Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
This didn’t seem like my house. Nothing felt the same.
It looked exactly the same. The old oak floorboards were still there.
The Turkish runner I’d picked up in Morrocco still lay down the length of the hallway.
My antique side table sat to my left, with a free-blown glass bowl—a one-of-a-kind piece I’d bought at auction to hold my keys when I walked in the door—still sitting on top.
The air in the hallway smelled musty, though, almost suffocating.
Nobody had opened my heritage bay windows at the end of the hallway in a while.
It was the same house, though. The difference was the tall, pregnant woman who blocked the hallway with a Glock trained on me.
She broke the silence first. “I thought I heard your voice.”
I licked my lips. “Seraphina…”
She looked like hell. A baggy knitted sweater hung on her frame. Despite the bulge in her belly, I could tell she’d lost some weight. Loose jeans sat low on her hips. Her long red hair was tangled and gathered in a careless knot at the nape of her neck.
Those beautiful gray eyes were bloodshot, huge, dark circles ringing them. She’d obviously been crying.
Despite all that, her mouth was twisted with hate. Her hands didn’t shake. The gleaming gray metal of the gun was pointed right at me.
I was sure she didn’t know about any of the things that were going on. I was positive she had no knowledge of the supernatural,
Maybe she did. I swallowed roughly and started again. “Do you have any idea of the mess you’ve been caught up in?”
She laughed—not her usual soft, bell-like chime. This laugh was harsh and full of pain, like sandpaper on sunburn. “This mess, as you call it, was the reason I had to get out of Ireland in the first place.”
Huh?
“Gang wars,” she added, eyes hard. “I know all about gang wars, Susan. My daddy tried to take over a rival mob in Galway a decade ago. He failed. They came after me in retaliation. The bastard offered me up just to save his skin. I was only fifteen. I thought I got out. How did I land myself in another fucking gang war?”
Oh. She didn’t know.
She just knew enough to know that she was in trouble. My eyes flicked behind her; several large suitcases lay open on the floor. Clothes and jewels spilled out. “Are you going somewhere?”
She took a quivering breath in. “Of course I’m going somewhere. I’m out. I heard what Rufus Stonnington said about your lawsuit. The feds have started sniffing around. As soon as this job’s done, I’m taking the money, and I’m going to disappear.”
“Job? What job?”
“Don’t be a fool, Susan.” Her hand shook—just for a second.
“I’m not a fool.” My tone was gentle. Seraphina was just a kid. I could turn this around.
“You are a fool. We’re all fools.” The hard look on her face wobbled.
“Especially me. I never did anything wrong, you know. I just wanted a good life. I deserve it after all the shit that I’ve been through.
When I got the internship with Vincent, and I saw you…
” She took a deep breath through her nose. “I decided I wanted a life like yours.”
“So, you decided to steal it from me.” I couldn’t hold my tongue.
“I deserved it,” she spat out through clenched teeth, jerking the gun in her hands.
“I’ve been through so much crap in my life, and I’m only twenty-two.
You didn’t do anything to get your precious charmed life, with your fabulous job and your handsome husband and your beautiful home.
” A hysterical bubble of laughter escaped her.
“So yeah, I took it. You don’t deserve it, but I do.
And I find out after the fact that it’s poisoned? Your life is poison, Susan.”
It wasn’t poison when it was mine. She’d shoot me if I said that out loud, though. Seraphina was teetering on the edge; I could see that so clearly.
I shook my head, trying to stall, trying to think of a way out of this one. I’d take a bullet, but Bart was standing right next to me, quivering in fear. He might get hit. I couldn’t let him get hurt.
Everyone was right—Seraphina was just a human girl. I was never naive enough to think that she wasn’t a threat, though, considering what she’d done to me. I’d seen her mask slip before and caught a glimpse of what was beneath. I just never thought she’d actually turn out to be… this.
A desperate, cornered animal. No morals, no mercy. She would shoot me, and she would kill me. She wouldn’t hesitate. I knew that with a deep certainty when I looked in her eyes.
The gun. I had to do something about the gun. I reached deep inside myself and focused.
“I thought I was getting everything I ever wanted.” Luckily, Seraphina kept talking.
“But I was a fool. Gordon and Delilah are monsters. That mob boss of theirs is worse than my daddy ever was. I’ve got your ugly old lawyer chained up in my basement, and he wants me to kill her as soon as he gives the word. ”
“Seraphina…”
Her jaw jutted. “And I’m going to do it, too. I’ve got nothing left, and Mr. Stone is giving me enough money to get out of here so I can find somewhere new to start over.”
I licked my lips. “But Vincent?—”
“Vincent is a pig. I thought I was getting a good man, a good husband. I saw how he was when he was with you. He adored you. I thought I could make him adore me, too, and for a while there, he did.”
Yeah, because he still had me at the same time.
“He blames me for everything that happened with you and him. The divorce. I thought he would be happy to have his parents back in his life after they cut him off. They have so much money…” Another hysterical cackle of laughter bubbled up out of her.
“I had no idea what they were really like. Now Vincent blames me. He says his whole life has fallen apart.”
Well, it was her fault. This time, I managed to keep it to myself.
“He hasn’t been home in three days. I have no idea where he is.” Her mouth twisted. “Probably fucking someone else. He never stopped cheating, you know. Not even when I told him we were pregnant.”
