Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The elevator brought me to the second floor. As I stepped outside, I saw people running, some bloodied, some not. The emergency lights were on, flashing orange and white, from what I assumed was the power going out. I could also smell smoke nearby, could hear the crackle of a fire even if I couldn’t see it.
I started to follow the others until I noticed the bodies of several staff scattered along the hallway, many of them medical staff. I followed the trail until I came to a room at the end of the hall where one staff member slumped over a door leaving it ajar. I peered inside a large meeting room and my heart leaped as I saw Cassidy with her back to me. Facing her was Tyler cornered into a window, grabbing his shoulder which was bleeding as was his lip.
Cassidy pointed her knife at him. “I’ll make this nice and slow for you, Kennedy,” she crooned. “Just like you and your people did to your little test subjects.” I noticed her gun in her other hand and wondered how many bullets she had left. “I’ll cut off your dick and balls first then stuff them in your fucking mouth and make you eat them.”
Kennedy watched her, hardly moving. “We’ll burn before then.”
“We’ll see.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” he said, softly. “I’m sorry we failed you. But this had to happen.”
“None of this had to happen,” she hissed. “You just thought you could win your noble peace prize with blood on your fucking hands. Could be the billionaire who supplied the military with a bunch of jacked-up soldier dogs. Or anyone who was willing to pay the price. Fuck you, Kennedy.” She moved on him. “Get on your knees.” When he didn’t move, she shoved him down. She ripped into his clothes then started to press the point of her knife into his skin, twisting it.
His screams were strained as he gritted his teeth. Sweat dripped down his face and neck. I stepped further into the room as I wanted to see. Needed to see.
I felt numb as I watched, reality beginning to unravel around me. This was happening. And I couldn’t move.
Or maybe I didn’t want to.
Cassidy moved her knife out then back into his thigh, circling it around, digging it in.
I listened to his cries until someone shoved me aside, making me fall to my knees. Before I could react, Leo was on Cassidy. They struggled, back and forth, Cassidy shrieking as she wrenched out of his grip. As Leo tried to take a hold of her, I saw him bring up his hand. There I caught the shard of glass in his fist. He brought it down and stabbed her in the back several times and then in the neck. Cassidy screamed before she was able to buck him off her. He lunged at her again and she brought up her gun.
Bang! Bang!
One bullet to the chest and the other to the stomach. She tried to let off more but there was only the click of the trigger as the barrel lay empty. Leo fell back into the wall. Cassidy fell back on to her side.
I sat there frozen. Everything had happened so fast and yet so slow at the same time. I hissed through my teeth as I crawled over to Cassidy.
I could see her shallow breathing, her blood pooling around her. I pulled off her mask and saw her staring at me.
“Damn,” she said, laughing a little, blood dripping from her mouth. “Guess I shouldn’t have…gotten so…greedy…huh?”
I put a hand on her shoulder as she tried to move, a cry tearing up her throat as she clamped her mouth shut.
“Take…it,” she groaned, her bloody fingers reaching for the knife. “Finish it.”
My eyes drifted to the knife.
I saw a shadow move at the corner of my eye and knew my phantom was there leaning down toward me, his skull face next to my ear.
Finish it, Eve.
“Eve.”
I looked up and saw Tyler watching me. His face twisted as he shifted below the sill of the window. “It really didn’t have to be this way.”
I slowly rose to my feet. “Maybe it didn’t. Maybe you should have known you couldn’t hide forever. You could have stopped the experiments your dad started, but you chose to keep going.” My hands turned into fists at my sides. “But they’re done now and you…you’re going away.”
Tyler gaped at me, then started to laugh. “This won’t stop if I go to jail, Eve. If I even end up there. And I’ll just start again somewhere else. This was my father’s work and it’s mine. Our family’s work, and we were too close to stop now.” He let out a rattled breath. “If Adrien’s baby lives, at least one of you girls will show our success.” His eyes drifted down my body and stopped at my legs. “I’m sorry it couldn’t be you, Eve.”
His words confused me at first, but then something warm trailed down my leg.
Looking down, I saw the bottom of my gown soaked, blood trickling down my thighs. I didn’t need to lift the fabric to know where it was coming from.
Maybe it was the stress. Maybe the fear. Or the blow from Tyler’s father, coupled with the falls. My body, sensing danger, rejecting what was inside. Whatever the reason, it felt inevitable, as if this moment had been waiting to happen all along.
“We can start again, Eve,” Tyler said softly. “We can try again. Make things better.”
I felt the shadow again at my back, my phantom’s cold hand on my arm.
Look what he did.
Look what he took from us.
Make him pay, Eve.
Make him pay.
I stood there, shaking, staring at the blood.
Let me in.
I stiffened, and suddenly, I felt like I was miles away. I crouched next to Cassidy’s lifeless body. Took the mask and put it on. Grabbed the knife and stepped over her. Tyler’s eyes widened; his face pale.
“Eve.”
I shoved the knife in.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until his stomach was a pool of blood that my knife splashed in.
I turned away, or at least I thought I did. I blinked, and suddenly I was standing at the edge of the stairway. Slowly, I descended, step by step, until I reached the bottom.
Micheal was leading the woman out, but when his eyes met mine, I saw the fear in them. It wasn’t just him—Rebecca, Maria, and the others following behind looked the same, their faces pale and stunned. Adrien clutched her baby tightly, her steps faltering. Dom was helping Leslie, who was limping on one leg, both of them slowing as they noticed me. Their gazes lingered, as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Hands turned me around, and I stared up into hard yellow eyes.
“Eve,” Emery breathed. There was blood on him too. He still wore the black facemask. His hands gripped me and I knew he was real. “Evee.” His voice cracked. I couldn’t even move as he brought his arms around me, save to let my knife fall. His body shook against me and I wasn’t sure if he was crying or laughing from relief.
It didn’t matter. I was far away.
He pulled away to study me.
“I know that look,” he said, fear laced in his voice. His hand wiped my damp hair away. “Come back to me, Eve. Come back.”
I was being pulled one way and another within some deep dark void, felt the demon in my mind keeping hold of me.
“Come back, sweetheart.”
A thunderous crash nearby forced us to break away. Cursing, he wrapped his arm around me and he led me out the front with the others.
In the cold night, we stood watching the flames along the west wing take over. We watched Severfalls burn. And all that happened within would turn to ash. And those responsible would remain to haunt the remnants.