Page 145 of This Blood That Breaks Us

Forty-Eight

Zach

When we reached the cathedral, my ears were ringing. My body buzzed with anticipation of Her. If She wasn’t a person, killing Her didn’t matter. She wasn’t some innocent deer or bunny. She was a predator lying in wait for Her perfect momentto strike. She had no feeling. The only thing She cared about was Her own priorities. I guess I could relate.

“Leave us.” She faced away from us with Her hand on the throne.

Their footsteps echoed into the ceiling and the door shut behind me. The only sound was the rain pouring over the roof and hitting the stained-glass windows.

She was beautiful, and She’d be even more beautiful when She was dead.

When She turned, I stopped. Something about taking on the fullness of Her image made me want to bow, but I didn’t, and I wouldn’t ever again.

She closed the distance between us and placed a hand on my cheek. It was cold on my flustered skin.

“You’ve come to kill me.”

“You had to know this was coming. Can’t you see the future?”

“I can. But could you really do it? I thought you wanted to be the good guy.” She gazed up at me beneath Her lashes.

“Come on, you can drop the good girl act with me. Whoever you’re pretending to be. The sweet blushing girl act doesn’t work on me.”

Her soft coy smile faded, and another took its place. One sultrier and more sinister.

“Finally,” I said.

“I’m not surprised you like me better like this.”

“I like you better when you’re not pretending to be some poor, weak girl. We both know you’re not.”

Every minute that passed strengthened my resolve. If She ever was a normal girl, that day was long gone. I was face-to-face with evil. The same evil thing in me was in Her too. And I was ready to snuff it out with my own two hands.

Was I finally going to add murderer to my list?

She licked Her teeth and ran Her black nails over Her palm. “Do you really think you’ll be able to kill me? I don’t think your brother would approve. Do you?”

“My brother would never hurt you. But I’m not my brother, and you took him from me.”

“Did I? I didn’t do anything but show him love. It only bothers you because it’s stronger than your bond with him. That must be disappointing for you.”

Her smile mocked my pain.

“Fuck you.”

She stepped forward. “What makes you think I’ll go easily?”

Something shifted in the air. My perfect image of Her morphed. The veil was torn, and now I could see Her as She truly was. Shiny, beautiful, evilnothing.

“You like me better like this because we’re stitched from the same cloth. You don’t have to be anything more than what you already are. You’re not like your brother. You can’t make goodness from nothing.”

“I know.”

“Did you really think this is where your journey ends? This is only the beginning for us.”

“Why me? Why do you need me if you have Luke?”

“Because you were meant for this. For destruction. Carnage and rage. Because you’re not weak like your brother. You have real strength.”