Chapter 7

SEVEN

The entryway is empty. Jonas and I sweep every nook and cranny and find . . . no one. There are no footsteps or people. Sharing a confused and slightly worried look, we head to the closed double doors of the living room.

As soon as I touch the wood, I know something is behind it. I shoot Jonas a look and he nods, lifting his gun higher to watch me. Taking a deep breath, I rip open the doors and roll inside in case anyone starts firing. I might be fast and strong, but a well-placed bullet could still take me down, and I don’t plan on dying today.

Nobody is.

No one shoots, however, and when I jerk my head up, I freeze as fear pounds through me.

Dimitri, Louis, Nico, and Isaac are lined up in a row of chairs, tied up and gagged. Their eyes are wide, and Nico shoots fire at me with his gaze. Louis’s expression is demanding, Isaac looks worried, and Dimitri seems sad. Jonas slides inside behind me and pulls out a knife, hurrying over to them as I climb to my feet and look around for Sam. I don’t see him. I hope he got away.

I don’t know how they captured my men, other than taking them by surprise and drugging them, which is possible since they look sluggish, not to mention the number of bodies in the house.

“Get them free, and let’s get the others. We can regroup—”

I blame my own stupidity and shock.

Dumb, Nova, so fucking dumb.

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening.”

His voice is like a boulder, slamming me back to reality, and I actually gasp as I spin to see him. Every bad memory, nightmare, and moment I have thought of him pounds into me until I stagger back.

He is just a man, but the power he has over me is that of a god. Fear and pain return until I no longer feel like Nova, their Nova. Instead, I feel like that scared little Novaleen, staring at her father.

“Hello, Novaleen.” He grins at me. Four masked men stand behind him, their guns aimed at us. “Sorry to drop by like this, but it is my house, after all.”

“Father,” I spit, finally finding my voice. “I would say it’s good to see you, but I preferred you dead.” I grin. “Not to worry, though, I can rectify that.” I raise my gun, and he yanks something—no, not something, someone into view, holding them before him like a shield.

Ana.

Fear dawns on her face as she watches me, her eyes searching the room for Sam. Panic threads through me, but I try to mask it and come up with a solution that will get us all out of here alive.

“Uh-uh, we need to talk, Novaleen. Do not be so brash.” He huffs, his eyes narrowed in displeasure as my hand with the gun hesitates.

“It’s over,” I spit and look Ana over. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but Bert . . .” Sobs rack her body. “I think they killed him while he was trying to protect me.”

I startle, resisting the urge to kill them all as I breathe through the grief of losing a man who was never supposed to be more than staff but took in two little girls and tried to make their miserable existences worth living. The gun wavers and falls as I stare at a shaking Ana.

“That’s a good girl. Behave, Novaleen, or should I say Nova?” he spits. “Though I must say I much prefer your true name.”

“Yeah, well, fuck what you prefer,” I retort, feeling Jonas moving behind me.

“Tell him to stop, Nova, or I will kill her and the others.” He grins, and the expression is slightly deranged, but the intensity in his eyes shakes me to my core.

“You won’t kill your daughter,” I hedge. No matter how much of a monster he is, Ana is still of his blood.

“Try me,” he replies, and for a moment, we just stare at each other in a test of wills before my shoulders sag. I’m unable to put any of them at risk, least of all my sister. “Jonas, stop.”

I hear him stop instantly. “Baby,” he murmurs.

“Don’t,” I snap at him, glaring over my shoulder.

He nods in understanding. I will not risk my sister or my men, knowing how sadistic my father is. He would relish our pain. More than that, he would cause it to understand the aftermath then study us.

“You did this all to talk?” I gesture around. “Then talk.”

He releases Ana, thrusting her towards me. I grab her hand and haul her behind me, but she stops at my side, gripping my fingers in support and fear. We are two sisters standing together against their father. His men stream into the room, taking up position, their weapons aimed at my men to make sure I do not go back on what I said.

“Look at you.” His eyes move over me as mine move over him.

The sharp edge of panic and fear disappears the longer I’m in his presence. The projected version of the man from my childhood fades, and standing in his place is an older man. His hair is grey, short, and styled. His eyes are the same, sharp blue, but surrounding them are crow’s feet that weren’t there before. His lips have sagged slightly, and they are surrounded by lines. He’s plumper than he was before, maybe stress eating, and his shoulders are slightly rounded as if from stress.

He looks older and weaker.

It just reminds me that he is nothing but a man, and something about his decaying appearance makes my chin tilt up as I face my maker—the man responsible for all of this. I always worried about how I would react, but I truly feel nothing except . . . pity for him.

