Page 113 of Pride

Daisy cleared her throat. All eyes turned to her.

“There’s no need,” she said. “I know who he is.”

“Axel?” Alice blurted, her mind going back to the way he’d looked at Daisy.

Daisy gave a thin smile, one that still didn’t reach her eyes. Alice wondered if the woman would ever smile properly again.

“Yes, Axel. He doesn’t know.” Daisy picked up her fork and stabbed a carrot. With a breath, and without removing her eyes from her plate, she continued. “He doesn’t know because I don’t think my power triggered. I feel nothing except my sin equalizing.”

“You have a gift,” Parker insisted. “I know what it is.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Daisy lifted the carrot to her mouth and paused before eating to say, “It doesn’t matter because Axel was a member of the Faithful. And he’s dying.”

And then she ate.

The entire table stilled. They were all sad they were missing their mates, yet Daisy had finally found hers and he was dying. Mary mumbled a prayer and made the sign of the cross. Flint poured water into a glass and gave it to Daisy. Parker tapped his finger on a napkin, thinking.

Alice should say something. Shouldn’t she?

“It’s going to be fine,” Parker insisted. “I don’t know how, but I do know we can’t solve the world’s problems tonight. Let’s eat. Tomorrow, we fight.”

Every single person in that room lifted their forks and dug into their meals. It brought tears to Alice’s eyes because she knew, without a doubt, that even though she’d signed on to be the last line of defense against the Lazarus family if they ever turned dark, it would never happen. They had each other’s backs. And they would fight for love until their dying breaths.

Epilogue

In a dark,abandoned waste-water facility, Julius Allcott rushed between the computers he’d set up on a rusted metal platform. Cords and wires snaked everywhere and he had to hop to avoid catching his feet. He checked on the status of the replicate tanks he’d positioned around the city. Good to go. He checked on the Faithful teams in place, waiting with detonators at each bridge leading into the city.

“Is it ready?” his wife said to him.

“Almost, my love,” he replied. “I’ve done exactly as you said. The plan is ready to execute.”

Kidnap the mates. Destroy the bridges. Lock down Cardinal City so no one can get in or out. Loose the replicates and other weapons. Watch the city burn and destroy itself. Watch sin finally have its day. And then while that was all happening, while the Deadly Seven were distracted or falling into sin themselves, he would be underground, back at that same spot, burrowing deep into the spirit dimension, bringing his wife and daughter back to him.

She was close, already speaking to him through the void. The moment he’d heard her in that tunnel, he’d almost wet himself with joy. But she’d told him that until the gate was open, she wouldn’t be fully here.

“Then what are you waiting for?” his wife asked. “Detonate.”

Julius opened a line of communication with his team and spoke. “It’s time.”

The city foundations rocked. One by one, each bridge was taken out. It was time for everyone to finally see what Julius had always known—there was no escaping deadly sin.