Chapter 12

Languid and cold, sunset takes its time to arrive. By the time it does, Mack is shivering, but he was determined to stay on the roof until we'd seen it. Snow is doing a good job of keeping him warm, and I've had us wrapped up in my wings for the last few hours.

But still, he's shivering.

"Rhone…" I stroke his face and kiss his cheek. I never use his first name, and it makes him blink at me. "Can you stand up?"

"Of course, I can stand, Little Star." He attempts to move, but grabs his side and winces hard.

As if he feels it too, Snow releases a low rumble.

He stands and nudges Mack with his nose.

"No, buddy, I'm not doing that. You're hurting too."

Snow frowns at him – at least, I assume it's a frown – and nudges him again. Then he looks at me.

"You want my help?"

Snow huffs.

"Looks like the bear's in charge." I stand, and help Mack up until he's able to wrap his arms around Snow's neck. Then, as Snow dips low to the ground, I push Mack up onto his back.

"Well this isn't at all humiliating," Mack says, sitting up but still hanging on tightly.

Snow tilts his head from side to side, then begins to plod forward. I follow closely, worried that Mack will lose his hold and fall right off, causing even more problems.

When we reach the stairs, I release my wings again and use them to hold onto Mack's shirt and keep him upright. Snow descends slowly, grumbling the entire way. And by the time we've reached Mack's room, he's completely out of breath.

He flops down hard in front of the fireplace, which seems to always be lit, and rests his head on his paws. Mack wobbles, but manages to climb off and make it to the bed.

Looking at the two of them, my heart strains hard against my ribs. They feel like they might crack, and if they do I'm pretty certain that every horrible, awful thought I've ever had will come sweeping in and destroy me.

Thinking I'd lost Sam almost broke me, but there was hope we'd get him back. Hope that kept me going.

This is different.

I can see Mack fading in front of my eyes, and if he leaves me it won't be because he's gone to a hell dimension. It will be because he has gone.

I turn away from him and blink fast, looking up at the ceiling and willing the tears to dry before he notices them. At my feet, Snow makes the sound I can only describe as a purr and nudges my foot with his giant paw.

"I'm okay," I whisper. "Just worried about you both."

I'm getting ready to smile and go to sit with Mack when there's a tap on the door. Kole strides in, followed by Sam and Kim, who is wearing a new pair of glasses.

"You found some," I tell him.

"Went to the pharmacy and picked some off the rack. They're not the right prescription, but they'll do for now." He puts his hands into his pockets. He's wearing an outfit borrowed from Tanner. They're a similar build, but Tanner is a little taller and a lot less geeky. "I didn't want to go back to my apartment. In case…" He swallows hard.

"You think Zephyra might be looking for you?" I ask, sitting down beside Snow and crossing my legs as if I'm about to do one of the YouTube yoga workouts I always promise to do and never get around to.

"I think she's got bigger things on her mind," Kole says, folding himself into the armchair and leaning forward onto his elbows. His hair is tied back, his shoulders broad and rippling. I stare at his tattoos; it's as if I see something new every time I look at them. Like I can never look at them for long enough. "Having said that, she doesn't forget a grudge. She'll remember what you did."

"Another reason I want to help you." Kim raises his eyebrows. This is clearly not the start of a conversation, but the middle of one.

"I told you," Kole growls. "Thornfield and I should do this alone. No offence, human, but you're?—"

"I took down a Venatrix," Kim snaps, attempting to square up to Kole.

"The ceiling collapsed on his head. Not the same thing." Kole's tone is not aggravated, just matter of fact. And, somehow, that seems to hit Kim even harder.

He blinks, pushes his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, and exhales loudly.

"If Kim wants to help, you should let him." Sam has been standing quietly in the corner. Whenever we're around each other, in a group, he seems to feel like he has to stay several feet away from me. I want to go to him, and slip my hand into his, but something about the stiffness of his body and the way he doesn't quite look at me makes me stay where I am. "It's not up to you to decide what he risks."

"It is when it means the goal of the mission could be compromised," Kole says darkly. "If I'm looking out for him."

"So, don't look out for me." Kim folds his arms. "You didn't before. You were quite happy to leave me to die. What's different this time?"

I study Kole's face. He inhales slowly then steeples his fingers and closes his eyes, pressing them to his forehead. I expect him to say something about Kim's betrayal being the reason we were there in the first place. But he doesn't.

"I'm sorry." Kim scrapes his fingers through his curly hair. "I didn't mean that."

"No need to apologise."

Kim crosses the room and sticks out his hand to shake Kole's. "Yes, there is. I'm sorry."

Kole accepts the gesture. "Then let's discuss how we're going to do this," he says. "We need to be ready to move as soon as Thornfield gets back."

"What are you thinking?" Mack asks, sipping water with a shaky hand.

Kole stands and moves closer to the bed. Kim follows him. Mack leans over and takes the tablet out of the bedside draw, then opens up a map of the city.

