53. Zane
53
ZANE
I don’t even feel it.
I mean, I know what happened. I saw the blade disappear in my stomach. I watched Mira’s brother pull it out, twisting to cause as much damage as possible.
But I don’t feel a thing.
Adrenaline is pounding through me the same way it does before a big game. The stakes tonight are a little higher than gold and glory, though.
Mira comes out of nowhere with a hockey stick. She swings it again and again, taking Dante to the ground. As soon as he’s down, she lunges over me, and pain shoots up my spine.
I feel that .
She’s pushing on my wound, but the pain is there and gone in a second because Mira spins away from me just as fast, the knife in her hand.
I don’t see it, but I hear the squelch of the blade as it hits its mark—then the labored sounds of Dante’s wheezing.
“I am better than you, Dante,” Mira rasps, her voice more breath than sound. “I never would have turned my back on you. I never would have sided with Dad over you. And I never, ever would have treated me the way you did.”
Dante falls back, and I can finally see the gaping wound in his neck. Blood pulses out of it to the rate of his slowing heart, puddling around him on the ground. So much of it. So much blood. His face is growing pale as he blinks up at his sister—the last face he’ll ever see.
Good fucking riddance.
“You and Dad were cruel to me, but in the end, I win. In the end, I killed you both.” Mira spits down at him as his eyes droop closed.
Hands press against my stomach. I look through bleary eyes to see her. “Your face…” I reach out and touch her swollen cheek. I can’t even look at the bruises around her throat. They’re dark and angry now; they’ll be worse in the morning.
“He stabbed you. He stabbed—” Mira pulls her shirt off, leaving her in nothing but a sports bra, and presses it to my stomach. The thin material soaks up blood too fast, but there’s so much more than it can handle. “We need an ambulance.”
As soon as the words are out of her mouth, distant sirens cut through the night. Daniel must have called.
Mira glances over her shoulder at her brother, and I know exactly what she’s thinking.
“Where’s the knife?”
“I don’t know. You’re losing a lot of blood, Zane.” I can barely hear her through her swollen throat. “The paramedics will be here soon.”
The sirens are louder. It’ll only be a minute or two now.
“Knife,” I say evenly. “Find it.”
I can tell she doesn’t want to, but Mira releases the pressure on my stomach and searches the grass. When she comes back, the bloody knife is in her hands.
I take it from her gently. Sitting up hurts like a bitch, but I find a clean corner of my shirt and wipe the blade clean.
“What are you?—”
“He came at me with the knife. I didn’t react fast enough and he stabbed me.” I hold the blade over the wound in my stomach, gripping the handle as tight as I can. “But I pulled the knife out.”
She shakes her head. “No, he pulled it out. He was holding it when I?—”
“ I pulled the knife out and I charged at him.” I hold Mira’s gaze, letting the words sink in. “I am the one who stabbed him in the neck.”
“No,” she croaks. “Zane, no. It was me. I did this. It’s okay.”
The sirens are just down the street now. I think I see red and blue flashing against the trees.
“There will be questions, Mira. If they find out you killed them both, it’ll look bad. Tell them I did it.” I reach for her with my free hand, pressing a bloody handprint to her cheek. “I should have done it, anyway. I should’ve been the one to kill him for you. I wanted to, but I didn’t know he had the knife.”
Her face is wet with tears. “You did enough, Zane. You saved my life.”
No—you saved mine.
“Aiden needs you,” I tell her instead.
If only one of us makes it out of this, I want it to be her. I already took care of my will. Mira and Aiden will get everything, and I know she’ll take care of him. She was being strangled to death and the first word out of her mouth was our son’s name. What more promise could I ask for?
“Aiden needs you,” I say again. “He loves you.”
My eyes are heavy. I want to close them, but Mira shakes me awake. “Stay awake. Aiden loves you, too. He needs you, too, Zane. Zane. Zane!”
The sirens are deafening now. They’re so loud they drown out Mira’s broken voice.
Mira waves her arm over her head, trying to bring the first responders my way since she can’t shout.
I’m tired all of the sudden. I’m so fucking tired.
“What happened?” An EMT runs over with a medical bag in his hand. He’s already lifting my shirt, inspecting my wounds.
“It was me,” I pant, my eyes fluttering closed. “I killed him.”