Personal Demon

HOPE: DEATH WISH

“No.” The word was barely a whisper. Jaz tottered on the railing. One lunge and I could have pushed him off. He toppled backward, half falling, half stepping down.

“No.”

He collapsed where he was and sat there, clutching the railing bars, Sonny’s name on every breath. His grief washed over me, so strong it blocked the death and held me as tight as any binding spell, unable to move.

I looked at the gun on the ground, dropped beside Jaz. I looked back into the parking garage.

“Don’t,” he rasped.

He still sat there, clutching the bars, face pressed to them, watching his brother’s body below.

I took a step back.

“They’re coming.” He rubbed his hands over his face, swiping at the tears. “Don’t leave me here.” He picked up the gun by the barrel and held it out. “Finish it, Hope.”

“You-you want me to-”

“I killed Paige. Killed Guy. Killed Bianca. Helped kill Rodriguez and Max and Tony. You want to do this.”

I stared at the gun.

“And if revenge isn’t enough…” He met my gaze. “Maybe pity is. I want to go with Sonny. Don’t let the Cabal take me. Please.”

I took the gun. Wrapped my fingers around the stock.

“Through the mouth. Or the back of the head. That’s the quickest.” A tiny, tired smile. “Maybe not the most chaotic, but if you get something from this-” His eyes lifted to mine. “Take what you can, Hope. My last gift to you.”

If he wanted to die, all the more reason to say no. Punish him. Turn him over to the Cabal. Make him stand trial. Let them execute him. But standing here, looking into his face, I still saw Jaz, and I still felt something. Maybe only pity, but it was enough.

He opened his mouth. I put the gun in.

“Step away from him now!”

I jumped so fast the gun barrel slammed against the roof of Jaz’s mouth. Two men in tactical uniforms approached from my left. Two more from my right. All with guns trained on me.

“You have five seconds to step away from him!” one barked.

Terror filled Jaz’s eyes, pleading with me to pull the trigger. For a second, the chaos swirling around me was too much and I stood there, dazed. Then I moved my finger.

“One second!”

A dark shape smashed through the two men on my left, knocking them aside like bowling pins. I saw Karl’s face. Saw his terror, felt it, as sharp as Jaz’s. He tackled me. I crashed down under him. Heard a shot. Heard him grunt in pain.

The tactical team rushed in, stepping over us to get to Jaz. When my head stopped spinning from the chaos, I realized I was still on the ground, Karl stretched over me, not moving.

I remembered the shot. Felt the weight of him, pinning me down. And then, a tiny whimper, bubbling up from my throat.

“Don’t move.”

His fingers gripped my shoulder, mouth moving to my ear.

“Wait.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding, then found myself flat on the pavement, lungs compressed by his weight, gasping-

“Sorry.”

He lifted up, giving me breathing room. Then he slid off me, his gaze fixed over my shoulder, watching the tactical team, as if expecting our first sudden move would bring a gun barrel swinging our way. But they had Jaz cuffed now. Cuffed and gagged as he writhed and struggled, eyes blazing. Then he saw me and went still.

Our gazes locked.

He jerked his head so fast the gag slipped. His gaze swung to Karl, catching his attention, making sure he had it, then turning to me.

“I’ll come back for you,” he mouthed.

With a snarl, Karl was on his feet. Two officers lifted their guns. I pulled him back down beside me.

“He wanted that,” I said. “He wanted you to kill him.”

I felt the chaos swirl from Karl as they took Jaz away. Not jealousy but fear.

They can’t hold him, Karl thought. He’ll escape. He will come for her. She’ll never be-

He cut the thought short. His arm slid around my back and he pulled me onto his lap and we sat there, watching them take Jaz away.

“Why didn’t they let me kill him?” I whispered. “Do they want to put him on trial? Make him stand judgment?” I looked quickly at Karl. “They don’t understand. He can become anyone.”

“They know.”

“That’s why-” I swallowed. “They were under orders to bring them in alive.”

I shivered and he rubbed my arms, pulling me against him, sitting on the cold pavement, leaning against some stranger’s car-

“Paige.” The name burbled from my throat and I scrambled up from Karl’s lap. “Oh, God. You don’t know. They don’t know.” I looked up into his face. “She’s dead, Karl. Jaz had me lure her in and I thought she’d bring backup, but she didn’t and he-”

“Hope?”

