CHAPTER 28 #3
“So, she didn’t want you,” Iro lied, hoping that it would work.
“You were there, though, and she was bored. She told me you turned out to be a decent fuck, so she kept you, but the real reason Cassia turned you was that she was bored. She thought you might make a good playmate for Miranda when I came back, so that she would be occupied and wouldn’t do something stupid like getting discovered.
That’s what Cassia told me: she’d still use you whenever she wanted, but it was really Miranda whom she wanted to pass the time with until I returned.
She doesn’t love you. I keep all of her letters, if you want to see the proof. I’ll show you myself right now.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not. I wish I were. I don’t think Cassia is capable of love, Gigi. She never has been. She’s only interested in taking care of herself, serving her own self-interest, and she loves her possessions. You and I should be on the same side here. We’re both simply possessions to her.”
“Once you’re gone, things will change,” Gigi said.
“No, they won’t. And I’m sorry,” she replied.
“What are you–”
Quickly, Iro moved until she was standing in the open doorway, and she fired from the single-barreled pistol she’d picked up at an auction over a hundred years ago.
It was old, yes, but she kept it clean, and when she pressed the trigger, a silver bullet entered Gigi’s body.
It didn’t have to hit her heart to cause real damage, giving Iro a better chance in their fight, but it did.
The bullet must have hit Gigi in the heart because she flopped backward, and soon after, her body turned a pale blue, the shade moving from the center of her body and out to her feet and hands.
Iro still held the knife in her hand just in case as she approached and saw Gigi’s eyes go distant and pale.
“I am sorry,” she said again. “But this wasn’t ever going to end any other way.”
She pulled Gigi’s body down to the floor and went to her closet, where she pressed the button and looked around the small, hidden room, figuring out where Zara had gone to the moment Gigi said Zara had run.
If Zara had run, Gigi would’ve been able to follow her scent, but not in the room that was one step away from being hermetically sealed.
“Zara?”
“Oh, thank God,” Zara said when her head popped up from behind the bed.
“You’re safe. You can come out. I have to get Arwen.”
“Where is she? Is she okay?”
“No, she’s not, and I want you to leave before she wakes up.”
“Wakes up? You–” Zara paused and stood. “She’s…”
“She’s becoming one of us now, yes. I got there too late. And when she wakes up, I need to be the one to tell her that I failed her, so I need you to be gone.”
“I want to talk to her to explain myself,” Zara said and moved around the bed and out into the closet with her.
Iro shoved her into the wall, making the hanging clothes bang and fling around them, and she held the knife to Zara’s neck, baring her fangs as she growled.
“This is partly your fault. You led her to this.”
“You led her to this,” Zara argued. “Had we not met you that night, she’d still be human.”
“And I will never forgive myself for that, but you led Cassia to her. You made it easier for Cassia to get what she wants, and I am determined to never let Cassia get what she wants ever again.”
“I’ll help you,” Zara offered.
“You’ll leave,” Iro replied and stepped back. “Before I do something else Arwen will never forgive me for.”
Zara looked terrified as she stood up fully.
“Where can I go? Cassia knows where I live. She’ll just send someone else to kill me.”
“Go to my office and stay there for now, until I figure out what I want to do with you. I want to talk to Arwen first. As much as I want to…” Iro shook her head.
“I’m not doing anything without discussing it with her.
She’s already had the biggest choice of her life taken away from her.
I’m not going to do that to her again. There’s a door concealed in the wall by the bathroom in my office.
I’ll call security and tell them to let you up.
You can hide there from Cassia and whoever else.
I have animal blood in the small fridge in there, too.
It won’t taste good, but it’s better than nothing. ”
Zara looked down and saw blood.
“I smelled it, but I thought it was Gigi’s.” She reached for Iro. “You’re not healing.”
“I will. Now, go. Stay there until I tell you, Zara.”
“Okay. I’ll go.”
“And, Zara?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know how she’s going to feel, but she… might not want me after this, once she realizes what I’ve brought into her life. I hope that’s not the case, but it might be, and I won’t put my own needs over hers. I… She might need you.”
“I’m a vampire, too,” Zara said. “I helped Cassia.”
“Yes, but she’ll ultimately forgive you for that in time. It’s easier with friends; harder with–”
“One true loves?” Zara guessed. “Is that what you two are? Why it happened so quickly between the two of you? How you were able to push Cassia aside so easily?”
“I hope so. I hope she’ll forgive me,” she said.
“Now, go. I’ll text you the address. Take the subway.
Stay sharp and look around for anyone who might be following you.
Turn off your phone once you have the information to get you there.
I’ll have someone in security leave you a new one on my desk.
It will have my number and only my number programmed into it. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Zara answered.
“Cassia doesn’t like technology all that much, but she’ll use it if she’s determined to find you. Be smart, Zara.”
When Zara nodded and left the closet, Iro took a deep breath, walked out, and saw Gigi’s dead body on her floor. She would have to figure out what to do with her later, but for now, she needed to get Arwen out of her car.