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“Tell me what’s going on,” Augustus sneered.
“Not right now,” I snapped before looking at Leo. “What’s wrong?”
The wary guard’s eyes fluttered between Augustus and me. I realized immediately it had to do with Christine. He wouldn’t be this secretive otherwise.
I shoved past Augustus, nearly knocking him to the floor and making Eva laugh. “Men,” she snickered condescendingly as I followed Leo into the hall.
Augustus followed closely behind, not willing to let us get away without learning what was going on. “Both of you stop right now and tell me what’s going on!”
I paused to pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance.
Leo gave me an apologetic look, his eyes heavy. His eyes stared at me, chest rising and falling as each breath was drawn in through his nose. “Christine escaped DuPont tower. No one can find her.”
His words were damning. My nose picked up the musky scent of fear clinging to Leo’s skin. Augustus clutched his chest and nearly fell over. “This is a cruel joke. Why would you say something like that?”
I ignored my brother to glare at Leo. “What do you mean she escaped?”
The air around Leo’s body was frigid, his skin cold to the touch. His lips pressed into a thin line as he struggled to form the words he wanted to say. “There’s a pile of bodies left behind. She’s gone, Atticus. Gone.”
“What is he talking about?” Augustus rasped. “Tell me the truth, Atticus.”
The pain in my chest was almost unbearable. I fought the urge to collapse to my knees, crumple like a child.
The world spun, the floor rising to meet my face. My body ached in every place where I knew Christine had touched. My mind flashed with her wild golden hair and the hateful eyes she flashed at me the last time we’d spoken.
She was gone.
Gone.
Gone.
Gone.
“What happened? What’s going—”
My fingers squeezed a part of myself for comfort, and my mind went blank as the world faded away.
“Atticus,” Leo said, his voice rough. “Atticus, you have to help me find her.”
I didn’t respond. The prickly feeling at my neck was like needles burrowing in my veins.
I looked at Augustus, who wore an expression, an odd combination of relief, anger, and concern. “She’s alive?” he whispered so softly I almost didn’t hear him.
Leo cleared his throat, answering for me when my throat closed up. “She’s alive. For now. And we need to fucking find her.”
I didn’t move. I didn’t want to hear anything else. A coldness started in my legs, burning like ice at the thought of losing her. “Yes, Augustus. She’s alive,” I said again.
“For now,” Leo reminded me once again.
“Why?” my brother croaked. “Why would you let me think she was dead?”
He looked at Leo, then back at me. “Because she was safer dead,” I said, forcing my nerves to settle and the cold no-nonsense attitude to echo in my words. “Because she was safer with me.”
“Obviously not,” Augustus bellowed. “She’s out there now. Alone.”
He grabbed the collar of my shirt, and I allowed it only because I knew the rage he was feeling was mostly my fault. I’d let him believe the woman he loved was dead. I waited for a moment as he swelled with fury. I swallowed just as he reared his right fist back and slammed it into my cheek.
My head snapped to the side, the pain instantly stretching across my face. My lips twisted into a smirk before I pulled my own right fist back and punched him in the jaw. I’d wanted to do this for ages. Augustus had always stolen her attention. Had always thought he had a right to her body—her soul. And she might be gone now, but I would find her. I would keep her. She was mine to cry over. Mine to miss. Mine to love.
