Gabriel bent down and hoisted Jared over his shoulder. Jared’s dark hair obscured his face, and his limp arms hung down Gabriel’s back. He carried Jared to the wall, where the Russian’s body had been a few minutes ago.
Don’t chain him up. Please don’t let them chain him up.
Every muscle in my body tensed.
Gabriel held Jared upright and Dimitri closed the cuffs around his burned wrists.
Something inside me snapped.
No! No! No! Get him down! Get him down!
“Get him down!” I screamed.
“I wish I could, Kennedy.” Dimitri actually sounded apologetic.
“Then do it.”
Dimitri’s gaze flickered over the faces of my friends then back to mine. “I’m sorry. One screw-up is enough.” He looked down at the criminal’s body, before throwing it over his shoulder.
I wanted to blame Dimitri, but I couldn’t. All this started before he showed up. He wasn’t what my World History teacher referred to as the first cause—the initial action that set a course of events in motion. The first domino to fall. The finger that pulled the trigger. The one thing responsible for destroying everything that came after it.
Dimitri wasn’t the first cause, and he wasn’t the reason Jared was chained up in a cell.
I was.
Dimitri waved his ram. “Clear this room. I want everyone out of here now.”
“No,” I yelled as Gabriel grabbed my waist. “I’m not leaving him.”
My mind invented dozens of terrifying scenarios. Jared was helpless—chained to wall, burned and broken, with Andras inside him. Dimitri and Gabriel would do anything to destroy Andras.
What would stop them from killing Jared?
Nothing.
Gabriel dragged me a few feet, and I snatched my arm away. “Don’t touch me.”
Lukas crashed into Gabriel. “Get your hands off her.”
The three of us hit the concrete. Lukas lunged at Gabriel, and Lukas’ shoulders plowed into his stomach. For a second, it looked like Lukas had a chance.
Gabriel let his feet slide out from under him, taking Lukas with him. Once he had Lukas on the ground, Gabriel had the advantage. He fought like a seasoned soldier, flipping Lukas onto his back in one fluid maneuver. “I don’t want to hurt you, kid. But I will.”
I can’t let him hurt Lukas, too.
Instinct took over, and I scrambled to my feet, scrolling through the images of the cell my mind. Were there any weapons in here?
A flash of white caught my eye.
Gabriel knelt over Lukas, with his knee between Lukas’ shoulder blades. He cocked his arm, preparing to throw a punch.
I dove toward him, my body sliding across the icy floor. My hand closed around the whip and tore it from Gabriel’s belt strap. The weapon was heavier than I imagined, and it took all my strength to raise it. My execution wasn’t as smooth as Gabriel’s, but the white vertebrae unhinged and sailed above my head in a wide arc.
Gabriel turned, his body still pinning Lukas’. “You’d better drop my whip yesterday, or you’ll wish you had.
“Then get off him.”
“Kennedy—” Dimitri reached out toward me. “Hand me the whip. No one is going to hurt you or your friends.”
My hand trembled violently. I could barely keep my shoulder raised. “I don’t believe you.” The words came out in ragged sobs. “You’d kill Jared to destroy Andras.”
Dimitri’s shoulders sagged and his forehead creased with what—worry? Concern? It was hard to imagine him experiencing either. “No one is doing anything to anyone right now.” He glared at Gabriel, until he eased off Lukas’ chest.
“Give me my whip.” Gabriel stalked toward me.
My shoulders relaxed, and the vertebrae fell against my back. The barbs bit through my shirt, cutting my skin like razors.
Gabriel’s expression changed from anger to concern. “Don’t move. You’ll only make it worse.”
I cried out in pain.
“K—Kennedy?” Jared rasped. This time, it was his voice.
I spun around whimpering, as the barbs cut deeper than the razor wire.
Jared’s head hung limp against his chest.
“He’s still in there.” My muscles seized with every word.
Through the blur of my tears, I saw Jared’s head move. He raised his chin in tiny jerks, until he found the strength to hold it upright.
Slowly, the malicious smile stretched across his lips.
“He’s still in there.” The demon mimicked my voice, capturing it perfectly. Andras reverted back to his own empty tone. “But not for long.”
24. BULLET WITH BUTTERFLY WINGS
I awoke to darkness and a damp cold seeping into my bones.
Where?
Images flashed through my mind like pictures in a flipbook.
Iron chains—
Raw, burned skin—
Metal cuffs—
The scar above Jared’s eye—
The sound of my screams—
Swearing to kill Dimitri and Gabriel—
Calling out for Jared—
My eyes adjusted to darkness slowly.
Jared pulled me against his shoulder. “You’re okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.”
I breathed into his shirt. It smelled earthy and rich, like a campfire. Nothing like the combination of copper and salt that always lingered on Jared’s skin.
The last few hours came flooding back, and I realized Lukas was the one reassuring me. Alara, Priest, and Elle were huddled around us, in the tunnel outside Jared’s cell. Elle was scrunched under Lukas’ arm like she was freezing, and Priest and Alara were propped up against the wall, dead asleep.
Where were Dimitri and Gabriel?
“Jared.” I shot up.
If they’d hurt him—
“He’s all rig
ht.” Lukas caught my arm. “I mean… he’s not all right. But no one’s been in the cell, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Are you sure?”
Lukas nodded, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “We’ve been here the whole time. Don’t you remember?”
“Bits and pieces.”
The horrible ones.
“You lost it.” Lukas picked up his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “You were threatening Andras, and begging Gabriel and Dimitri to get him out of Jared’s body. Then you did a one-eighty and refused to leave Jared in there alone, because you thought Dimitri and Gabriel were going to kill him. Which is the reason for our fancy accommodations tonight.”
“I’m sorry.” I’d said it so many times now, but what else could I say?
How do you apologize for destroying someone’s life? Destroying their family? What can you say when words aren’t enough?
“Don’t be.” Lukas nudged me with his shoulder. “You scared the crap out of Dimitri and Gabriel. They agreed to let us all sleep out here.”
“That’s a lot of trust for those two.”
“Not really.” Lukas smiled. “They took the keys to the cell.”
The cell.
Were they burning him with holy water?
“We can’t let them hurt Jared.” I hadn’t meant to yell.
Bear sprang to his feet, and Priest bolted upright, knocking off his headphones. “What happened?” The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” echoed through the tunnel.
Alara’s eyes flew open. She yanked the paintball gun from her tool belt. “Is something in here?”
“Just us.” Lukas put his hand on the barrel of the weapon, guiding her arm back down.
Elle rubbed her eyes and stretched. The way she unfolded her long limbs in the small space reminded me of the night she’d slept in the bathroom with me, while I puked my guts out from drinking too many wine coolers.
Why didn’t I send her home? What if something happened to her, too?
Elle ran her hands through her russet hair. “What did I miss?” When she noticed me staring back at her, she dove over Lukas’ lap and threw her arms around my neck. “Oh my god. I thought we were going to have to lock you up in a padded room or something.”