Last Kiss Goodnight - By Gena Showalter Page 0,124

jerked, his eyes going wide. He fell to the side, but Solo maintained his grip, keeping him upright. He recognized gunfire when he heard it and held on to the man to use him as a shield if necessary. He tracked the noise with his gaze. Vika stood a few yards away, holding a smoking gun, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Solo loosened his fingers, intending to drop the man to the ground and race to her side, to gather her in his arms, to offer comfort, or whatever else she might need. What she’d done . . . all to protect him . . .

“My own daughter,” Jecis gasped out. “How could you?”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shots came from a different direction, from behind Jecis, but still the man jumped each time. And as three sharp stings registered in Solo’s chest—all straight in the heart—he looked to find Audra with a smoking gun. Dr. E sat on her shoulder, and he was laughing all over again.

“If I can’t have you,” the little man called, “no one can.”

The girl had shot Jecis, but the bullets had gone straight through him and into Solo. He finally dropped the man, but not to get to Vika. He no longer had the strength. The man responsible for his torment all these weeks flopped lifelessly to the ground, and Solo fell to his knees beside him.

“Solo!” Vika cried out, rushing to his side. Her hands patted at him, trying to stop the flow of blood. “You’ll heal, yes? You did before. Many times. I’ve watched you. You have to heal from this, too. Right?”

He heard a cry, watched as X collided with Dr. E, knocking Audra to the ground. As X and Dr. E fell, Dr. E’s body elongated, growing to the same size as X’s. Maybe he was seeing things.

Dizziness consumed him. Black dots wove through his vision. With every pump of his damaged heart, his life slipped away a little more. “Vika,” he managed to choke out as blood bubbled up in his throat.

“Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it,” she rushed out. “Just tell me!”

“Nothing to be . . . done.” His injuries were too severe. He’d caused this kind of damage in others. He’d seen the results too many times. He knew.

“There is!”

“Can’t lie . . . Vika . . . This is . . . it.” He struggled to keep his gaze on her as his fingers and toes grew cold.

X moved in, kneeling at his side. Still giant, as big as Solo. “Tell him good-bye, Vika.”

“What? No! Never.”

Solo pitched forward, no longer able to hold his own weight. Somehow, Vika managed to catch him, balancing him against the softness of her trembling body.

“Tell her good-bye, Solo,” X commanded.

“No!” Vika shouted again. “Not good-bye. Just good night. You’ll go to sleep, Solo, and we’ll patch you up. You’ll revive in the morning. You will. You’ll see. You vowed to give me anything I wanted and this is what I want.”

“Love . . .” He had to tell her how much he loved her. He had to explain everything she’d come to mean to him. Until her, he’d never really lived. But the black dots still winking through his vision expanded, thickened, and the blood bubbling in his throat cut off his airway. Suddenly he couldn’t breathe.

“He will die at home,” X said. “And don’t you dare protest, Vika. It must be this way.”

“No! He’s not leaving me. He promised to take me to his farm, too, and he always keeps his promises.” To Solo, she said, “You’re going to get better, I know it. I feel it. I have a knowing. Just . . . get better. Please, Solo. Please. Please.”

Strong arms banded around his waist, pulling him backward, tugging him away from Vika.

“No,” she said, and now she was sobbing. “X, don’t—”

They were the last words Solo heard.

Thirty-three

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

—LUKE 12:34

VIKA WASN’T SURE HOW long she knelt in place, staring at the pool of crimson Solo had left behind. X had put his arms around him, and the pair had vanished. All she knew was that, when she finally looked up, the circus was engulfed in flames.

She laughed without humor. Her father’s pride and joy was being destroyed bit by bit, all of his work soon to be ruined. Justice had at last arrived. But then, it always did, didn’t it? Somehow. Someway.

The otherworlders were still in their cages, screaming