“Look at you. You’re older, a lot older. You look weak.” I see him flinch and know I’ve landed a hit. For all his research, all his gifts, he cannot stop himself from aging.

“And you, you look stronger every time I see you. You are impeccable, everything I imagined and more. I cannot wait to see what is going on in your body.” His eyes go far away for a moment. “Though you are surrounding yourself with . . . strange company.”

I ignore that, unwilling to let him land any more blows, even as I search for a way out of this, inching us back to my men. “I feel sorry for you,” I comment, trying to distract him as I tug Ana with me.

“For me?” He laughs.

“Yes, for you. All these years, you wasted your life on research that even your own government has turned its back on. You have no one to trust, no one to share it with. You are completely alone. These people follow you out of fear or obligation, nothing more. Everything you have done will be for nothing. No one will remember you, and no one will mourn you. You will simply disappear like specks of dust in the light.”

“Oh, that’s where you are wrong, Novaleen.” He grins, and alarm bells sound in my head. That smile would appear right before he would do something so horrible, I cannot even think about them. “They will remember you. They will remember I made you, created you, and changed everything. And you? You’re the key to that.”

“I will never help you,” I snap. “This is my family. This is where I stand. You’ll have to kill me.”

“Never.” He shrugs. “I need you, like you pointed out; however, I don’t need them.”

Fear stabs through me, but I tilt my head back at his bluff.

“You won’t turn us against each other. We stand together,” I snap, squeezing Ana’s hand.

One sister who just wanted to heal the world and the other who wanted to watch it burn are finally united and standing together.

Father sees it, and with a cruel grin that sends shudders down my spine, he looks to Ana. “Look at you, Ana. You are incredible. I have been following your research. It is very good, but think of everything you could do. Join me and help me finish my research, and we can change the world. We can help those who need it, heal them, and make them better so no one ever has to suffer again.” It’s a lie, but he’s appealing to her soft caring side and he knows it.

For a moment, I panic, thinking she will try to help him simply to defuse the situation or protect me, until she looks up with a determined expression. I realise the days when Ana trusted or would help our father are long gone.

“Never. I’ll never help you. You are nothing but a psychopath who craves power and fame. You split us once, but it won’t happen again. I’m with Nova every step of the way.”

Pride fills me as I stare down at my little sister.

“Then you are useless to me,” he spits.

I see it too late.

For all my training, for all my strength and abilities, I’m too fucking late.

The gun flashes in the dark living room, and I watch in slow motion as the bullet heads for Ana. I throw myself towards her, but when she screams, I know I’m too late.

Too fucking late.

Too fucking slow.

We slam to the floor, where I cover her with my body as Jonas lunges at my father. A scream escapes my lips when one of the men slams their gun into his head and he collapses in a heap. Lifting up, I meet Ana’s gaze as she blinks rapidly.

She’s alive.

“You’re okay,” I whisper, cupping her clammy cheeks. My mind screeches to a halt, my heart frozen. “You’re okay.”

“Nova?” she whispers raggedly. “I’m cold.”

“No, no, you’re fine,” I promise as I sit back, but everything freezes inside me when I see the bloody state of her stomach. There is a large hole in her clothes and skin. Pressing my hands to it, I feel tears dripping from my eyes. “You are okay,” I tell her as I apply more pressure, making her whimper. I lift my head, searching for something. Anything.

“Help me!” I scream at my father.

“Nova,” Ana whispers, her body shaking underneath me.

“Fucking help me!” I beg him as he stares at us. “She’s your daughter!”

“She’s useless to me,” is all he says.

“No, no, no,” I say. “I’ll do anything, please, please fucking save her. Please don’t take her from me, not now. I just got her back. Please!”

“Nova.” Ana’s voice is firmer. I swing my head down to see her smiling shakily. “I love you.”

“Don’t you dare say goodbye,” I snap. “I can save you. I can—”

“Nova.” She reaches up with a bloodied, shaking hand and cups my cheek. “You can’t save everyone.”

“I can save you,” I protest, lifting my hands and whimpering at the blood pooling around the wound. I turn my head to see Isaac fighting in his restraints. “Tell me how!” I tell him.

“Nova, stop it,” Ana demands, a wheezy breath rattling her lungs. “It’s okay. I love you, please know that. I’m okay with dying to protect you. Tell Sam . . . Tell him I love him too,” she pleads as I hang my head, sobs racking my body. For all my power and all my strength, I’m lost and useless in this moment.

“Tell me how to save you,” I whisper to her.

