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Eli’s mouth sets in a firm line. He tosses his gun away from his body. It sails through the air – the perfect athlete’s throw – and lands in the spiky bushes on the other side of the pool. Queen Boudica hisses at Nero, trying to be useful, and Casper cries in fear and cowers behind Eli’s legs.
Noah steps out from behind his planter – I see one of Nero’s stupid sons at his back, pointing a weapon at his head. The French door is open, and I see another two soldiers running through the house. Noah skids his gun across the concrete, and it comes to a stop beside Nero’s foot.
“Very good.” Nero’s eyes remain fixed on Eli. “Thank you for listening to reason, Elias Hart. A good leader knows when he’s outmaneuvered. I must say, I’m impressed at the depth of your loyalty. Not many men would have come back for such a woman after she spurned you. Unfortunately, you fell for the wrong sister. Mackenzie has been a step ahead of you this entire time.”
Hearing my sister’s name on Nero’s lips draws a strangled wail from deep in my chest. How was this going on and I didn’t see it? How could I have been so clueless?
I think about that time weeks ago, when Eli told me Mackenzie had been to Vault. We thought it was just her messing with us, but she must’ve been there to see Nero. The answers were right in front of me, but I’ve been too distracted, too cocky, to see what I needed to do.
“Mackenzie and Antony came to me some time ago and explained everything,” Nero says. “I admit, it was a pretty crazy story, but it became obvious they told me the truth. Initially, I was prepared to string them along until it became convenient for me to expose them to you, but then you became troublesome. Unpredictable. When you took my girls, I found a grey hair right here.” He taps the side of his head. “No matter how often I plucked or dyed them, the greys kept poking through. I wasn’t about to let you turn me old before my time. My life will be easier with the new Claudia August.”
“What’s the point in telling us this if you’re going to kill us anyway?” Noah snaps. “Just get it over with.”
Maybe don’t encourage him, Noah.
“I’m not going to kill all of you.” Nero’s eyes flick to Eli as he tightens his grip on George. “Become my heir, Eli Hart, and I will spare this girl. I’ll even spare the two boys, the Barbarian and the rockstar, if you want them. They are certainly loyal. If you refuse, I have no other option but to kill you all. Claudia must die so her sister can take her place. You have to understand that, but you can avoid more bloodshed if you agree to my terms.”
“Your terms?” Eli grabs Queen Boudica from his shoulder and sets her down beside Casper. He takes a casual step toward Nero. He keeps his mouth slack, his voice even. Is he actually considering it, or is he psyching himself up to do something brave and foolish?
I try to yell at Eli to do what Nero asks to save their lives. But all I can get out is a zombified moan.
“It’s all very simple. I’ve arranged everything,” Nero says. “Mackenzie will take over the August family, and the marriage between you and my daughter Olivia will go ahead as planned. Mackenzie tells me the two of you used to be friends – for the good of the empire, you will be friends again.”
George’s eyes are wide and terrified as she watches Eli. Nero jabs the barrel against her cheek. Eli’s gaze flicks to something behind Nero’s shoulder. I can’t see what he’s looking at. But I can see his features fold into his Sherlock Holmes Orgasm Face – the face he makes when he’s figured something out.
Eli Hart has a motherfucking plan.
“George,” Eli calls. “Gym class.”
George’s eyes darken with recognition. She clasps her hands together and drops her body weight, becoming a narrow, dead weight in Nero’s arms. He leans forward to attempt to drag her up again, and that’s when a dark shape barrels from the garden behind him.
Livvie.
She’s covered in bloody scratches and quills from crawling through the succulent garden, but the grim look in her eyes is terrifying. She raises a blood-soaked hand that clutches something round and red. At first, I think it’s someone’s heart, but then I see its surface is covered in long, terrifying spines. It’s a cactus she’s ripped from the garden bed.
Nero howls as the cactus collides with the side of his face. Spines stick from his skin, his ear, his eye. He throws his hands up to claw at the plant, dropping his gun behind him. Livvie catches it easily, spins on her heel toward Noah, and takes out her brother with a bullet between the eyes.
Noah wastes no time. He lurches forward and grabs his own weapon, swinging around to shoot Nero’s next son as he storms through the ballroom toward us.
Eli strides toward Nero, and Casper skids after him, desperate to get to Livvie. He sinks his teeth into Nero’s leg.
“Argh!” Nero stumbles back, shaking his leg to get Casper off. But the tenacious little dude is chomped tight. Queen Boudica mews her encouragement.
Nero’s foot clips the edge of the swimming pool. He swings his arms in a vain attempt to keep his balance.
It doesn’t work.
He falls.
He hits the netting on top of the pool. The netting that keeps the lion inside.
The netting snaps.
Nero crashes into the pool. Eli runs across the patio, wrapping his arms around George. Gabriel lumbers after them, still holding me over his shoulder. Queen Boudica leaps back onto Eli’s shoulder, and Casper jumps into Livvie’s open arms. We crowd around the edge of the pool. Gabriel slides me off his back. My legs still won’t work, but he and Eli hold me upright.
I want to see this.
Nero lies on his back, his legs flailing uselessly. He still tears at the spines in his face, his cries broken by coughs and gasps as he struggles to regain his breath. In the corner, the lion rears up, stirred by the cries, by the tang of Nero’s blood in the air.
