Next to me, Mom shook her head, her eyes really big.
“Everything is great,” I lied. “We’re doing great. The warehouse is great.”
“Umm, Catalina?”
Another chunk of the roof collapsed. “We’re having a thunderstorm.” It was good her magic didn’t work over the phone.
“Okay,” Nevada said. She wasn’t buying a word of what I was selling. “I have big news.”
“Oh good. Mom is here. I’ll put you on speaker.” I pushed the icon. “Go.”
“I’m pregnant!”
I raised my voice. “Hey everybody, Nevada is pregnant.”
Everybody made cheering noises.
“Catalina,” Nevada said. “I can hear water running. I can tell by the sound that you’re outside. If it’s raining, why are all of you outside in the storm?”
“Love you, got to go.” I hung up.
A van pulled up to the curb. Shadow dashed toward it, barking. The windows rolled down and four heads stuck out, one human and blond, and the other three belonging to boxer dogs.
Cornelius stared at the warehouse. “What did I miss?”
I’d laugh, but again, no strength left.
Mom and I looked at the warehouse some more.
“Sorry,” I said.
“It will be okay,” Mom said. “It was time to let it go, anyway.”
Runa looked at her phone and jerked it to her ear, her eyes wild. “No! Don’t do it, please don’t do it!”
Oh, what the hell now?
Runa hurled the phone to the ground, then dived down, grabbed it, turned, and ran to us.
Mom and I looked at her. Arabella dropped what she was doing and sprinted over to us.
“It’s Ragnar.” Tears wet Runa’s eyes. “He just walked into Diatheke.”
“Why?” The word fell out of me.
“He said that he was done surviving. He couldn’t let them hurt anybody else.” Desperation skewed her face. “I need a car. A fast one.”
“I’ve got you,” Arabella said.
“I’m coming with you,” I said.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Arabella looked at everyone around us. “Can we have some privacy?”
“I’ll meet you at your car.” Runa spun on her foot and walked away.
Arabella crouched by me. “You’re in charge and if you order me, I’ll take you. But you’re tapped out. You can’t even stand. My car sits four. I’ll take Runa, Leon, and Mom.”
She was right. I hated it but she was right. Every second counted, and they needed to pack as much firepower as they could into four seats.
“Go,” I said. “I’ll come with the second wave.”
She hugged me and took off at a run. Mom followed her.
My phone rang again. Alessandro. Alive. Oh my God, he was alive. Relief drowned me.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“Yes,” he said. “Are you?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t get Benedict.” Frustration sharpened his voice. “I’ll be at the warehouse in half an hour.”
“I won’t be here. Ragnar just attacked Diatheke. We’re going to get him.”
“What the hell is he doing?” Alessandro snarled.
“Trying to kill everyone by himself.”
“I’ll get him. I’m closer.”
“Don’t! It’s suicide.”
He growled something fast in Italian and hung up.
Ten minutes later I strapped myself into the safety harness inside Heart’s APC. Next to me Bug fiddled with a tablet, his hand flying over the onscreen keyboard.
The APC rumbled and lurched forward. All around me Heart’s soldiers rode, their faces relaxed.
Bug thrust the tablet in front of me. On it, Alessandro walked into Diatheke.
What the hell was he doing? My heart squeezed itself into a tight, painful ball in my chest. Please, please let it be okay. Let it all be okay.
The sound of gunfire emanated from the building on the tablet, tearing the silence. Everyone looked at us.
“That’s all I got,” Bug said.
The doors of Diatheke were gone. Glass shards littered the sidewalk. The metal grate hung crumpled to one side. Heart’s people streamed into the building past me. I wanted to run, but walking was the best I could manage, and the two bodyguards Heart assigned to me refused to move faster.
Bodies sprawled in the lobby, two men and a woman. Black fuzz sheathed the corpses. Runa or Ragnar had been through here.
A soldier waited by the elevator. He swiped a bloody keycard and the doors swung open. “Your mother and sister are on the top floor,” he said. “Leon is sweeping the building with a team.”
We stepped into the cabin and the elevator carried us up. I couldn’t even worry anymore. I was just numb.
The elevator opened to the aftermath of a slaughter. Bodies lay on the expensive carpet, some slashed, some shot, others sprouting the same black fuzz from downstairs. The door to Benedict’s office had exploded and broken shards