“You can’t. It tore something important. Even if you operated now, it would be too late,” she admits with a cough, wincing in pain. “I don’t fear death, Nova. You taught me that, but please don’t let this break you.”

“I can’t lose you. I just got you back,” I sob, lifting her into my arms. She’s so fragile and pale.

“You’ll never lose me,” she whispers, blinking rapidly as her face pales even further.

“Don’t you fucking dare close your eyes. Stay with me. Please, stay with me.” My tears drip into her face, mingling with her own as her body shuts down.

I know the signs.

“Sorry . . . Love . . . you,” she gurgles, struggling to breathe.

“I love you. I love you so much, Annie,” I croak, holding her tighter and rocking her in my arms. Her blood covers us both.

I wish I could say it was quick, but she struggles to breathe before her body gives out. All the while, I plead to a god I don’t believe in not to take her. I feel the moment she dies, the moment she lets go, her hand dropping between us as her head falls back.

I rock her back and forth, singing to her like I did when she was a child. When the song ends, I squeeze my eyes closed. “No, it’s not real. Please, please, don’t leave me all alone. Please don’t leave me, Annie.”

“Nova, it is time to go or I will kill the rest,” Father snaps, tired of me.

I drop my head back on a ragged scream, then I gently lay her down, brushing her hair from her face as I position her arms and legs so they are straight. “I’m so sorry, Annie. I’m so very sorry. I love you so fucking much.” Leaning down, I press my trembling lips to her forehead, my tears splashing into her unseeing eyes. “I will make this right,” I tell her softly before turning away.

Blinking through tears, I turn my head to my father, no longer scared. I feel empty and cold. “You’re a dead man walking.”

He opens his mouth to respond when there’s a roar and a body flies into him, smashing him to the side. Sam scrambles to his feet, his chest heaving and blood coating his head, but then he spots Ana.

“Ana, no!” he croaks, stumbling towards her. He falls to his knees next to her unmoving body, and I choke on my tears as I watch. “No, baby, wake up. Look at me!” He slaps her face before looking up at me. “Why aren’t you doing anything? Save her!”

“I’m sorry,” I sob.

“No, no, you’re okay. You’re okay, baby.” He pulls her into his arms, kissing her face as I cry. “Please, baby, I just found you. Please, don’t let me lose anyone else.”

“Sam,” I murmur, reaching for him.

He screams and pulls her away from everyone as I stumble to my feet, his back bowed as he cries, trying to get her to wake up.

Everything in me is cold and broken at the same time.

It’s as if I can’t breathe and I’m swimming underwater.

I can see my guys fighting to get to me. I see my father raising the gun again and hear a shot go off. It hits Sam, but he doesn’t move except for a flinch and a yell. He shoots again.

Four more bullets are shot until Sam slumps over Ana, their blood mingling together, and I still can’t move.

A girl bound to heal, a soldier bound to die, I think idly.

My eyes are locked on their bodies. Someone screams my name, but I don’t move as the soldiers board the windows and something starts pumping into the room to knock us out.

Let them kill me.

What is the point of living without her?

I look at Sam and for a moment, fresh agony spills through me before it, too, is swallowed up.

My grief is not loud like his.

It is silent, deadly, and cold.

“It’s time to go, Nova.” Father holds his hand out to me. He took her from me. “I’ll kill them, Nova.”

That’s what jerks me back to reality.

“If I go with you, you’ll leave them alone?” My voice sounds strange, even to my own ears.

“Yes,” he promises. “I never needed them, only you. They are failures. I will let them live if you’ll come with me now.”

For a moment, my eyes go back to Ana’s unseeing ones. “No more death, not for me,” I whisper as I turn. I can’t bring myself to meet their gazes.

Nico roars behind his gag, his chair creaking with his struggles. Louis pleads with me, his eyes darting around as he tries to look for a plan. Dimitri is silent, watching me with understanding. He is the only other person who has felt my grief. Isaac cries as he reaches for me. Jonas, still slumped on the floor, remains silent.

Six men who love me and would give anything for me.

They would die for me.

“No more death,” I tell them as I step back to my father. “No more.”

Turning away, I put my hand in his as he grins down at me. “We are going to do great things, Novaleen.”

At the threshold, I look back, meeting their eyes. “I love you. I love you all. I can’t watch anyone else—” For a moment, emotions slam through me before I lock them away. “Stay alive.” With that, I let my father lead me from the house in a daze, and when he injects me in the car and knocks me out, I welcome the oblivion, drowning in the darkness and hoping I never wake up.