Page 64 of These Monstrous Ties

He laughs. “That will hurt,” he acknowledges, “but it won’t kill me.” He digs the barrel of his own gun in a little deeper to the side of my head. “This though, this will.”

Nicolas is full of barely contained fury. But he knows as well as I do that Lucifer has just turned the tables. There’s no way, even if both Nicolas and I fire at the same time, that we can get Lucifer down before he puts a bullet in my brain.

And I have no doubt he would. He’s already fucked me over once.

For the first time since this standoff began, Nicolas and I lock eyes. I keep the gun pressed awkwardly against Lucifer’s thigh, but I speak first.

“Go,” I say. “Go and tell Jeremiah. He’ll figure it out.”

Lucifer laughs darkly behind me. “I doubt that, Lilith.”

Nicolas shakes his head. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“You’ll go,” I say, my voice rising, “and you’ll get the fuck back to Alexandria and you’ll tell Jeremiah. There’s no other option.” I hate saying it, especially as Lucifer chuckles again, but it’s true. There’s no other way to get out of this. I can handle myself. I still have a gun, after all.

“Listen to her,” Lucifer croons. “Or I’ll put a bullet through her precious little skull.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, my eyes still on Nicolas’s.

He shakes his head again. “No.”

“Goddammit!” I hiss, my temper rising. I want this gun away from my head. Once, I thought I’d wanted it. Once, I’d planned to do it. Some days, I thought of other plans. Like jumping from a balcony at the hotel. But right now, I don’t want to die. Not before I kill Lucifer first.

“Shh, baby,” he whispers in my ear. “He’ll do as you say.” He moves his face away from me. “Won’t you?” he challenges Nicolas.

“Jeremiah will kill me,” Nicolas says. I know that isn’t his first concern. But it’s a valid one, nonetheless. I don’t know what to say to it. Maybe he will, after he finds me. But I’ll fight for Nicolas. Just as I’m fighting for him now.

But it’s Lucifer who speaks before I can console him.

“Jeremiah can go fuck himself,” he hisses, the first signs of anger creeping into his tone. “Jeremiah left her when she needed him. Jeremiah has done worse to her than even I could do.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask. My first words spoken to him since we’ve been out here.

Jeremiah is a dick. He had almost killed me. What Lucifer is saying isn’t exactly untrue. But my brother hadn’t raped me in an abandoned building and left me for dead.

Lucifer laughs. “He knows.”

Nicolas frowns. He shakes his head. “Fuck you.”

But he doesn’t deny it. He doesn’t deny that he knows something.

Lucifer keeps the gun against my head, his hand gentle on my throat. “If you don’t go running back to your master, I’ll tell her. And then I’ll kill her.”

I twist my head. I don’t care about the gun anymore. I want to see Lucifer. But he presses the weapon harder against the side of my face, not letting me see him.

“What are you talking about?” The words come out too quiet. I feel as if the world is spinning around me. They both know something I don’t. About my brother. About me.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nicolas snaps to Lucifer. But there’s something beneath those words. Like he’s trying to convince himself. And his eyes…they’re back on me. And they look almost sorry.

Lucifer sighs. Then he whistles.

I frown, and Nicolas spins around, aiming everywhere he turns. My pulse flies, and I can feel it everywhere. In my chest. My wrists. My head.

Then I hear it.

From the woods, four people emerge with a quiet rustling of leaves. They have skeleton bandanas pulled up over their noses and lips, only their eyes are visible. But I know who they are.

The rest of the Unsaints.