Page 63 of Deathless & Divided

Adriano’s voice came out croaking and aching. The young man’s body shook as tears spilled. He fell alongside his mother’s body, pushing Tommas aside and took over chest compressions.

“Lily, we have to go,” Damian said.

Her throat was tight, choking her silent. At her sides, Lily’s hands balled into fists until her fingernails cut into the palms of her hands and pain bit through her skin. She stopped fighting. Damian was warm, strong, and comforting. His arms felt safer and the further he took her from the screams and the blood, the better her chest felt. She let him drag her out and away from … that.

She didn’t want this.

Lily had never wanted this.

No matter how hard she tried, Lily couldn’t stop the shakes rocking her hands in her lap. Damian cut the engine on the car, blanketing the driveway to her brother’s home in darkness again. He watched her warily from the driver’s seat as she shook her hands and tried to get the dirty feeling off her skin.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Damian asked.

“No.”

That, she was most sure of.

“You were a guest at the restaurant, specifically of Terrance’s, so you should be aware—”

“I might be questioned,” Lily interrupted.

“Yes.”

She shrugged. What fucking difference did it make?

“I don’t know anything.”

“Stick to that,” Damian said quietly.

“Eve …” Lily wet her lips, feeling the dryness in her mouth. “What about Eve?”

Damian sighed. “Let’s go inside. You should lay down or something. It’ll give you time to think.”

Lily didn’t have the strength or desire to argue. A part of her wanted to demand he take her to Evelina so her friend had some form of comfort. Another part of her screamed to find her bed, hide in the blankets, and sleep the rest of this horrible, unbelievable day away.

“Okay,” Lily agreed quietly.

Damian got out of the car, walked around the front, and then helped Lily out like the gentleman he was. The man didn’t act like anything had happened just less than an hour before. He didn’t act like a woman was gunned down and had they stayed in that dining room, they might have been dead, too.

The front door was locked. Lily’s hands trembled too much for her to unlock it. Damian took the keys and opened the door, exposing the silent home within. Not a light was turned on. Lily thought that was odd considering Dino’s car was outside.

Hadn’t Damian said Dino was working somewhere?

And …

“Hey, look at me,” Damian said, his tone firm but gentle.

Lily glanced up at him cautiously, feeling unsettled and sick in her heart. “Yeah?”

“Do you want me to stay for a little while until you’re settled?”

Did she?

Lily didn’t know what she wanted except for this day to be over. “Who did it?”

Damian’s expression didn’t change as he said, “Someone with a goal, I guess.”

“But Mia isn’t … someone important, right?”