Page 60 of Twisted Empire

He caught my gaze, and I remembered abruptly what he’d said about having everything we needed. Had he already dug up files that could end the conflict from Doom’s Seed’s computer or found some other evidence that would definitively turn the tide?

I had to trust him. He’d been part of the confrontation with his mom from the start—he knew what he was doing.

I nodded and started to walk with him.

Beckett stepped to the side of the door with a pained glance at his fallen employee. “You all go out ahead of me. I’ll bring up the rear, just to make sure these two don’t try anything stupid.”

I smiled tightly at him with a wave of gratitude. Please, let this be enough. Please, let it be over.

Slade and Dexter, who were closest to the door, filed out first. I nudged Logan ahead of me, wanting to get him to safety as quickly as possible since he’d have trouble defending himself with his injury.

Doom’s Seed shuffled a little forward. Beckett’s gun bobbed toward him and then back to point at Yvonne. I gripped his shirt for just a second as I moved to pass him, a gesture of thanks and affection.

Just as my foot hit the threshold, Doom’s Seed threw himself forward.

I spun around at the scuff of his footsteps and saw the glint of a metal blade in his hand—a blade he was stabbing straight at Beckett. He must have been counting on surprise to reach Beckett before Beckett could react and shoot him.

He wanted to end this conflict too—with one of the men I loved dead at his feet.

And maybe he would have succeeded, but my instincts honed by my Krav Maga classes kicked in. Without thinking, I hurled myself between the two men.

My elbow shot out, catching Doom’s Seed in the neck twice as hard with the force of his momentum. He let out a choking sound and stumbled backward but then slashed out with the knife—this time toward me.

I ducked and kicked out, and my gaze snagged on another blade, right within reach. The small, blood-stained one Yvonne had set down on the floor after picking up the gun.

“Stop!” she shrieked as I snatched it up, but Doom’s Seed was lunging at us again, blocking any chance of a clear shot. She wouldn’t risk hitting him.

I had no such qualms.

He was on top of me, the knife raking over my side as he fumbled for a better blow. One more second, and I was a goner. So I did what I had to do to save my life and possibly Beckett’s too.

I couldn’t reach his neck at this angle, but I knew from all my medical studies exactly where to plunge that blade into his chest to stop the beating of his heart. I slammed it home with all the strength I had in me.

If this man survived, he’d only hurt more people. Kill more people. I couldn’t let that happen. He was a disease, and I was cutting him out of this world.

I shoved the blade in deeper, and Doom’s Seed collapsed over me with a gush of blood.

“Maddie!” Beckett cried out, crouching with me, but I could already tell the body slumped over me was vacant of life.

As I squirmed out from under Doom’s Seed’s heavy corpse with a ragged breath, Yvonne dropped to her knees at his other side.

“No,” she said between sobs, groping at his wound as if she could bring him back. “No, no, no.”

But Doom’s Seed didn’t so much as twitch as I staggered to my feet. He was gone.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

Madelyn

Slade flopped down at one end of the sofa in Beckett’s sitting room with an exaggerated sigh. “Well, I think I’ve talked to enough cops to last me for the next century or so.”

Logan sat next to him, careful of his newly stitched-up shoulder. “No kidding.”

“It was necessary,” I pointed out, but I couldn’t restrain a yawn as I sank down at the far end of the sofa, letting my legs sprawl across Logan’s lap. My eyes felt heavy, my head muggy.

It’d been a long couple of days. After figuring out our story and calling the cops to the scene of Doom’s Seed’s death, we’d all been in and out of questioning since yesterday evening, other than a brief reprieve back here to get a little sleep. Not that any of us had felt all that inclined to relax.

Beckett had managed to stay mostly on the sidelines, presenting himself as a concerned friend. We’d offered up our evidence from across the Vigil’s investigation, including Logan’s recording of his mom confessing her knowledge of some of Doom’s Seed’s criminal activities. In her emotional state, Yvonne had ended up admitting more to the cops than probably would have been wise if she’d been thinking clearly.

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