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‘Sir,’ Sophia’s father said, ‘I advise you not to call my daughter “darling”. She’s not your property anymore.’
‘Now she belongs tome. And to all the Deathers.’ That was Groat. His scarred, gnarled face was twisted in an evil grin.
‘You know she doesn’t,’ Marcus said.
The other Littles, Molly, and Tati, huddled together with Sophia. Jock stood close by.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Sophia whispered to them all. ‘This is all my fault.’
‘No,’ Tati said. ‘It’s not. Whatever happens, it’stheirfault — not yours.’
If only she could convince herself to believe it.
‘Now, this can go down one of two ways,’ her father said, pacing from side to side. It was so strange to see him with that cane. What had happened to weaken him so much? ‘You know what we want. It’s Sophia. We don’t care about anything else. The rest of you are free to go. Just let us take Sophia and we’ll leave this disgusting place be.’
‘Not gonna happen,’ Marcus said, cracking his knuckles.
‘I’m ready to die,’ Nanny Rae said out of nowhere. ‘I’ve lived a good life, and I refuse to be used as a bargaining chip. The people here are in my protection.’ She winced as the man holding her pushed the knife harder against her skin. ‘Go ahead,’ she said, ‘you don’t scare me — I’ve seen Littles who are more fearsome than you clowns.’
Marcus stood, broad-chested and defiant, as he stared down the men. What he said next surprised Sophia. ‘Well, you heard the lady. She’s prepared to die. But what happens if you kill her? I’ll be on top of you before she hits the floor. Maybe you can stop me, maybe you can’t. I figure it’s fifty-fifty. But don’t forget there’s Jock here too. He and I will fight like dogs to stop you all. Eye for an eye. Heart for a heart. We took a vow to protect Littles, and that’s what we’re going to do.’
But as Marcus was talking, Sophia was letting a scenario play out in her mind. She couldn’t handle the idea of Nanny Rae losing her life for her. She didn’t want Marcus and Jock to risk their life for her.
She didn’t want blood on her hands.
All those years ago, if she’d have just sucked it up and agreed to marry Groat, none of this awful stuff would have happened. It was time to accept it: her life wasn’t her own — she belonged to her father, just like she always had.
‘M-Marcus,’ she said, ‘I appreciate what you’re doing.’
Marcus looked at her with dismay. ‘Sophia. No. Don’t go with them.’
‘I’m going,’ she said. ‘I can’t have anyone else’s blood on my hands. Not yours, not Nanny Rae’s, not anyone’s. It’s the only option I have left.’
‘Finally, some sense,’ Giovanni said. ‘I see you’re not as brainless as I thought.’
‘Fuck you,’ Marcus spat.
‘More insolence,’ Giovanni said, raising an eyebrow. ‘How unfortunate. Now, Sophia, come over here.’ He opened his arms to her and for a moment, she was taken back to the man she had once thought of as a loving father. Turns out, he never existed. It was all an act. She was a pawn in his game. Always had been.
Now, Sophia imagined the life she wanted, stretching out ahead of her. Living at Wolf’s side. Running her business. Being happy. Aging together. Love and motorcycles and stuffies for the rest of time.
With a sigh, she said goodbye to all of it.
She stepped away from Tatiana and Molly and walked to her father’s side.
‘Let Rae go,’ Sophia demanded. ‘You promised you wouldn’t hurt her.’
‘She’s right,’ Giovanni said, nodding. The thug holding Rae released her, laughing as he did so. ‘I did promise not to hurther.’
Then, in a movement that happened sickeningly slowly, he pulled a small, silver pistol from inside his jacket. He pointed it straight at Marcus, and without so much as a frown, he pulled the trigger.
The sound of the gunshot never ended.
CHAPTER 20
Darkness. The slow flow of time. Ice. Images of the past, coming and going, without color, without context.
A couple of times, Wolf remembered who he was, and he was overcome with a terrible feeling of failure and fear. Mostly, though, his existence was as strange as a dream, and as impossible to wake from.
