Toxic (Denazen #2)(89)

I sighed. And so went hope. “I guess my sister from the same mister told you she lost her phone, eh?”

“I’m surprised it took you this long. You must be in a great deal of pain by now.”

I glanced around the room. Ginger nodded encouragingly. Dax, who’d been standing behind Mom’s chair, was now beside me, bent close so he could hear Dad’s voice.

“I don’t want to die.”

Dad chuckled. “What is it you’re trying to say?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll turn myself in. Just swear to me that you’ll bring the cure, and I’ll do it.”

“I don’t know, Deznee. While Kiernan informed me that your abilities have progressed, I’m not sure we really have need of them. And to be frank, I haven’t decided if I’m going to waste the last bit of Supremacy cure on you. It would be pointless to make you suffer if we choose to administer it to someone else. I’m not that cruel.”

The room was starting to spin. The chill was back and tiny, pulsing barbs of pain trickled down my shoulder, spreading to every limb. “Please—”

“Now if you were to offer me 98, then we might have a deal. Your ability, as useful as it might be, isn’t offensive. 98 is far more useful to me right now.”

“No,” I growled. I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from screaming. “I’ll suck it up and die slowly. Then you lose both of us. It’s me or nothing.”

Seconds passed, but they felt like hours. Possibly days. Finally, he sighed. “I suppose I can work with it. After all, the animal is so obsessed with you, it won’t be long before he does something foolish.”

“Where and when?”

“Next Monday. At Parkview Field.”

“Next week? I won’t make it till then, and you know it. Now. It needs to be right now.”

Voice low, I could almost see the smile on the bastard’s face. “Tomorrow. Eleven p.m.”

“I don’t know if—”

“Tomorrow. Eleven p.m. I’ll see you then.” A pause. “God willing.”

And the line went dead.

…

The poison had peaked. I could feel it, moving through my blood and under my skin. It was sapping up all my energy. Stealing my time away. When I came to around noon, I was positive I wouldn’t make it to eleven p.m. Every nerve ending was on fire, and twice I started screaming, convinced Dad was standing over my bed. Since pills didn’t really help anymore, I spent the majority of the day drifting in and out of sleep.

“How ya feeling?” Alex was in the corner, sitting in the chair Kale had been in each time I’d previously visited the land of the living.

“Remind me never to do this again.”

He smiled, but it was forced.

“Where’s Kale?”

He hesitated. “Ginger kinda had Jade drug him.”

“What?”

“I’ll give the dude this—he’s got some amazing stamina. I don’t think he’s closed his eyes in over four days. He was getting snappy. Ginger thought it’d be dangerous, so she asked him to please get some sleep. When he refused, she took his choice away.”

“Jesus.”

“It was pretty funny, actually. You would’ve appreciated it. They sent Jade in to do it—for obvious reasons. He freaked. Tried to choke her.”

“Of course. I always miss the good stuff. Is she dead?” I was sure he didn’t miss the hopeful tone in my voice.

He frowned. “Invincible, remember?”

Silence.

“I have something I need to say,” he blurted suddenly. “And it’s not easy, and it sucks, so I’m hoping you’ll just let me get through it, okay?”

I nodded. No reason to tell him he could stand there and sing show tunes, and I’d be in no position to stop him.

“I’m sorry. About what happened with that girl at Roudey’s a few years ago. About what happened at Sumrun. I tend to be…impulsive. I don’t think things through. At Sumrun, I wanted to hurt Kale. I wanted to show you he was weak, and I was strong. I could protect you.” He sighed and lifted his head toward the ceiling. “But you have to believe I never meant to kill him—no matter what it looked like.”

“But you were going to hand him over to my dad?”

He lowered his head to stare at me. “Absolutely. And that I won’t apologize for. I thought I was doing what was best for you, Dez. Because you’re the only one that mattered.” Shoulders squared, he added, “Matters.”

“Alex—”

“I get it. You love him. And ya know what? I can see he loves you. The way he refused to leave your side to sleep, the look in his eyes when he realized what Jade had done—he’d do anything for you. But I want you to know I would, too.”

He stood and took two steps toward the door. “I’m not asking you to pick between us. You’ve made your choice, and I’ll live with it. But you needed to know—really know—that everything I’ve ever felt for you has been one hundred percent real.”





34


“Everyone is clear about their part, correct?” Ginger stood in front of the Hummer in a crisp blue housecoat with matching orthopedic shoes. I felt sorry for anyone on the street that mistook her for a helpless little old lady.