Page 80 of Aftershock
The woman I kidnapped a day after Lilith was brought in.
I used Renata’s body for science while she bled, screamed, threw up, and cried. Then I dumped her into the Hudson River without her teeth, fingers, toes, or anything that could help identify her.
She deserved it and far worse.
But as proud as I am of murdering her, a cold, fathomless dread slithers up my spine.
What feels like justice to me might feel unforgivable to Lilith.
She might be horrified to hear I killed her only remaining blood relative, no matter how much she hated her.
Or she might resent me for robbing her of the only opportunity to get back at her mom by taking her to court and watching her—possibly—rot in jail.
Whatever it is, I won’t tell her I did that.
I can’t risk losing her.
Can’t let her slip between my fingers.
Lilith can never, ever know.
17
ALARIC
Steven’s surgery takes hours but, thankfully, we get the internal bleeding under control and repair the damage in time.
Now, before I head to the showers, I stop by the ICU to see whether anyone has shown up for Steven. My fists clench at my sides when I find him there without a single family member at his bedside, only two assistants, a nurse tells me, who have been hired to make sure he has everything he needs.
If his dad truly loved him, he would’ve been here.
He isn’t.
That, combined with what Austin told me, eradicates the last of my doubts.
Steven’s dadbeat him up.
And since no charges have been filed for this so-called accident, I have to act fast. If I don’t take his dad out of the equation, the next time I see Steven might be at the morgue.
I need to clear my storage unit first. Not before I run the second set of trials I have planned for Harold. Meaning, I’ll have to get it done tonight.
After I see Lilith.
She’s in the cafeteria, within reach, since I asked her to wait for me after I got out of surgery.
I take the fastest shower of my life, storm out of the locker room, and go to her.
God, I need her. I need to tell her that I remember. To reassure her nothing’s changed between us, if that’s why she’s been hiding her identity from me.
My head pounds. My insides twist tight as memories come crashing down on me.
The few things she’s told me about her mother over the past three days have been enough to make me want to put my fist through a wall.
But the flashbacks I’m having…
The extent of her injuries.
The healed fractures on her scans.
