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“No, we don’t,” Leo states plainly, standing over us. “Let him die.”
In the muted dark, it’s hard to make out the expression on his face, but it’s not the one I thought he’d have the day we found Kingsley. Not only have we found him, we have hands on him.
He’s waited so long for this. It’s what he wanted—he can finally avenge his brother’s murder. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t deserve the fuss. He deserves to die as insignificant as he is.”
“It’s not up to you,” I grit out, pushing my finger deeper into the bullet wound while I find Christopher’s tortured stare.
Of anyone, he’s lost the most. The one that still stands to lose as the conversation from earlier reminds me.
“Let him die,” he repeats Leo’s wish.
“He took your brother…” I remind Leo before doing the same to Christopher. “And your daughter. He tried to take your girlfriend and your wife. He took her.”
“And you’ve got her back,” Leo shouts loud enough that Christopher tries to pry him away while Casper has the medical kit, trying to get enough gauze to plug the hole. “Get the fuck off me!” Leo bellows, trying to push Christopher away.
“Leo…” Christopher pulls him back, hands grasping either side of his face so that he’s looking him in the eyes instead of his grandfather. The rage trembling his breaths makes it obvious that he’s rethinking the decision to let Kingsley die as simply as this.
“Blood for blood,” I tell them both as Casper adds, “He has answers.”
“Which he will never give us.”
Leo’s right—Kingsley won’t ever let us get anything out of him. We all know it. We all know this isn’t about answers anymore. Not from him. This is revenge. He needs to feel the pain he’s caused.
Christopher nods, releasing his grip on Leo as he tells Lucian, “He’s the reason Kit’s gone.”
Lucian stares down at Kingsley. Anger and sadness stiffen his muscles, curling his hands into tight fists while he silently debates whatever decision he’s torn between.
“I want to watch him die,” Leo growls at his silence, taking a step closer but never lowering to his height. “Like I watched my brother.”
Lucian stares between his father and his son. The conflict in his eyes is brimming with hesitation.
Right and wrong. Peace and war. Good and evil. It’s all there. It always is with them because they all want to be something better than what they are. I don’t though. I am who I am, and I’m at peace with that.
Without another second wasted, I pull my finger away and take my knife from my pocket.
“What are you doing?” Lucian marks me with a warning glower.
“Keeping my fucking word.” Flicking my blade open, I stab it straight into the bottom of Kingsley’s stomach, and pushing through the pain that the resistance of his flesh causes, I gut him open.
It’s what they want—they want to watch him choke on his own blood and suffocate as it floods his lungs. They want to be the reason he dies without feeling like the monsters they are. They wanted blood; I’ve given it to them.
Kingsley mumbles and mumbles, eyes rolling and flitting, body shaking. He mumbles and sputters while his skin blanches and cold sweat begins to percolate on his forehead. Death is an emphatic thing, and I feel it pulse in my hands, throb in my veins. I feel it everywhere as his gasps become short and blocked. Only one comprehensible thing comes out of his mouth: “Pe-pe-petru-u-sh-ka.”
“What did you say?” I ask him, but it’s pointless because once it grabs you, death won’t let you go.
“We need to get Lucy out of the car,” Casper tells me, pulling me away as he eyes the clean-up team that’s arriving in their blacked-out vehicles.
“We’ve tried,” one of the guys from the helo team says as we push past them to get to the Discovery. “She’s not budging.”
“There were three shots. We need to be careful in case she’s hurt. Don’t want to make it worse.” Casper grimaces as we take stock of the state of the car.
“If we don’t get her out, it won’t fucking matter.”
When I slip inside the car again, Lucy’s still huddled in on herself. It’s the first time she’s shown any sign that she’s not okay, and everything in me wants to help her. I want to get her out of here and safe so I can go to the church and get my swan back. Guilt nags at me for thinking it while the girl I failed again stares at me terrified. For wanting to hurry this along so I can put eyes on Georgina. However, it’s an instinct I can’t resist. Until I set eyes on her, I can’t know she’s all right.
“The car’s going to blow, Freckles. You can see the smoke; can you smell the burning plastic? That’s the wires melting, and once they’re exposed…”
