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It was her pet name for him when they were children. Saying it felt like coming home. She shot him a side-eye, waiting for his response.
“You know I dislike that nickname.” His lips curved with a stifled smile and a pointed look at the sky over the cityscape before them. He nudged her shoulder with his. “I hope after all this, you find the freedom you’re looking for. It’s good to have you here. We need you. We never stopped needing you.”
The smile on her lips was slow in coming, but it came. Barely. She couldn’t help it. Just spending time with her brother on a roof made her feel… something. The ghost of cherished childish joy trickled back into her heart, but then it was gone with the realization she wasn’t a child anymore. Never would be again. Her innocence had been destroyed the moment Julius put a sniper rifle into her eleven-year-old hands and told her to shoot.
They watched the cityscape below. Pockets of smoke rose at intervals. The sirens never ended. Police. Fire trucks. Ambulances. The streets were dangerous for civilians, not only from random replicates roaming but the people rioting and looting. The deadly sin.
“He made me his sniper,” she said, surveying the beauty of the heights. “And I would do it willingly because it meant I was up high. I’d convinced myself I was where I belonged. That I was free.”
Parker exhaled. “He’s a mad man, and he did despicable things to you, but he didn’t break you, Daisy.”
Daisy felt the fluctuation of his hope in her stomach like butterflies. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t the only one out of the Lazarus siblings to sense their sin’s opposing virtue. It revealed truths best kept hidden. His hope betrayed his confidence. He wasn’t certain she wasn’t broken.
She was.
But she didn’t have the courage to admit it, so she said, “He came close.”
“I know,” he agreed. “Normally you would have time to deal with what you’re going through. But we don’t have time. You need to trigger your powers, and for that, you have to spend time with your mate.”
Axel’s face flashed in Daisy’s mind. Bronzed skin. Sun-kissed and short brown hair. Soft brown eyes that bled compassion. He was a fireman, one of the Faithful, and her mate. A walking oxymoron. He was also dying. She knew because there was no other reason a man would volunteer to become one of the Faithful. They were essentially the Syndicate’s suicide mercenaries. They gave their life so they could return as clones in perfect health. But what Julius never told anyone—what she’d never told anyone—was that the cloned replicates would be completely controlled by Julius. And they had a shelf life of only a few months before they simply died after outliving their destructive purpose.
Daisy wasn’t sure how long Axel had been one of the Faithful. Apparently, she’d conscripted him into the fanatical cult. So much of her time at the Syndicate had been a blur of empty promises. Her sin had taken control of her mind on too many occasions, but she couldn’t blame that for her actions. She was lucid for most of it. She was embarrassed to admit she remembered little of Axel, which was surprising. He was eye-catching. Strong. Attractive. Not the usual Faithful lackey.
If she did what was expected of her, then he would be the man she spent the rest of her life with. The very idea of being intimate with someone made her heart palpitate and she wasn’t sure if it was nerves, the pressure, or just the fact she’d never been in a relationship. Not an honest one like her siblings had with their mates. Daisy’s sexual encounters had been fast and unfulfilling. Her life had been filled with blood, duty and despair.
A noise at the rooftop elevator drew their attention. Alice, Parker’s mate and ex-Hildegard Sisterhood assassin came out with a dire expression on her face. Wind whipped her red hair into a tizzy. She located Parker in an instant. Her lips flattened.
“What is it?” He got to his feet faster than a man his size should move.
“A trio of powered replicates have surfaced downtown near a school. Griffin’s down there but—” She shook her head, her eyes bleak. “He’s on the edge. I think he might black out and I don’t want to be the one who must hurt him to stop him.”
“It won’t come to that.” Parker looked down at Daisy. The beast he half morphed into prowled beneath the surface of his composure. If Griffin went dark, his metal manipulation could flatten the city. Alice had been tasked by the Sisterhood to be the last line of defense against the Seven if they went beyond the point of return, but as the Deadly Seven’s leader, Parker would be the one to stop Griffin if necessary. Or put him down.
“This might sound harsh,” he said to Daisy, “but you need to get on with it. Find your mate, trigger your powers, and then we can bring the rest of our family home. If shit hits the fan, use your watch. One of us will come for you.”
