Page 99 of Firefly Effect

Lilith was there on the night of Carley’s murder.

Lilith.

My heartbeat triples, and I immediately turn back toward the woods.

I’m not sure how much more evidence I needed to put the last piece in the puzzle, but I’m not sure I can believe it even though it’s staring me right in the face.

Lilith can’t be the Firefly Man. No fucking way. If she were, that would mean…

That would mean she killed Carley fourteen years ago and continued killing long afterward.

Julie tilts her head as if she’s picking up on my panic. “Is everything okay?”

I force the best smile I can manage, not wanting to cause anyone else to worry. “Yes, of course. I’m just trying to track Lincoln down, that’s all.”

I look over in the direction of the trailhead, knowing what I need to do next.

Lucy tugs on my hand. “You’ll find my daddy, Evie?”

Sinking to my knees, eye to eye with my favorite little bumblebee, I give her the most encouraging smile I can muster. “I will, Lucy. Stay here while I go get him, okay? I’ll be right back.”

I hate that I have doubts that I will be back, and worse, that I will find Lincoln alive. Losing Carley was one tragedy too many in my lifetime. I won’t allow that to happen again.

She nods, and I squeeze her hand before determination floods me.

I pick myself up off the ground and move straight into the woods. I should have learned my lesson about listening to Uncle Patrick the first time, but I’m disobeying him once again. Then again, somehow I know deep down that whatever decision I make is one he’ll understand.

As if I need his encouragement, I imagine Patrick with a raised chin and a gleam of pride twinkling in his blue eyes, freeing me to do what I need to do. Something my parents would have never agreed with.

It’s so easy to remember why I found safety in Patrick’s presence throughout my life. He was always there for me. Never judging me. Always showing me the options but never deciding my direction. Just like Carley, Patrick was a firefly, helping me find my way through life when my parents had abandoned me.

Now it’s my turn to light my own path.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SIX

LINCOLN

Explosions go off in my brain, and my hands are burning with a wet, sticky substance. I try to shake my head to clear the brain fog, but that only makes everything hurt more. I try to move, but no luck. My body won’t budge.

What happened to me?

I sort through my choppy memories until I recall following Lilith into the woods to find Lucy. My heartbeat quickens as the turn of events begin to unfold from the point when I first suspected Lilith was up to no good to Jenkins leaping from the bushes and bashing Lilith’s head with his cane and finally to my failed heroics when I tackled Jenkins and brought him down to the ground, only to look up to see Lilith bring down a boulder on his skull.

All my bones and muscles ache at once when I remember how I shielded Jenkins from the blow by throwing my body on top of him. Lilith’s rock landed on my shoulder with a loud crack. Pain lanced through my right side, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I pushed through the pain and began rolling over, but that’s when the gold cane came down—once onto Jenkins’s head, and next onto mine.

Everything went black after that.

Groaning, I force my eyes open, which isn’t easy considering the weight of them. Everything is fuzzy as I look around. The sky has darkened considerably since I was last conscious, but I see familiar flashes of blue, yellow, and green lights that make my chest ache with thoughts of Carley.

“Run, run as fast as you can,” a singsong voice taunts from several feet away. “You can’t catch me.” A swoosh of air rushes past my skin. “I’m the Firefly Man.”

Lilith.

My brain hisses her name as all the events that led to this moment play out in my mind. I turn my head, searching for Jenkins yet coming up empty in the near-darkness. I’m about to turn away when I spot a figure propped up against a nearby tree. I blink, attempting to make my vision less fuzzy, and vaguely make out the gray slacks and black cotton shirt Jenkins was wearing.

“Don’t worry,” Lilith says with a devious cackle. “He’s just resting to give us some alone time.”

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