Page 56

Nic

A scream echoes. I think it’s mine—until it cuts off in a watery splash.

Lana is in the lake. Barry just threw her in.

The sickening sound of splashing and gurgling claws through the frozen air. Her shrieks turn ragged and desperate.

I whip toward Barry. “You—you threw her in!”

He doesn’t react. Instead, he calmly pulls his phone from his pocket, his fingers moving across the screen. Typing.

He’s been on that damn phone all night. Texting.

A strange, creeping horror curls in my stomach. I step closer, my voice shaking. “Who are you texting?”

Barry lifts his head, his expression unreadable. His voice is almost bored. “Who else? Your boyfriend, of course.”

The words don’t make sense at first because my brain won’t let them.

“Wait . . . wait. You drank the wine. You should have been affected by the CX3.”

Barry’s gaze flickers to me, the way you’d look at a child asking something obvious. “No, I wasn’t affected.”

“But . . . how? Why?”

Behind me, Lana’s screams falter and her thrashing grows weaker.

I spin toward the lake, my stomach twisting hard. “Barry, can you call 911!”

Barry doesn’t move. “Why the fuck would I do that?”

“What do you mean, why?” I whirl on him. “Because she’s going to die if we don’t help her! The water is too cold to swim. Barry, come on!”

He shrugs. “I'm sorry. I can’t do that.”

“She’s Kai’s sister!” I shove at his chest.

“Yes. And her brother told me to throw her in.”

I freeze, the words hitting me like a punch to the gut. “Kai told you that?”

Barry nods.

I shake my head wildly. No. No, Kai wouldn’t—he couldn’t. “He can’t mean it. He’s angry, that’s all. Please—let's just get her help. We can’t let her die.”

Barry doesn’t reply, instead he dials a number on his phone. The line clicks. Barry puts the phone on speaker.

Kai’s voice comes through thick with relief. "I’m so fucking sorry, love. I should have been there—"

I choke on my breath. "Kai, the lake—Lana—she's in there!” I can barely force the words out. “It’s freezing, we have to help her.”

Silence.

My pulse pounds. Something in me tightens painfully.

"Kai?"

“Leave her.” His voice is brutal.

"What?” I stumble back. "Kai, she’s your sister!"

"And she was going to kill you."

"But she didn’t kill me!"

"She killed your sister. You have the vengeance you’ve always wanted."

A fresh wave of nausea slams into me, and I screech. "She’s your sister!"

A pause. A deep, suffocating pause.

"My sister died a long time ago. That was a soulless monster."

My legs give out. I barely feel my knees hit the wooden pier as my hands clutch the railing. My gaze locks on the water.

Black. Still. Unbroken. She’s gone. A sob rips from my throat. My arms wrap around myself, as if to hold the splintering parts together.

Behind me, Barry murmurs into the phone. “She’s crying.”

The line stays silent. Then—Kai swears—a harsh, bitten-out curse.

"How long has Lana been under?” He asks Barry.

Barry checks his watch. “About four minutes, maybe more.”

The breath in my chest turns sharp, hopeful. "Please, Kai?” I sob.

Another long, horrible pause. Then—his voice breaks, just slightly. "Fuck. Call them."

The sirens come too late.

I stand motionless as the divers and paramedics drag Lana from the water. Her body is limp. Unresponsive. Lips blue. Skin ashen. No pulse.

They begin chest compressions. Shock her with the defibrillator.

Nothing.

Vin and Ash arrive, their presence sweeping through the scene, controlling it before the police can.

Too long. She’d been in the water too long.

I stand there, watching, feeling like the cold is creeping into my own bones and freezing me from the inside out.

That could have been me.

And in my case, there wouldn’t have been an ambulance or divers.

Vin and Ash drive us home. The car ride is silent, except for the low hum of the engine, too soft for how loud my thoughts are.

I sit stiffly, my nails digging into my palms, trying to stop the shaking, despite Barry holding me against his chest and rubbing my upper arms.

Barry may just have saved my life. He wasn’t affected by the poison, although he guzzled half the bottle.

“Barry,” I croak, barely recognizing my own voice.

His arms tighten. "I’ve got you, Nic."

His hands move over my arms, his touch grounding, but it doesn’t stop the shaking. Doesn’t stop the way my body still feels like it’s somewhere at the bottom of the lake.

"How did Kai know you weren’t affected?"

He chuckles, the sound oddly normal in the weight of the silence. "I don’t know. He asked if I took any psych meds. He must think I’m deranged or something. Which I totally take as a high compliment, by the way."

My stomach twists. Barry takes Medikinet and Circadin. They all block the CX3.

Too many stars aligned for me tonight. Otherwise, the odds were horribly stacked against me.

I would have died. Lana would have killed me. And Kai wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.

I stare at my hands. They don’t feel like mine.

I don’t know if I did the right thing. Did I just save a vicious monster? Or maybe—maybe I just saved the last piece of Kai’s humanity?

But the worst thought is the one that won’t leave me alone.

Kai was really going to let his sister die.

I know I love him. Irrevocably. Desperately. Completely.

But a part of me is terrified.

His darkness isn’t just gray. It’s pitch black.