Page 64 of Hellfire to Come
I blinked at him, stunned by how quiet my own thoughts had become. “No,” I said softly. “You were trying to save yourself from watching me die. That’s not the same.”
Samir’s lips parted, but no denial came. His throat worked like he was swallowing glass.
Behind me, the heat radiating off of Dominic might as well have been a furnace. I could feel the storm in him, the coiled tension rippling through his muscles, the unspoken promise of violence vibrating in every breath. But he held still, barely. For me. For the promises I wrung out of him when we were skin to skin and he was vulnerable and raw. I should have been ashamed of the manipulation but I wasn’t.
I could’ve let Dominic tear him apart. I could’ve said a word, and it would’ve been done before Samir had time to blink. But I didn’t. And what unnerved me more than anything was that I didn’t want to.
I didn’t want his blood.
Because there was no satisfaction in vengeance when all it confirmed was your worst fear. That no matter how far you ran, no matter how carefully you chose your allies, they still found ways to betray you.
Samir dropped to his knees.
Not dramatically. Not as a plea. But because, I think, his legs simply gave out. He stared at the floor like it could offer himsome absolution. Like the cracks in the wood might swallow him whole if he looked hard enough.
“I stayed in my room,” he whispered. “Because I couldn’t face her. Or you. I heard her screaming in my dreams. I felt it, I felt everything like it was done to me. I knew what they were doing to her although I had no clue where she was. And I knew it was my fault.”
Dominic growled low in his throat, a sound that raised every hair on my neck.
I held up a hand again. Not for Samir’s sake. For mine.
Samir kept going, almost feverish now. “I went to Frederic because I thought it would be clean. They can have the demons and leave us alone. That I could make a trade, keep you safe, and no one would know. I thought I was in control. But he was never after you…not really. He just wanted a crack in the wall. And I gave it to him.”
I took a slow breath, forcing my voice to stay calm. “You were going to give them Echo and Chester? You were supposed to be our friend. You were supposed to protect all of us.”
He nodded miserably. “I know.”
“So why aren’t you dead yet?” Dominic snarled, stepping forward.
“Because I won’t let you kill him,” I said quietly. “And he is coward enough to be unable to end his own life.
Both men looked at me, stunned for different reasons.
“He is giving this confession because he wants one of us to kill him. I’m not doing this for him,” I added, eyes locked on Samir. “You betrayed us, and I hope that guilt eats you alive. But killing you won’t bring her suffering back. It won’t unmake the mistake. It won’t fix a goddamn thing.”
Samir closed his eyes. “Then what happens now?”
I straightened, every word a blade between my teeth. My voice laced with my power, more potent, more primal now aftermy visit with the shaman. “Now? You leave. You vanish. By morning, you and every trace of your existence better be gone from this house. I don’t care where you go and you no longer have any right to this place. But if I ever see you again. If I even feel your presence near me or mine…I won’t hesitate. No more mercy. No more forgiveness. I will rip you limb from limb with my bare hands, Samir. I mean it.”
He nodded, slowly, like it was the one thing he’d been expecting all along.
“I truly am sorry,” he whispered.
“I’m not the one who needs your apology,” I replied. “But you’ll never get to give it to the one person who never deserved suffering from our curse, from any of it.”
The silence afterward was immense.
And in that silence, I turned away.
Dominic caught my arm gently, grounding me as the weight of everything sank in. My throat burned, but I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I didn’t shatter.
I had no more pieces left to fall.
We left Samir kneeling there in the hallway, the last echo of whatever trust had once existed between us evaporating with every step I took.
I prayed that he felt the sharp pain from each step I took away from him the same way I did.
And I hoped the fucker bled for eternity from it.
