Vicious Minds: Part 3 (Children of Vice 6)

“No one—”

“Look.” She lifted Gigi, and I froze, watching the timer around her neck go down. Four hours, and thirty-four minutes, fifteen seconds. Then fourteen. It kept going, and I could not move. My eyes drifted up to Gigi’s little face.

“What is it? Wyatt, what’s wrong with her?” Helen rushed to the bed, but I grabbed her arm, stopping her from going any farther. “Wyatt?”

“He doesn’t want you to be in danger,” Calliope spoke, causing her to turn. “There is a bomb around my daughter’s neck. It was put there by my half-brother as an ultimatum. Kill the Callahans, or I kill your daughter.”

“Oh, my God.” Aunt Mina came closer; however, she stopped the moment Calliope showed her the gun in her hand.

“Mom, step back,” Sedric spoke, pulling her away from the bed. “Is that why you called us all here? I understand. But, let’s stay calm. We can—”

“We?” She laughed, shaking her head. “There is no we. There can never be a we, not until I find out who betrayed us!”

“You said it was your half-brother,” I replied and tried to move closer to her again, but she fired at my feet, causing me to back up.

“Who let a stranger into this house?” she asked coldly. “I need to know. They need to die first. If we are all going to die, the traitorous son of bitch needs to die first. So, who did it? Was it you, Helen? The poison

failed, so this your plan B.”

“Calliope, I would—”

“Liar,” she sneered, her grip on the gun shaking. “You all can hate me all you want. Try to kill me, fine. I’ll forgive you for the sake of your mother. But harm my child? I will rip you limb from fucking limb. So, do not fucking lie! Who let him in? Who?

None of them answered, which only made her bite her lips in frustration, tears in her eyes as she hunched over Gigi! Whispering something in her ear before kissing her forehead, the gun dropping from her hands.

“All of you leave,” she muttered tiredly, resting back on to the pillows. “Take your precious family and get out.”

“Now that is definitely a horrible plan,” Uncle Neal said, coming over and sitting on the bed beside us. He put his hand on Gigi’s head. “Even if you don’t kill us, Ethan would. And if Ethan didn’t, I’m not sure I’d like to witness that grief.”

“Staying here and dying is a better plan then?” she asked.

“Not dying at all is the best plan.” He smiled wide and goofy as always. “We aren’t all useless. It looks like we have a little over four hours, so let’s get this thing off her.”

Calliope shook her head. “I know the person who made the bomb. He’s a genius when it comes to things like this—”

“And so am I!” Helen called out, breaking free of my hand and standing beside our uncle. “Yes, I tried to poison you, and yes, part of me will always hate you. But I didn’t, nor would I ever let anyone into this house. Tell me everything you know, and I’ll work to get it off her.”

“Helen!” I finally found the voice to speak.

Was she insane? This wasn’t some super-computer or simple hacking. This was a fucking bomb.

“Ethan would kill me for not even trying,” she replied, hopping onto the bed and moving around with them. “And he’d kill you for just standing there and watching. Is there anything you can give her to keep her from waking up? I have a feeling this thing gets more sensitive as the countdown goes on.”

“You all have to go,” Calliope said again. “If all of us die, Ethan…Ethan can’t take that.”

“Aren’t you mad at him?” Sedric chuckled, also moving coming closer to the bed. “You looked ready to burn the house down just a little bit ago.”

“Yes, which is why us dying is the worst punishment for him. Next time, he’ll listen to his wife.”

“Harsh.” I sighed, stepping forward and placing my hand on Gigi’s wrist to check her pulse. “So, harsh, in fact, that I don’t think he’ll ever remarry. Don’t you know smart people can’t handle ever being wrong? It messes with their mind.”

“Which is why you have to be alive,” she said, looking to him. “Roman gave me a false choice. Kill the Callahans, or I kill your daughter. But my daughter is a Callahan. He wants me to beg, to grovel for her life just so he can kill her anyway. I won’t kill anyone for anyone else anymore. This is my choice. So, go.”

“You don’t seem to be getting it, Calliope,” I replied, looking up from her daughter to meet her eyes. “This is our choice, too. We are a family. This is a family. The more you try to get us to leave, the more everyone is going to stay. Now, it’s a pride thing. Either we are all dying…or we win. That’s the way it’s always been.”

“That’s the way it’s always going to be,” Uncle Neal said, putting his hand onto my shoulder. “So…let’s save her and then go kick your brother’s ass.”

“Half-brother,” she replied.