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Pride at the probable origin of the wound makes my chest swell, knowing Juliet fought back. That my girl held her own as long as she could, despite the fear and sadness that probably flooded inside her when she was brought to this place, thrust into this life by parents who never deserved her.
That she chose to fight, tolive, in the face of her demons.
Bending down, I drop my gun to the floor and kick it behind me, heart pounding in my ears. The one in my waistband digs into my skin, a constant reminder.
I inch forward, holding the USB in my palm. “You want it, Lynn, take it. If you need to kill me, fine. I deserve it, you’re probably right. But Juliet has no part of this. You’ll let her leave here with Elia, or I’ll shoot out those gas pipes hanging on the walls and kill us both right here, right now.”
“Shoot them out with what? You’ve just ditched your weapon.”
I smirk. “You really think you can overpower me, Lynn? Try it.”
Elia pulls out a Zippo, weirdly in sync with my plan, and tosses it over; I catch it and raise an eyebrow at her, watching carefully as she weighs her options.
“This isn’t an ongoing offer. Make a decision,now, or I’ll blow all of us up.” I can practically feel Murphy’s presence in that moment, the ghost of him less haunting and more encouraging. A sort of acquiescence into my solutions, as if he’s finally accepting me in the afterlife.
Forgiving me, for not being faster. Better.
But only at the expense of destroying the one who broke him in the first place.
It lifts a lead weight from my shoulders, chipping away at the burden his death has kept on me for so long.
“Fine.” Lynn nods at Father O’Leary, who pulls the knife back from Juliet’s throat a fraction, allowing her to stand up and away from him. He gets up with her, sawing through the binds on her ankles and wrists, then untying the gag from around her mouth. Elia rushes over to the cage and yanks the cell door open, doing a double-take when he notices something in another cell.
Juliet’s head swings back, knocking into the priest’s chin; it catches him off guard, kicks him off balance, and he stumbles into the wall, hitting his head on the concrete and falling to the ground. I smirk at her show, returning my attention to Lynn.
“Kieran.” My little bird’s voice rings through the air, the sweetest of symphonies, warming my blood in a way that doesn’t leave me ill or weak. She’s the best thing in this darkness, the light I wasn’t expecting in the slightest, but feel immensely grateful to have experienced.
Lynn rolls her eyes, and I try not to make a snarky retort. “Can I have a minute?”
She looks annoyed, her lips pressing into a thin line, but nods anyway.
“Stay back, kitten. I want you to go with Elia.” I don’t turn my head, afraid that one look at Juliet’s baby blues will have me caving, running to her and endangering her out of selfishness. Out of the prospect of holding her for even one more second. And I can’t let her get hurt.
“Don’t do this. Not for me.” There’s a tremble in her voice, and it wafts closer, like she’s coming to me. Disobeying me, even when her life is being threatened. Her fingers graze mine, uncurling them from the fist they make. “Getting yourself killed isn’t as valiant as they make it seem in the movies.”
“Not even when it’s for love?”
Growing impatient with my conversation with her daughter, Lynn cocks her gun at my words, prepping to kill me before she’s even gotten the flash drive back. Smart move, since I’m planning on shooting out the pipes before she grabs it.
Juliet’s fingers slide between mine, and I can’t stop myself from looking down at her. Towering over her, I can see the tears pooling in her eyes, the misery I’m causing. And fuck if it doesn’t make my throat burn, my chest tight, my brain fight against what I’m doing.
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t leave me,” she whispers, a tear spilling over and down her cheek. “Wouldn’t put yourself in this situation.”
I squeeze her hand, shuffling her back behind me as her mother edges closer. Agony claws its way through my heart, tearing it to shreds with each passing second. “I’d do anything for you, baby.”
“Then don’t dothis.” She drops her voice, so low only I can hear. “Let me talk to her, maybe I can convince her to let us go. Maybe we can fight back, ask her—”
Unlinking our fingers, I reach up and cup her cheek, reveling in the feel of her soft skin and hating that this is the last time I’ll ever feel it. The last time I’ll ever see her blush, feel the heat of her flesh against my own. My throat constricts, a knot making me stumble over my words. “No, baby. That’s not how this is gonna go. I need you to leave with your brother-in-law and go on with your life. Finish that degree, keep on with therapy, get a sweet ass job and forget about all of this. You deserve so much more than this life. You are so much more than the sadness inside you, so much stronger than you even realize.”
“Don’t I get a say in what I deserve? Don’t I get to choose?”
“I wish you did. But some things are just out of our control.” Lynn taps her foot, growing impatient, and I sneak a glance at her from the corner of my eye as she moves even closer, her gun practically brushing my skin at this point. “It was always gonna end like this, kitten. We were never permanent. Just one lonely night sky lucky enough to have your light in his orbit.”
Her tears fall freely now, and Elia steps up behind her, gripping her biceps. She tries to shake him off, but his hold is too strong. She sniffles, blinking rapidly. “But I—”
“Go, now,” I snap.
Elia begins dragging her away, toward the light pooling in through the door, and she digs her heels into the floor in an effort to slow him down.
