Tremble (Denazen #3)(79)
She looked like a five-year-old who had just been informed the Tooth Fairy was a fraud. “Liar!”
“Why the hell would I lie about that? He told me himself. He’s not my flesh and blood—he’s yours. And trust me, you can have him.”
She started to speak but I pushed forward, knocking her flush against the wall.
“You had to see who he was—what he was doing. And you still helped him. You helped him burn down the hotel. You killed Rosie. You took Kale from us. From me. And why—so you could get the approval of a man who doesn’t give a crap about you?”
“My father loves me!” she screamed. But there was no conviction in her words. She didn’t believe it any more than I did.
“No, Kiernan. He doesn’t. Marshal Cross doesn’t love anyone. He’s not capable of love. You’re so desperate to win his approval that you don’t see what’s really going on.”
I took a deep breath. “I thought we were blood,” I said, grabbing her hand. “I could have forgiven almost anything. You were confused. He played you. I understand that. Sleeping with Kale, helping Able—I might have been able to get over all that. Eventually. Because you did it to me. But what you did to Rosie—and Kale? Dropping that vial didn’t just kill me, Kiernan. It killed other people. Innocent people. People I care about.” I leaned closer. “Those are lines you shouldn’t have crossed.”
Kiernan let out a nervous laugh. “So, what? You’re going to kill me?”
I hadn’t crossed that line yet—and I hoped I’d never have to. As much as a large part of me wanted to, I wasn’t going to start with her. Backing away, I let go of her hand and said, “I don’t have to. If you stick with Cross and Denazen, you’re killing yourself.”
“Maybe—but at least you went first.” She wasn’t looking at me. Her head was tilted up.
The next few things were kind of a blur. Kiernan winked and stepped aside. At the same time, two echoing pops split the air. I didn’t know what they were at first and there was no time to react. For a normal person, at least.
In a flash, Kale shot forward and elbowed Kiernan in front of me, while at the same time yanking me hard down the first two steps. She screamed and lunged forward, but Kale pulled me from her path and she fell to the landing. I blinked. Just once. One minute Kale was beside me, the next he was propelling himself up the stairs toward the agents who had burst into the lab.
I watched for a minute as they danced on the landing above us—trading blows and swinging back and forth in what looked like a choreographed Hollywood fight scene. One swung and Kale ducked, sending him over the banister. His screams faded, ending with an echoing thump as his body crashed to the ground below, to the left of where the vial had fallen.
Kale loved the thrill of the fight but had obviously had enough. At the tips of his fingers, the black mass began to swirl, and the remaining agent—the one who’d fired the gun—took a step back.
I was so wrapped up in watching Kale, I’d forgotten all about Kiernan. Unfortunately, she hadn’t forgotten about me. She was climbing to her feet, blocking me from the stairs—and Kale. The front of her light gray T-shirt was splattered with macabre red and I thought she might have spilled some of the vial on her.
She saw me watching her and laughed. No. It was more like a cackle. She tugged at the shirt and I could hear the wet sound it made, sick and wrong. With a nod toward my shoulder, she said, “I know, I know. It’s worse than yours. Probably fatal.”
Mine?
I followed her gaze and nearly crumbled. The air left my lungs in a single, chilling breath. Down the front of my shirt was my own trail of macabre blood, spilling from a sick-looking hole in my shoulder. One I hadn’t even noticed.
“But don’t feel bad. If I’m going down, I’m taking you with me.”
And with an almost inhuman roar, Kiernan charged me. It all happened so fast. Half a heartbeat. A fraction of a moment. I heard Kale call out as the ground beneath my feet disappeared and the world flipped. One minute Kiernan’s hands were wrapped around my throat, the next a sharp sting assaulted my entire body. Like a full-body slap—then icy cold water all around.
The force of the impact separated us, and I fought against the urge to suck in a deep breath. Surface. I needed air. My foot came in contact with something solid—Kiernan. She made an attempt to grab my ankle, but I avoided her and kicked hard for the surface. My head crested the water, and I lunged for the rim of the tank to haul myself out, but she grabbed my leg and forced me under again. I managed a shallow breath before I went down, but it wasn’t enough.
My lungs were on fire, and my heart felt like it would explode at any moment. Kiernan, with her singular focus on dragging me to the grave with her, didn’t give up. Each time I pushed her away, she came at me with a renewed sense of energy.
In a panic, I started thrashing. My knee collided with the side of her head, sending her far enough away for me to make one last escape attempt—only I couldn’t. Kiernan was no longer holding me back, having drifted away and down to the bottom of the tank, but I couldn’t move. My foot was stuck on something. Frantic, I twisted and bent, trying to find the source, but my time ran out. Everything dimmed around the edges, and my entire body went numb.
I don’t know how long it lasted. One minute I was giving in to the inevitable, the next, a soft voice was calling my name. Over and over. Begging and pleading for me to stay.