I had to hold my tongue again. If he cheats with you, he’ll cheat on you. The other women never liked hearing that.
“It’s not too late,” I said softly. “Seraphina… if you put down the gun, you can walk away?—”
“No.” She snapped. A hard mask slipped back over her face. “I can never walk away from who I am, Susan, I know that now. I was born a mob kid, and no matter what I do, it will follow me around forever.”
“You won’t kill Martina.”
“Of course I can. She won’t even be the first lawyer I’ve killed.”
Yeesh. I didn’t expect that. I’d already beaten myself up enough for underestimating the depths that Connor would sink to; there was no point adding to my regrets. I already knew Seraphina was evil; I just didn’t realize how far the rot went.
“I just wanted a good life.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “That’s all. But I’ve learned my lesson. I’m never going to trust another man, never in my whole life. I’m taking Mr. Stone’s money and?—”
A phone chimed. Seraphina transferred the weight of the gun to one hand with a breathtakingly familiar ease and dug her phone out of her jeans pocket. Her eyes flicked down at the screen and back to me. “Shows over, Sue. That’s him.” She smirked. “It looks like you jumped the gun. No pun intended.”
Good grief.
She let out a long, slow exhale, placed her phone on the hallway table right next to her, and gripped the Glock in both hands, making it easier to aim properly and shoot me, probably.
“I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not. I mean, I would have been, but you sold me a lie.
Your life is worse than my old one ever was.
” She jerked her chin up. “Hand over the gem.”
Almost there. “What gem?”
She stared at me. “The one you were supposed to give to Mr. Stone. The lawyer, for the gem. He’s just told me to kill her, and I was supposed to get her to talk to you on the phone to give proof of life beforehand.
I’m guessing you’ve still got the gem, so I’ll take that with me, as well as Mr. Stone’s money. ”
Got it. I smiled. “There’s no money, you idiot.”
She jerked. “What?”
“He’s not giving you any money. You still haven’t learned your lesson.”
Her jaw jutted out. “Bitch, you still haven’t figured it out yet, have you?
You’re going to die. Your fat idiot friend behind you is going to die.
Your stupid lawyer in the basement is going to die.
I might not even shoot her.” She shrugged, a jerky hitch of her bony shoulders.
“Vincent’s gone. All Mr. Stone’s men are moving out to some new gang war, somewhere.
She’ll starve to death slowly. Nobody will find her.
But if you give me the gem, I’ll make this quick. ”
My smile grew wider. “The only thing you've been right about this whole time, Seraphina, is the fact that you are a fool.”
Bart edged closer to me. “Sue… What are you doing?”
I ignored him. “The man you call Mr. Stone isn’t giving you any money. He’ll use you and toss you away. But you’re used to that, aren’t you? Everyone does it. Everyone uses you and tosses you away.”
Her mouth twisted, an ugly expression. “Fuck it. I’ll shoot the lawyer in the basement and get the money anyway.”
She pulled the trigger.
The gun clicked. Bart let out a yelp and butted me aside.
Nothing happened.
Seraphina’s nostrils flared, she looked at the gun and pulled the trigger again. It clicked, but it didn’t fire.
And it wouldn’t. While she’d been monologuing, I’d managed to use my matter-manipulation power to jam it. The bullet sitting in the chamber wasn’t going anywhere. She was lucky the gun hadn’t exploded in her hands.
Seraphina turned the gun sideways, looking at it with wide eyes. She tried again.
Nothing.
Beside me, Bart let out little squeaks of panic. The poor guy was done.
“Bart.” My voice was calm. “Go down to the basement and get Martina.” Without breaking eye contact with Seraphina, I rummaged around in the glass bowl on the table beside me, and picked out the key I was after.
“Take her to the garage out back, put her in the Benz, and take her back to Violet. If you’re up for it, come join us at the berserker portal. ”
This time, he didn’t argue. Bart knew he was done. The last twelve hours had almost destroyed him; he was running on fumes. With shaking hands, he took the key and walked past Seraphina, still frantically trying to unjam the Glock.
Finally, she glanced up at me as I walked slowly towards her. I picked up her phone, sitting on the table. Panicking, she dropped the useless Glock. Her slim hand bunched into a fist. I laughed out loud.
For the first time, true fear shone in her eyes. “What are you going to do to me?” Her voice trembled.
Good grief. I wasn’t a monster. I mean, she was a monster, but she was a twenty-two-year-old pregnant human girl.
I shrugged and held her phone up to her face, unlocking it. “Nothing. I don’t have to do anything.” Her messages appeared on the screen.
Oh, look at that. Connor had set up a group chat to coordinate his army.
Along with his message telling Seraphina to kill Martina, he’d sent orders to have his entire Middle World army assembled at an address Downtown.
I recognized the address. It was a recording studio, a little business mostly rented by podcasters who couldn’t afford their own equipment.
I knew, because it was the location for one of the berserker portals.
Connor was coming after me.
“You’ve ruined your own life, Seraphina. You’ve got nothing. No husband, no money, no friends, and you can’t seduce anyone to help you because you’re obviously pregnant. I don’t have to do anything to you.”
She stared back at me, panting, nostrils flared, her delicate pointed chin trembling in fear.
“I’ll give you some advice, though.” I leaned closer. “Run,” I whispered. “You’ve failed. You better run. Because if he catches you, you’ll beg for death before he finishes with you.”