A soft contralto voice echoed through the parking garage. I turned and my knees gave way. Karl caught me.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “She’s okay.”

I watched Paige walk toward me, her face tight with worry and guilt, and I knew then that I was dreaming. Still drugged and lying in the back of that car, lost in my thoughts. In my dreams.

“I’m so sorry, Hope,” she said. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“It wasn’t her idea.”

Another voice. I looked over Paige’s shoulder to see Lucas.

“It was Benicio’s plan,” Karl said, a growl underscoring his words. “If I’d known-”

“But he didn’t. Yes, it was my father’s idea, but I agreed with it and I talked Paige into it.” Lucas stopped beside me. “We couldn’t see any other way, Hope. It was a cruel ruse and I sincerely apologize.”

“We had to stop them,” Paige said.

I shook my head. “No. I saw you. The hole-That was real. You were dead.”

“A glamour spell,” Lucas said. “Cast on a Cabal prisoner awaiting execution for murdering her parents. My father-” He inhaled. “We offered her a deal. If she went along with it, and it succeeded, she’d be granted a pardon. If it didn’t…” He let the breath out and, in that second, seemed to age a decade. “Then the writ of execution was carried out.”

I looked from him to Paige. To sacrifice a life-even to stop a killer-would have taken a lot of soul searching and, from their expressions, the decision still didn’t rest easy. For most people, the choice would be simple-the woman had been condemned to die so her death might as well serve some higher purpose. But Paige and Lucas weren’t most people.

“You’re right,” I said. “It was the best way to get to them. The only way probably. It was fair. She’d earned her death and you gave her a chance to beat it.”

Neither spoke and I could tell, as sincere as my words were, that they didn’t really help.

“Speaking of executions,” Karl said. “I trust Jasper Haig is going to be taking that woman’s cell, and her slot on the schedule.”

Lucas pushed his glasses up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You know Benicio’s plans, Karl,” Paige said. “Lucas argued strenuously against them, and he’ll continue to argue-”

“You can’t let him live. The man can impersonate his jailer. His lawyer. His doctor, for God’s sake. If he comes into contact with any person-”

“I don’t think it’s that simple, Karl, and we will take every precaution and security measure-”

“He’s already pissed on all your security measures! He got into your father’s house. Shot his bodyguard. Killed your brothers-”

“Because we didn’t know what we were dealing with.”

“Do you really think it’s going to matter? He’s an accomplished thief who can steal any identity. He will escape. And when he does, the first place he’s going is-” He glanced back at me and stopped.

“Paige is right,” Lucas said. “I will fight this, Karl. I could not agree with you more on every point you’ve made. Jasper Haig should be treated as a criminal, not as a research subject.” His voice dropped. “But getting my father to agree, even under the circumstances, may be beyond even my influence.”

AND, FOR NOW, it was.

Lucas argued. Paige argued. I argued. Karl threatened. Benicio would not budge.

All this had begun with one woman’s paranoid delusions, convincing her sons that they had to spend their lives running because, if they stopped, the Cabal would pounce on them and they’d live out their days as laboratory rats. In trying to escape that fate, Jaz found himself living it. For now…

Would he stay locked up? Karl didn’t believe it. Neither did I. Jaz would never throw up his hands and say “guess you got me.” While he could draw breath, he’d be plotting his escape and his revenge. Karl had killed his brother. He’d never forget that.

Lucas had promised to keep us updated on his situation and we’d continue fighting for his execution. For now, though, that had to wait, and I had to concentrate on getting back to the life I thought I’d lost. My job, my family, my home. It was all waiting for me. And Karl. Most of all, Karl.

Hours later, Karl and I stood outside Cortez Cabal headquarters, staring up at the morning sun.

“Another sunny day,” Karl said.

“I’m tired of sunny.”

“I hear Philly’s expecting a snowstorm tonight.”

“Good. We’ll be just in time.”

His hand cupped mine. “Are you sure? You still have a few days. We can get away. I’ll take you anyplace you want to go.”

“I want to go home.” I looked up at him. “I want to go visit with my mother and tell her you’re moving to Philly. I want to tour overpriced condos that displaced impoverished seniors, and needle you about it mercilessly. Then I want to take you home, hole up for the storm, then go back to work chasing alien abduction stories and Hell Spawn sightings.”

“Are you sure?”

I lifted onto my tiptoes and kissed his chin. “Absolutely.”