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My chest heaves with conflicting emotions. Memories of Anya, the English Manor where our eyes met for the first time, the stolen glances and secret rendezvous, they were all real. The pure, exhilarating rush of love. It was a stark contrast to the darkness Jackal craved, the destruction he sought.
“How can her destruction free me?” I ask.
I can feel the manic gleam in his eyes, and I fiddle with the devices strewn around—the man’s tablet, the woman’s phone, the other two, and then back to the one that matters. The one in our hand.
“By binding us together,” Jackal whispers. “It’s closure, Karol, real closure. We embrace the darkness, and the darkness sets us free.” He sounds almost serene.
With a swift motion, he taps the wordCastleand a gleeful expression overtakes his face. A circle appears around the word, pulsing in red.
“Charged,” he says giddily, loudly, looking up to the waning stars. “Are you ready to see a castle in the sky?”
“No,” the woman breathes, rolling to her side and scanning the air above.
“One by one, they all fall down,” Jackal purrs.
The woman makes a sound in the back of her throat, and something about it clenches my chest. Haven’t I felt like that before? Like I couldn’t bear to go on without Anya? Wasn’t that how all this started?
“I won’t let you,” I hiss, a surge of strength flooding me. I fight for control, pushing Jackal toward the recesses of my mind.
He fights back, laughing, “You can’t stop me. I am you!”
I no longer know who’s speaking or whether it’s all in my mind. All I know is I’m struggling and losing.
“This started because of love,” I say as our hands tighten on the controller. The red circle flashes patiently, giving the hovering finger a reddish tint.
I fight, but the most I can do is cause the finger to quiver. I’m so tired.
“You can’t beat me,” Jackal growls in my ear, and the finger shops shaking. It lowers toward the pulsing circle, and I feel the last ounce of strength fade away.
Then nothing.
CHAPTER29
Montgomery’s lungs burned as he sprinted through the trees, damp soil churning underfoot. The light grew brighter until he plunged into the cluster of evergreens at the edge of the Castle’s property.
Gasping raggedly, he pressed on, ignoring the fiery protest of his exhausted body. He had to get to Topkapi. Without his phone or tablet, he was blind, but if he could get to Claire—
He felt a tremble under his feet, and then the ground rolled as if someone had snapped a giant rug under him. A thunderous boom split the air, and the concussive force knocked him to his knees. Heart pounding wildly, he looked back to see a black cloud blossom where the Castle had been, a golden light flashing underneath as booms continued to bellow.
“Shit,” he yelled, scrambling for the nearest, thickest tree trunk. Pieces of stone—some pea-sized, some like a small appliance—showered down around him. A jagged piece whistled past, embedding itself into the tree trunk just six feet away. The roar went on and on, the ground trembling as if the very Earth was coming apart.
He stayed huddled where he was, his mind reeling as the falling debris slowed. The Castle had been rigged to detonate, and likely other properties, too. They’d searched them for Lucas, not for explosives. For all he knew, all the buildings were cleverly rigged.Who is behind this?
The falling rocks turned to pebbles, then sand, and finally a fine, silty smoke. He pulled his shirt up over his mouth and broke into a run through the dark, stone-strewn forest. Running down a slope, he noticed a light flashing through the trees ahead.
As it got closer, emerging into a clearing at a sprint, Montgomery slowed to a stop, ready to fight. Then he recognized the lithe form. “Eli!”
His stepbrother drew up beside him, gasping for breath. “What the hell is happening?” he asked.
“The Castle was wired to blow. I bet the other properties are, too.” Montgomery met Eli’s stunned gaze. “It’s one of our team.”
“It can’t be my guy, so it’s either Karol or Spencer,” Eli panted. “It’s definitely not Lucas. That guy was dead. But Spencer called his contact and told me to get back to Topkapi. He was going to rig something to haul the body, and he told me to head back. Do you think…?”
“Have you heard from your guy?” Montgomery interrupted. “Pierce?”
“Not yet, but—why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just c’mon.” Montgomery grabbed Eli’s arm to turn him toward the palace.
