Vendetta (13 page)

S
IXTEEN

"Why would you
do
that?" I scream. A surprised Mara glances up at us fr
om the kitchen table in the pool house. "We can't just
leave
him there!"

"What's going on?" Mara demands to know.

"There was an accident. Do
not
let her leave your sight," Seth tells her, pointing to me. "She does not leave this house." He vanishes.

"Seth?
" I strike my heel into the ground. "Shit!"

"What is
happening
?" Mara asks again, eyes wide.

I
rake
my fingers through my hair. "I went to my Mom's. I was taking her groceries. She was gone, but Mike was there. I don't know what happened. . . . And then he
was on top of me and Seth killed him."

"Seth killed Mike?" she asks, disbelieving.

"Yes! But the police
can't
know about him, so I told him I would say I did it, and then he brought me here!" The entire story tumbles out. "Shit! Why would he
do
that?"

"A
re you okay?"

"Jesus! I'm fine!"

She sighs. "He's only trying to protect you."

I pace the room, anxious.

He's going back there. I know he is. He's going to get caught.

Each second that passes without him I'm sure he's been discovered. And every minute pu
lls me further and further away from him. I want him. I need to feel him. I need to feel him to be okay. To know he's okay. My chest aches and head spins, like coming off a drug. I have to be with him to feel right again.

I hear a car in the driveway. I ru
sh to the window and find Joshua parking my car.

Mara vanishes.

Joshua enters the pool house, frowning, and then he vanishes.

I'm alone.

I'm alone, waiting for Seth. Imagining all the awful things that could have happened to him. But in the next moment h
e's there, pulling me into his arms.

I let out a quick sob, feeling our hearts pound between us.

"I thought they found you."

He touches my forehead with his lips, kissing my temple, my eyelids. He buries his face in my hair, squeezing me tightly. "Are yo
u okay?"

"I'm fine," I repeat, for what feels like the millionth time.

"I took care of everything. The groceries are gone. I wiped anything you might've touched. Threw the knife into the ocean. It's over. No one can connect either of us to this."

At the f
irst sign of others, I pull away, feeling the events of the afternoon slowly washing over me. I collapse on the sofa. A mild headache—a dull, pulsing pain—pounds between my ears. I close my eyes, wanting to push everything out. To make it go away. But in t
he darkness
everything amplifies, and I'm back at my mom's apartment, trapped between Mike and the dirty, matted carpet. I feel his thick fingers pressing into me, ripping at my shorts. Tugging at them. His weight on top of me. I can smell the alcohol on h
is breath, in his sweat. My choked screams trapped at the back of my throat. Then Seth. . . .

"Joshua, get her something for the headache," Mara instructs. "Something to drink. Are you hungry?" she asks me.

My stomach lurches, heavy and twisted. I shake m
y head. "I can't." I can't even think about food right now.

Mara leans against the couch cushions, legs tucked beneath her. Joshua moves through the kitchen, opening and closing cabinet doors. Seth sits at the kitchen table, face buried in his hands, rubbi
ng his eyes. I try to feel something from him. Anything. But my throat is dry and blocked and a raw ache throbs with every erratic beat of my heart. He lifts his head and our eyes meet. They're red around the rims, shadowed with insomnia, slicing into me,
frozen and tormented. As if he, too, suddenly feels the gravity of what's transpired. It sucks the air straight out of my lungs.

Everything inside me wants to go to him, to tell him it's okay. I'm okay.

I jerk to attention, spine stiffening at the sound of
knocking. And even though I know Mike is done, that he's gone forever, I'm afraid. I'm afraid the police have come for me or Seth. That my mom somehow knows what happened. I'm afraid because, at this point, my mom and the police and Mike are the least of
my problems.

"Genesis?" Carter's voice drifts through the door, muffled.

"Let him in," Mara tells Joshua.

Joshua unlocks the deadbolt and Carter moves into the room. "Hey. I saw Josh pull up in your car and. . . ."
At the sight of us he stops short, eyeing everyone carefully, his scrutinizing gaze pressing into each one of us. Because it's easy to tell when something's going on in this house, something thick and burdensome, hovering, unspoken.

"What is it?" he asks,
hesitating.

His stare burns straight through me. Our eyes connect, but I can't explain. I don't even want to say it. I can't. Carter looks to Seth, who refuses to meet anyone's gaze.

Joshua clears his throat, glancing between us.

"What is going on?" Carte
r repeats, insistent.

Beside me, Mara exhales a quiet sigh. "It was Mike," she says.

"Mike? Your Mom's boyfriend?"

A shiver rolls across my skin. My eyes squeeze shut.
Every time I hear his name . . . see his face. . . .

"He tried to. . . . He attacked h
er this afternoon," Mara explains.

"Who? Your mom?" Carter asks, eyebrows knitting in confusion.

Don't make me say it.

"No. . . . Me."

"Attacked, as in. . . ." He trails off, unable to finish, to say the word. "What the f—" He drags his fingers through h
is hair, pulling at it. Expression growing hard. "Shit! Are you okay?"

I swallow hard, closing my eyes, and nod. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Carter turns to Seth. "Where the hell were
you
?"

"Carter, don't," I plead.

