and then back and me. He lifts a palm, inviting me to continue as he taunts, “Then finish your little attempt at arson. Blow up my home and everyone in it. Join me in the 9th Circle of Hell for all eternity.”
“I didn’t betray anyone I love.” His words distract me for a moment, long enough to look away—long enough to think.
“Wrong on multiple accounts. You have so much to learn.” He grabs hold of the woman’s chair, and yanks it hard, sweeping it across the floor and into the powder room, stopping just before me. The centripetal force holds Mom in place. When the movement ends abruptly, she sways to the side but doesn’t fall. Vic puts a hand on her shoulder to keep her upright. Mom’s reaction is instantaneous. Her entire body tenses and pulls away from him, cowering. A tremor builds in the arm he touched and her jaw locks as she tries to keep from screaming out.
Vic chortles, steps toward me, and folds his hands together, clasping them in front of his narrow waist. Head lowered, he flicks his gaze back to the woman. “The lowest level of hell is reserved for the most despicable among us. The ones who betrayed their loved ones, the people they were supposed to protect. You and I won’t even get the flames—we’re not good enough for that. It’s an eternity frozen in a sunless existence surrounded by people like me.”
Think faster, Avery! This is bullshit. Light it already! “You’re wrong.”
He tips his head up, clears his voice, and looks me in the eye. “’As they denied all human ties, so are they bound only by the unyielding ice.’”
Anger surges through me. “Don’t quote Dante to me to justify your actions.”
He laughs, pressing his hands to his chest. “They’re not my actions. Don’t you see?” He gestures between us and bounces toward me with a massive grin on his face. “We’re the same, you and I.”
“No.” The single word is clipped and certain. The muscles in my arms are twitching, ready to fight or run.
Vic leans in close to my face, still standing on the balls of his feet. His hands are held loosely behind his back, and he has a confident look on his face as if he’s infallible. “We are alike, and you just don’t want to admit it. Blood is thicker than water.”
Rage boils inside of me, and I spew out, “WE ARE NOT THE SAME!”
His smile fades, and he tips his head to the side as he lowers himself to stand like he's not insane. He holds out a hand, palm up as if lecturing in a classroom in a calmly caustic tone. “Then prove it. Do it. Drop the lighter and forfeit your life to save hers.”
I glimpse back at the woman in the chair. Her eyebrows pull together, and she’s yet to say anything more than my name, but I feel it. My flesh covers in goosebumps and my heart is screaming with unrelenting vigor. I swallow hard and look down at the lighter in my palm.
I suck in a jagged breath and lift my chin. I tilt my head back toward the ceiling, trying to think, but I can’t. All my thoughts are fractured, broken, and fall from the skies of my mind like tiny stones. One after another, they tumble into the abyss. It’s only been a moment since I stepped foot in this room, but it feels like a lifetime.
The woman coos, her voice barely audible, “He can’t stop you. Please, light it. You have my blessing.”
There’s a thud at the door as something huge barrels against it. A disgusting grin slithers across Vic’s face. That door will fly open at any moment. The gas will dissipate, and my chance to end this battle will be lost. One flick of my thumb will repay this bastard for every wrong he’s ever done. It will keep Vic from hurting anyone else. I’m justified. I can end this. The time to act is now.
But I can’t move. That’s the problem. My heart realizes the truth before my mind can process it. That voice, the inflections—I know it well. Even parched and weak, I know it’s Mom. The words are falling away as I remember her vividly. Everything I lost and the pain of it comes crashing back all at once.
I have my mother back for a fraction of a second. It’s goodbye again with no time for words, no apologies or explanations. Tears sting my eyes, and I question how it's even possible. I wonder if she shocked my soul back to life only for it to die a moment later.
Vic watches me carefully, the lines of his face creased in a gleeful grin. He stands there, daring me to light it—knowing that I won’t.
I rub my thumb over the ridges on the lighter without sparking it while my other hand grips the p
liers tighter before resting on my belly. My past and my future are at my mercy, but I don’t know if it’s more merciful to take their lives or spare them. I’m trapped, unable to decide, unable to move.
There’s another slam at the door. When Vic's men break through, Mom will be gone again. They’ll snatch her away. Vic will kill me—or worse. If he lets me live, he’ll figure out a baby is growing within me. I can’t fathom what he’d do to her, how he’d make her suffer. The time for action is now. If I wait, I’ll lose my opportunity. I lift the lighter.
Mom nods at me and then meets my gaze. “Do it. You have our blessing.”
I watch her lips wrap around the word, the way she says ‘our’ and the way her eyes lower to my belly—to the child yet to be born. It unhinges me. There’s another crash at the door and a loud crack. The doorframe is splintering. One more hit and they’ll be inside.
We’re too high up to jump, and there’s no other exit.
My only weapons are a lighter and a pair of pliers. Mom is too weak to walk. If I try to save her, I’ll have to carry her. We’d never get away.
Mom’s voice is louder this time, near frantic, “Avery, please!” She looks past me to the door that’s splintering into pieces. Arms are shoving inside, but the wood is unyielding. Last chance. I lift the lighter, ready to strike. Willing to do it when a location check goes off.
In rapid succession, more male voices offer positions and check in with their location inside the building. They’re responding, coming at Vic’s silent request.
I lift the ridges of the lighter and take one last glance at the woman I thought I’d never see again. “Goodbye, Mom. I love you.”
