Page 86 of The Devil's Torment

Oh, I get it now. Instantly. Like a shot to the face.I launch to my feet. “No. Absolutely not.” I don’t need her to say it. I already fucking know why Elizabeth came back. Of course, she came back because she needs something. If she didn’t, she’d have let her family think she was dead for the rest of her selfish fucking life.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I set off pacing again. If Elizabeth was here now, I’d throttle her. “I won’t let you risk your life. Not for her.”

“Nicholas, sit down, please. You’re making me dizzy.”

“Sit? You think I can sit?” Another two laps of my living room ensues. “She’s only come back because she needs your fucking kidney!” I’m yelling now, but I can’t stop. Sweat beads on my forehead, and I swipe the back of my hand over it. “She was perfectly happy to let you think she was dead until now.” I spit out a laugh, short, sharp, and filled with resentment. “No, Victoria. I forbid it.”

Like a swan, she gracefully stands and moves in front of me as I’m on another pacing turn. Taking hold of my upper arms, she looks me dead in the eye.

“Number one, good luck forbidding me to do anything. I’m not that woman, so quit that right the fuck now. Number two, do you think I don’t know that? I’m furious, Nicholas. I can’t see straight. Everything’s red. It’s like I’m looking at the world through bloody eyes. I wanted to shake her, hit her, say the vilest things to her. But I couldn’t. I can’t. Whatever she’s done, she’s still my sister.”

My eyes flare wide open. “Don’t tell me you’re considering this?”

She lets go of my arms and rubs her palms over her face. “I don’t know. I need time to think.”

“What about your parents? One of them can give her a kidney. Why does it have to be you?”

She hitches a shoulder. “I don’t know. Her doctors said I’m her best chance. Maybe it’s their age or…” She shrugs. “I don’t know, Nicholas. My head is spinning.” She flops onto the couch and closes her eyes. “I’m exhausted. This has been a horrible day. Just horrible.”

My chest squeezes tight. I sit next to her, encircling my arms around her. She’s boneless, the way she sags against me, and when her shoulders begin to tremble, I realize she’s crying again. A fresh swathe of loathing for Elizabeth drowns me. The malice behind what she did is bad enough, but she’s taken it to another level. I can’t muster a single fucking cell of compassion for her—not even when it was her selfishness that gave me Victoria.

While stroking her hair, I let her sob on my shoulder. Once she’s spent, I carry her to bed, undress her, tuck her under the covers, and wait for her to fall asleep.

When her breathing finally evens, I leave her in bed and go looking for Dad. I find him in his study. Uncle George is there, too, along with Xan and Christian. All four of them are wearing the same stunned expression I imagine I’m wearing, too. All this time I’ve been searching for Elizabeth’s murderer, and it was a set up. A fucking good one, too. Had me fooled.

“How’s Victoria?” my father asks.

I stuff my hands in my trouser pockets. “In pieces. I’ve put her to bed. She’s sleeping now.”

“Unsurprising,” Uncle George gets up and claps me on the shoulder. “Poor girl. We’ll all have to rally round and make sure she’s okay.”

“Hell of a head fuck.” This from Xan.

I turn to my brother. “You think that’s a head fuck? Elizabeth returning from the dead isn’t the whole story.”

His eyebrows rise an inch. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Fucking sister dearest needs a kidney transplant, and guess who she wants it from?” I can’t keep the anger eating me up inside from leaking out. If Victoria goes through with this, I’m not sure what I’ll do. The fear of losing her is choking me.

“Oh, fuck off,” Christian says. “Jesus, there’s balls and then there’sbigfucking balls.”

“Tell me about it.” I cross to the corner of my dad’s study and help myself to three fingers of whiskey. If I don’t take the edge off my rage, I’m liable to lose it. I’m teetering, and it won’t take much to push me over the edge.

“What’s she going to do?” Dad asks.

“I don’t know.” I down the drink in one go, then refill it. Nursing this one, I sink onto Dad’s battered, old Chesterfield he refuses to trade for a newer model, the leather creaking with every move I make.

“Do Laura and Phillip know?”

I shrug. They’re not my priority. My wife is. “From what Victoria said, Elizabeth was planning to go and see them next.”

“Terrible shock for them.” Uncle George retakes his seat by the fire. “Terrible.”

“Terrible for them? What’s terrible is the fucking brass neck of Elizabeth thinking she can come back from the dead and demand a fucking kidney.” It’s not often I rail on my family, but my anger is raw, like my skin’s been cheese grated.

“Nicholas.” Dad leans forward and touches my knee. “I get you’re angry, and you’ve every right to be, but this will be a shock for Elizabeth’s parents. I cannot imagine what will be going through their minds.”

I know where he’s coming from, but I can’t summon any sympathy for them right now. I just can’t. I put my untouched second whiskey on the coffee table and get up. “Y’know, I don’t think I can be around people right now.”

---