A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,133
house. Told me to never come back and closed the door on my face while my parents laughed.”
Sun felt the sting of the blade a second before she felt a warm drop of blood slide down her neck. He was getting angrier by the second. She needed to change the subject. “The deputies at the station said you’ve been a great cop.”
He scoffed. “You giving me my job back?”
“I think you have a lot to offer the world.”
“Where are you, Zee?” he shouted, completely ignoring her.
She heard Zee’s voice in her ear. “Can you drop?”
Levi gave the barest shake of his head, but she nodded. If she could get a hand underneath the blade, she could drop to the ground and give Zee the shot.
Levi glared at her, but she ignored him. Closing her eyes, she offered up a prayer and counted off with her fingers out of range of his vision. But before she could drop to her knees, Price fell to his and took her with him, hugging her to his chest, his chin on her shoulder, his mouth at her ear.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, Sunshine on My Shoulders. No cheating.” His breaths came in shallow gasps as adrenaline coursed through him. “No cheating.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He pulled her even closer, his grip like a vise around her ribs. “How about we both go, huh? I take you out, and then Zee takes me out, and everything is right with the world.”
“As long as Sybil is okay.”
He burst out laughing. “Oh, she’s dead, beautiful. Or she will be soon.”
Sun stiffened and glanced at the unconscious girl in the snow. “What do you mean?”
“OD. She kept fighting me. I got pissed off. I’ve been told I have anger issues.”
“What did you give her?”
“The usual, GHB. Still, I did want to gut her. Leave her in little pieces on Marianna’s porch, just like she left me.”
“You don’t know how hard that was for her.”
He was rocking her now, making peace with whatever demons possessed him, preparing to die. Question was, would he take her with him?
Zee came back on. “One inch to your left, in three . . .”
“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Price.”
“. . . two . . .”
He looked at her from over her shoulder, tears shimmering in his eyes, and whispered his real name. “Cory.”
“. . . one.”
She turned to him, tilted her head to the left, and put the tips of her gloved fingers on his jaw. “Cory.”
Blood exploded across her face, the execution of the order happening so fast she almost lost consciousness. His head shattered before she even heard the shot.
Levi dove for the knife before Cory’s muscles could tighten in reflex and cut her throat. Something she hadn’t even thought of. He held on to the blade until Cory’s muscles realized his brain was no longer in control.
It was barely a second. Maybe two. But it seemed like an eternity until he went limp and fell to the side. Sun scrambled to get to Sybil. Zee and Quincy ran toward them as Sun and Levi checked her.
She was still warm. Her breaths were shallow, but she was still warm.
The medics arrived in a helicopter and stabilized her enough to fly her out.
The cabin, which was normally accessible by road, had been cut off due to the snow. If not for small miracles, Price . . . Cory could have just driven Sybil there and killed her before they could get to them.
Clearly, someone was watching out for Sybil. She wondered if it was the same entity that had given her the premonition in the first place.
After the helicopter took off, another one landed, blowing ice-cold bursts of snow around them. They would secure the scene and take Cory’s body to the OMI.
About twenty minutes later, the cavalry arrived. The engines of several emergency ATVs echoed in the clearing, and time was running out. Sun had been busy organizing the emergency personnel, but now she had to decide what to do with Levi.
She looked over at him as he leaned against the porch rails. He’d saved a life tonight. Possibly two. But he’d also confessed to killing his uncle.
His gaze didn’t waver as he watched her. Then, as though he were taking a stroll on a beach, he put a hand in his jacket pocket, tipped an invisible hat, and disappeared into the darkness surrounding him like he belonged to it.