"No! I want to know why he wasn't watching you. W
here were you?" he asks again.

"He was right there," I say. "In two seconds. He stopped him."

But Carter isn't listening. He moves closer to Seth, eyes flashing. "Why is it that every time I leave her alone with you something bad happens? You're supposed t
o
guard
her, to keep her safe, and you can't even do that right!"

Seth doesn't move, doesn't speak, still refusing to lift his eyes from the floor.

"Talk to me,
dammit
!" Carter's voice grows louder, more agitated.

When Seth doesn't respond, Carter snaps,
lunging for him, slamming his clenched fist into his jaw. The crack echoes clear across the room.

"No! Carter!"

Seth jumps from the table, shoving Carter in the chest. Carter stumbles backward.

"What the hell kind of a Guardian are you if you aren't aroun
d long enough to protect her when shit like this happens?" He asks, righting himself, speaking through clenched teeth.

"He was there!" I insist. "It would've been worse . . ."

"Because if she was
my
responsibility I wouldn't leave her side," Carter goes on
, ignoring me. "
Ever
."

"Look," Joshua says, eyes hard. "You don't even know . . ."

"Joshua," Mara interrupts, shaking her head. He shrinks back, shoulders falling in exhale, folding his arms across his chest.

"Carter,
please
," I beg. "It's over.
Mike is dead."

Carter stops, gazes at me. "What?"

"Mike. Seth . . . killed him, for what he did. Tried to do. And you know, I don't even think it was Mike. I mean, it was him, but it wasn't him," I explain. "There was something in his voice. When he was.
. . . It didn't sound like him. And he said. . . ." I stop there, trying to remember. "He said 'you should have been more careful.'" Another pause. "It was almost as if . . ."

"He was possessed," Joshua finishes for me.

Seth stands motionless at the other
end of the room, leaning against the wall. Hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes vacant. Lost in thought. "Viola is behind this," he confirms.

"Viola.
Demon
Viola?" Carter asks. "That’s just awesome. Great. So, what are we
gonna
do now?"

"
We
aren't going to
do anything. This is
my
fight."

"The hell it is," he snaps. "This isn't
your
fight. You didn't ask for any of this!"

"But I've accepted it."

"You agreed to help the Guardians whenever you had a vision. You didn't ask to become the target of some supernat
ural psychopath!"

"I knew there was a possibility they would find out," I remind him. "And I knew that would put me in danger."

"But it doesn't have to be like this," he says, voice rising. "Let me help you, Gee. Let me get you out of here."

"That's not ha
ppening," Joshua says.

"I'm better for her than you are." Carter eyes Seth, as if the words came from his mouth instead of Joshua's.

"She's too good for you," Seth replies, voice low.

"She's too good for either of us," Carter tosses back. "But
I'm
the be
tter choice. You screwed up everything the second you came into her life. She's fighting demons? Running from evil every single day?"

"It's her choice," Seth murmurs. "It was always her choice."

"She did not
choose
this! You . . . you Guardians were gettin
g along fine without her. You did not
need
her. You pulled her into this. And if she keeps hanging around you she's going to get herself killed. And for what?"

A flare of resentment, anger, and Seth moves closer, nose stopping inches from Carter's. "You th
ink I don't tell myself that every single day? You're right. She
would
be better off without me. This isn't something I ever wanted to happen."

Carter's shoulders square. He stands taller. "Well it did. And instead of doing something about it, you're drag
ging her deeper into this shit. She's not going to get out of it. This ends when she dies."

"What do you want me to do?" Seth asks, the fury escalating.

"Leave." Carter steps back, glancing around the room. At Mara. Joshua. Back to Seth. "All of you. Let h
er go back to the way things were."

"No," I interrupt.

"Let me take her somewhere else," Carter continues. "You
know
I can take care of her. She can start over in a new town. Away from all of this."

"It isn't up to me," Seth says, voice calmer. "As much a
s I loathe you, you're right. She would be better off without me. I've told her as much. But this is
her
choice, not mine. I'm here until she doesn't want me anymore."

"I love how the two of you can carry on complete conversations about me like I'm not ev
en here," I say.

"Regardless. It's too late," Mara says. "The Council is watching. The
Diabols
know. . . . Running isn't necessarily the best idea. They'll eventually find her."

"What I still don't get," Carter says, turning to me, "is why you?"

"I don't
know," I whisper.

"I still believe it's a power struggle," Mara explains. "Genesis has the ability to see things, and even we don't know the full extent of what she's capable. She's agreed to help the Guardians, but that doesn't mean the
Diabols
wouldn't appreciate having her on their side."

"So you don't think these
Diabols
—whatever they are—want her dead?" Carter asks.

Her expression softens. "I don't know what they want. If I did it would make my job less complicated. I do believe if they only
wanted her dead, she would be dead by now. It's something else. Something we're not seeing. And the best we can do is protect her until we're certain of Viola's intentions, or she's put in a place where she can be eliminated."

Carter sighs, emitting a dee
p exhale, quietly resigning himself to the idea that I am both hunter and hunted, and there's nothing he can do about it. "Well, you're doing a shitty job," he says, tossing a withering glance in Seth's direction.