I smile as they start to talk about the different routes back to the fairground, and how best to approach. But my smile fades when Sam hangs his head and slips quietly from the room.

I'm about to follow him when my cell starts to vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out and frown at the number.

"Nico's calling." I raise my voice and repeat myself so the others can hear me. "Nico's calling."

I accept the call.

Nico's face comes into view but it's blurry and dark.

"Nico? Where are you? Is everything?—"

My words are cut off by a roar that sounds almost inhuman and a burst of flame in the background. A fireball flies behind Nico's head, hits something and explodes.

"What's happening?" I rush over to the others and gesture for them to pay attention. They stare at the small screen. From beside the fireplace, Snow raises his head.

"It's Luther. He—" Nico swipes his fingers through his hair. He looks petrified. "He killed someone. And now I can't stop him…"

Mack swings his legs around so he's sitting on the edge of the bed and grabs the phone from me. "Nico, what happened?"

His body might be giving out on him, but his voice sounds exactly as it always does – calm, authoritative, hot as fuck. Except, I can't allow the quiver between my legs to turn into anything more because something is happening to Luther and whatever it is – it's bad.

Speaking quickly, moving, but with the reflection of flames now dancing on his face, Nico says, "Annalise asked him to torture an AMA guy. The Bureau thought he could tell them where the scepter was."

"Torture?" Mack looks at Kole and they exchange a glance that sends a shiver of dread down my spine.

"He didn't want to do it, but they said they had something on him." Nico pinches the bridge of his nose, then his eyes widen and he says, "Shit," as a burst of flame lights the scene.

Another roar.

My heart swells and presses hard against my ribcage. Luther is breaking. I need to fix him.

"Shit, I shouldn't have left," Sam says.

"It would have happened anyway," Nico replies, looking past Mack and me at his brother.

"Did he get answers?" Kole asks.

Nico shakes his head. "No. The guy—" He looks at me. "Nova, the guy Luther tortured was Johnny's father."

I blink hard, trying to make the pieces fit. "Fuck…"

"When Luther realized who he was, he lost it." Nico shakes his head, his dark floppy hair falling across his face.

"Johnny's dad was who he killed," I breathe.

The air in the room thickens as if everyone has stopped breathing now.

Mack groans. Kole mutters, "Fuck," and Kim frowns at us. Clearly, he has no idea who Johnny was.

"Burned him alive," Nico says. "And now he's…" He turns the camera. For a moment, all I see is flames, but then I see Luther. He's striding through them, back and forth, waving his arms, pulling the fire higher and higher, casting more and more. Somewhere behind the flames, the outline of a chair and a blackened charred body bring nausea to my throat.

When Nico brings the camera back to his face, he says, "I can take him down. I can stop him. But I might have to hurt him."

"Do it," Mack grunts. "Take him down, Nico. Stop him. Let the place burn, and get the hell out of there. Hide somewhere. Anywhere. Not the cabin. Then call us. We'll figure something out."

Nico doesn't nod or reply; he's already shifting.

His skin starts to stretch and thin, he yowls. His jaw clicks and grows larger, wider. His eyes flash red. Then the phone goes dark.

"How much will he hurt him?" I ask, running my hand over Mack's upper arm.

"As much as he needs to, I guess," Mack replies.

"Annalise knows?" Kole growls, pacing away from us and thumping the wall with a large fist.

Mack hands me back my phone. "She must. All this time, we thought we kept it between us. But there's only one thing that could make Luther go back to that place. And only one way she'd know he was the one to ask."

"Annalise knows what?" I move to Kole's side and he instinctively puts his arm around me.

"We swore we wouldn't—" he says to Mack.

"That was before he lost it and murdered a human." Mack grips the side of the bed with both hands, as if he's bracing himself to stand. "Years ago, when Luther and Kole were training with me at the Bureau, Luther went missing for a few days. It was after a particularly harrowing case. You don't need the details, but it led him to find out who killed his parents."

"The humans who massacred his village?" I remember the night he first told me what led him to hate humans the way he did. My stomach clenches. I need to be close to him.

Mack nods solemnly. "He found them. Tortured them. Killed them. Every single one."

"He called me, and I brought Mack." Kole folds his arms in front of his chest. "We covered it up. Or at least, we thought we covered it up."

"Turns out, Annalise knew all along." Mack shakes his head.

"And it looks like she used it to blackmail him into helping them. Threatened him with jail, or exposure, or both." Mack practically barks and thumps the desk with his fist. "I thought she was different. Turns out she's no different than the rest of them. Fuck!"

He's losing his cool. The air shifts. His anger quivers around him. I reach for his hand but before I can grab hold of it, Mack has released a loud roar that shakes the entire room. His muscles twitch, his fingers splay out.

By the fire, Snow roars too.

Their anger builds. The pair of them. Screaming.

And then they both pass out.