Page 67 of Jericho

I see my son in person for the first time, and I register all of it, the bruise on his cheek and the tear stains accompanying it. His eyes are the exact same color as mine.

"I see your ugly face every time I look in his eyes," Damien says, and I swear the man staggers as he takes a step closer to Eli.

He's holding what I have to assume is the detonator in his hand, his thumb poised over the switch.

"Where's that whore of yours?" he spits. "This is actually better. Killing the two of you will hurt her more than dying along with you."

"Doing that kills you too," Lark says, but I know there's no reasoning with the man.

There will never be a day when he will give up and go to prison. He knew when he staged this whole damn thing that the day we laid eyes on each other was going to be our last.

Grief strikes me for my loss. I'll never get the chance to know my son. I regret spending time with Aspen in silence, rather than making her tell me about every single day of his life since he was born, knowing I would've committed it all to memory so I could take it into the afterlife with me.

"I guess I'll see you all in hell," Damien says, and he pushes the button without hesitation.

I stand a little taller in that moment, knowing this isn't something I want to survive, but there's no boom. There's no rattling of the house above us before it comes crashing down. There's no explosion.

The second Damien looks at the device in his hand, I pull the trigger.

Eli screams as Damien lists to the side, falling into the pool. Red blooms in the water all around him.

"No!" Nyx yells when I rush toward my son. "We got fucking lucky. Let me handle it."

I stop in my tracks, teeth grinding as I watch Nyx circle my son and figure out the best way to dismantle the bomb strapped to my son's chest.

"Hi," I say to him. I keep some distance, but I'm not capable of standing there and not speaking to him. "I just need you to be brave for a few more minutes."

The child swallows as he watches me crouch down a few feet from him.

I focus only on my son. I don't concern myself with what Nyx is doing. It's in his and everyone else's best interest that he does a good job. I'm putting my literal life in his hands, much like all the other guys down here who haven't left.

"My name is Nolan."

"H-he called you L-Luke."

I give him a sad smile. "That was who I told him I was."

"H-he said y-you're my d-daddy."

Fresh tears run down his cheeks.

"Yes," I say.

"Where's my m-momma?"

"She's close," I tell him. "We'll go see her soon. I promise. I can't believe how brave you are. I'm so proud of you."

"Just one more," Nyx says. "There."

As if he's holding a tray of boiling water that will slosh everywhere, I watch as Nyx gently lifts the box from Eli's lap.

He still seems stunned and is unwilling to move until he's given permission. It makes me wonder what he's suffered to keep him so calm in the face of such adversity.

Once the bomb is clear, I don't waste a second scooping him up in my arms. His tiny hands cling to my clothes as I rushup the stairs. I have to get him to safety, and that isn't within a hundred yards of that fucking bomb.

I realize as I rush outside, meeting the cool air, that tears are also running down my face.

Chapter 34

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