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“Sit,” she ordered, taking another step toward me.
I fell as much as sat in the chair I’d just gotten up from.
She stepped closer, reached out, and ripped the comm device from my ear. “So, what brings you to Gozo? Looking for me, perhaps?”
I shook my head slowly.
“One wouldn’t think so since I left forty-five years ago and decided I’d never come back. And you know I didn’t. Not until today.” She cocked the gun. “You were always a disappointment, Schön. I had such high hopes for you. Even from the day we met.”
If she’d left forty-five years ago, that meant she would’ve been fourteen. The same age I was when she and I first met. “I’m sorry to hear I disappointed you, Mrs. Strousberg.”
She sneered. “You know that’s not my name.”
“No?”
“I am Mrs. Rávdos. Mrs. Salvatore Rávdos. Those who know me well, of which there are few, call me Ananke, the great goddess who rules over compulsion, constraint, and restraint, and presides over all forms of slavery. She is the wife of Cronos.”
She smiled, except by the time the expression left her face, it looked more like a sneer. “Do you know I was the only woman he ever married? The others, just mistresses. He tossed them aside like the trash they were. You, though, how he wanted you. However, I couldn’t allow it. You looked too much like me the day he took me away from this place.” She had a look of disgust on her face as she glanced at the floor. “He would’ve kept you and gotten rid of me. I thought about killing you then, but what was the point?”
Her gaze returned to mine, and she moved the gun closer. “I told him you weren’t ready. You needed work.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Foolish man. He believed I was grooming you for him. Of course, he’d gone mad by then. Not all the way, but enough I worried he’d cause trouble. Hurt the business, you know?”
I slowly shook my head.
“Come now, Schön. You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you? And so I have to kill you. It gets tiresome, all the people I’ve had to kill. So many people…” Her voice trailed off.
“Then, my Sheka took over. ‘Mama, you don’t have to kill anymore. I’ll do it for you.’ Such a sweet boy. The first person he killed was Mithras’ mother. I’d been counting the minutes until Cronos died and I could get rid of her forever. And you, even after he was gone, I wanted to kill you. Instead, I thought you’d come work for me.” Her facial expressions were hard to follow. It was as though she too was mad.
“There’s no point in killing me,Mrs. Strousberg. The restaurant is surrounded, as I’m sure you know.”
“Yes, but I will enjoy it. You were the last he asked for, so it’s fitting. Then they will kill me.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter to her.
She put her other hand on the gun, leveling it. My comms was gone, but I knew they could still hear what was happening in here, unless someone had found the listening devices Rogue planted. I could try to upend the table, but I didn’t think I could do it before she got the shot off. Even if they stormed the restaurant, she’d kill me before they stopped her.
I watched her finger slowly press against the trigger and closed my eyes, picturing Magnet. Thank God I’d known love before I died. Even fleeting, I got to feel it. That would give me peace.
“Open your eyes and look at me, dammit.”
I shook my head. “No.” I stared into Magnet’s beautiful eyes and heard him tell me he loved me right as I heard the click of the gun. At the same time, another shot went off, and I heard something fly across the room. My eyes sprung open, and I sawherstaring in horror at her bleeding hand.
Things seemed to be happening in slow motion. Oleander raced forward, and I knew she was speaking, but I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Then Rogue came through the front door. More people in tactical gear followed from both directions, but I couldn’t focus on any of them.
“Prisca!”My neck snapped when I heard Magnet’s voice say my name, and I turned to look at him racing toward me.
My blurred vision became clear as I looked into his eyes.
“Thank God you’re okay,” he said, touching my face and my hair. “I love you so much.”
“I love you,” I said, but it came out as a whisper.
“Mag, get her out of here,” I heard Zeppelin say, but I didn’t see him. I didn’t see anyone, not evenher. Just Magnet.
“Francesca?” I asked.
“She’s shaken up but fine. Cayman and Bexli have her,” Zeppelin answered.
“Thank God Ananke didn’t kill her,” I said under my breath.
“Ananke,” Magnet repeated.
