Page 42 of Delirium
“He wanted me, you know.” She smiled softly, lost in her memories. “But they wouldn’t let him hold me. They wouldn’t let him keep me, so he had to pretend to love you, when all he wanted was me.”
Fuck my life.
I should have seen this coming. I should have known.
“Nikolai Aster is your father,” I stated matter-of-factly. There was no question in it. There was no doubt. The same insanity shone in her eyes just like it did in his, but I didn’t see it before. She was such a good actor, wearing a perfect mask, and I failed to recognize the monster hiding among us.
“He promised he would take me with him once we got rid of you. He hated you, Ophelia, but he couldn’t kill you without bringing the wrath of Russia on his shoulders, so we had to be careful. We had to plan.”
“Nova,” I started. “Your father was a sick man.” I grinned. “And I’m glad he’s not here today to see all his plans destroyed.”
“Liar!” she bellowed. “Our father was an amazing man. He loved me, he wanted me, he wanted to give me the world.”
“Then why didn’t he?” I asked, slowly moving toward the nightstand on this side of the bed, where my knife laid. “Why didn’t he give you everything?”
“Because of you!” she cried out. “You took everything from me, so I took everything from you as well.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, slowly bending down to take the knife.
She was lost in her thoughts, her attention on everything and nothing. She was breaking in front of me, and I wasn’t going to stop it. This was what I wanted. This was what I needed.
“I took Ava from you.” She grinned. “She cried and cried and cried, but I couldn’t allow that kid to survive. I couldn’t allow it to happen.”
I froze, the white noise filtering through my ears.
“You killed Ava?” I asked just as my hand wrapped around the handle of the knife. “You killed my best friend?”
“Well.” She shrugged. “Killedis such a harsh word. I set her free. I saved her from you.”
“You had no right,” I bit out. “No right!”
She started talking to herself, looking down at the test results my doctor gave me. The last picture from the ultrasound shook in her hands, her anger directed at my kids.
I slowly went around the bed, inching closer to her, using the opportunity to approach her.
“They will never be yours,” Nova mumbled, looking at the picture. “You will never know happiness.”
She was wrong. I would have it all, and all those who wronged me would find out what happened to the people who dared to cross me.
“She’s going to take them.” Nova laughed maniacally, paying no attention to me. “She’s going to take everything from you, and I will get Storm. Yes, yes, yes, I will have him. I will have it all.”
And people called me insane.
This here was the real insanity. The delusions she had, the game she played, this was a manipulator par excellence, and I had to stop her. Fuck what Storm said. This woman didn’t deserve to live.
I snuck behind her and pushed her onto the bed, the papers and the picture falling down on the floor as she lost her footing, surprised by me. She wasn’t paying attention and now she was going to die.
I sat on her back, holding her down as she thrashed on the bed, trying to break free.
“Let go of me!” she screeched. “I will call Storm. Storm!” she screamed. “Help me!”
“Oh, darling.” I chuckled, moving the hair from her face. I pressed the tip of my blade to her cheek and leaned down toward her ear. “Storm isn’t coming. No one is coming to save you. But you are going to tell me everything you know.” I grinned. “Every filthy secret, everything you did.”
“I’m not telling you anything.” She laughed. “They’re coming for you,” she sang. “All the demons are coming for you.”
“They’re not coming, Nova,” I said, pulling back. “They’re already here.”
Her hips were trapped by my body sitting on top of her. The derangement shining from her eyes reminded me of Nikolai, of the way he used to look in those last moments, completely lost to the insanity taking over.
