Page 173 of Vicious Hearts

Gail smiles warmly at me, the perfect hostess. “It’s soniceto finally meet you, Mr. Kildare!” Then her smile evaporates instantly, her eyes going dark. “Yousnake.”

“Gail,” I growl quietly, my eyes sliding back to Una’s. “Whatever the fuck this is, it’s not about—”

“Her?” Gail blurts, nodding her chin at Una. She grins. “Oh, but it is! You see, this is my daughter!”

Holy fuck.

It couldn’t be. And yet…

They met earlier, before Coal Creek

Before Una was born…

“Well, stepmother, at least.”

Thank fucking God.

Gail smiles a dazed, wild smile. “No one knew that dear Seamus and I got married while he was locked in that dreadful prison, just like Jesus in Pontius Pilate’s dungeon.”

“What do you fuckingwant,” I hiss. I glance at Neve, trying to tell her with my eyes that it’s going to be okay. That I’ll save her—her and Ares.

I glance at him next, and my brow furrows as I still.

“What the fuck is that, Gail.”

There are tubes coming out of Ares’ arm closest to Seamus’ corpse—three of them, pricked into him with IV needles and ending in three more needles dangling above the floor at the other end.

Gail smiles. “Precious life blood, Cillian. For my dear Seamus.”

I suddenly and horribly realize that I’vevastlyunderestimated just exactly how abominably insane this woman is.

“That’s how I get him back, you see. By letting him drink the blood of the devil who killed him.”

Fuck.

My gaze rises to Ares’ face. He’s gagged as well—conscious, but only partially, and he looks bleary-eyed. I’m guessing the blood trickling down the side of his skull has something to do with that. His gaze finds mine, though, and that seems to wake him up a little. I give him a quick nod of my chin before I turn back to Neve on the floor.

Then violence surges through my bloodstream like a black tidal wave as I turn back to Gail, and the gun pointed at Una’s head.

“Let her—”

“Shut. UP!” she screeches. “She will watch as her father is avenged and reborn! When the blood ofthat fucking man,” she sneers, glaring at Ares, “flows! The blood of the man who killed my dear Seamus! The beautiful man that I loved—

“Seamus was a fucking monster, Gail,” I snarl.

“He wasmine and I loved him!” She raves back. “And this piece of shit put a bullet through him!”

“Love?” I sneer, purposefully goading her. “Youlovedhim? Your true love murdered and torturedchildren. Did you know that?”

“Lies!”

“No,facts,” I snarl. “That woman over there?” I gesture to Neve. “He had her tied to a fucking crucifix, ready to bleed her out until she died.”

Gail’s lips curl. “She—”

“She wasnine years old, Gail!” I snap.

She blinks quickly, but her eyes quickly narrow again viciously. “Seamus knew what she was, and what she’d become! Kildare blood ispoison! And just like my love, I willridthe world of every single—”

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