Page 66 of Final Installment

“Huh?Yeah.”He shook his head.“I’m fine.I think.My ears are killing me.”

I noticed a bit of blood trickling from his left ear and reached over to touch it.“I think you might have ruptured an ear drum.”

“Yeah?”He touched the same spot, his fingers coming away bloody.“Yeah.I think I did.”

“Did you hit your head?”His confused reaction worried me.“Maybe you have a concussion?”

“I don’t think I did.”He touched his forehead.“No, I was right behind Dafina.I hit the door and then crawled out.The explosion was behind us.Grandfather…”

As his voice trailed off, I followed his suddenly somber gaze.There, laid out on the gravel drive, was our grandfather.Two of his bodyguards stood over him.The men had stayed in the shadows most of the night.One of them shucked his jacket and bent down to place it over our grandfather’s upper body and face.

“Is he…?”I couldn’t even say the word.

“Yes,” Skender said soberly.

“The blast?”Dafina asked.

“Or his heart,” I said, thinking it could have been any of a dozen different things that finally killed him.

“Is she smiling?”Dafina asked with disgust.

I finally spotted my mother when one of the bodyguards moved.She stood over our grandfather, staring down at him with the most unhinged smile I had ever seen.It had never been a secret that she hated her father-in-law, but to loom over his dead body grinning like a psychopath?It was chilling.

“Elona,” Luka called my name as he approached in a no-nonsense manner.“We’re leaving.”

“But the police?They’ll want to interview us—.”

“Zec will handle it.”He gently grasped my upper arm.“It’s time for us to go.”He glanced at my brother and sister and then to Dusan.“Take them to one of your safe houses.”He looked over at our mother and scowled.“You’ll have to take her, too.”

Dusan seemed less than enthusiastic about that, but he didn’t argue.“Fine.”

“Come on.”Luka tugged on my arm.“We need to leave now.”

“Wait.”Skender stepped closer, trying to shield me from Luka.“You’re not taking our sister anywhere.”

“I’m not leaving her here, and she’s not going with you.”

“Why not?”I asked, thrown by his suddenly possessive behavior.

“I’m not taking a chance with my soon-to-be wife.Not after tonight.”He narrowed his eyes at my sister and then turned his ire toward the burning mansion.“You’re coming with me so I can keep you safe.”

Before I could mount any sort of protest, a speeding car skidded to a stop nearby.Kristo jumped out and shouted.“Take it.Get as far away from here as you can.”

“Come with us.”I clasped my friend’s hand.“You can’t stay here.It’s not safe.”

“I’ll be fine.”Kristo gently withdrew his hand from mine and then tenderly touched my face.“Go with Luka.He’ll keep you safe.”

“Come on.”Luka roughly dragged me toward the car and all but shoved me into the passenger seat.He slammed the door shut, shouted something at Kristo and then slid into the driver’s seat.“Put on your seatbelt.”

I didn’t argue.I probably should have.This lunatic was basically kidnapping me from the site of a bombing.

This man has lost his mind.

And I’m even crazier letting him steal me away.

As he sped away from the destruction, all I could think about was a text message Skender had sent me the morning of the engagement dinner.What had he said?That he was going to fix things?

Was this his doing?Had he decided to take a page out of the playbook that had ruined our childhood?To use a bomb like the ones our fathers had used to terrorize each other?