The security guards who were still present spotted me running, zeroed in on my quarry, and suddenly everyone was in motion. The man—he was in his mid-thirties, pale-blond hair, slight pudge around the midsection—was wearing a Luxor maintenance uniform.
How many other men in identical uniforms had I seen moving in and out of this place over the last week? How many people had gone by right under my nose, totally unnoticed, because they looked as if they belonged? Nothing about this man stood out. He didn’t look evil, he wasn’t wearing a Death to the gods T-shirt. He was so normal he had snuck by, beyond suspicion.
Until his dirty work was done.
He bolted for the stairs up to the second floor, and I was right on his heels. Debris tripped him up as he tried to make headway, and he tumbled, smacking his chin hard on the smooth black steps.
I was right on his heels, and when he went down, I dove for him, but he scuttled backwards like a frightened crab, and when he got to his feet there was a gun in his hand.
How he’d gotten it inside, I didn’t know. How had he managed any of this? Whatever he’d done, his plan had been skillfully executed, because he’d clearly done exactly what he meant to. From up here, out of the corner of my eye, the Luxor lobby had been reduced to a war zone.
I froze in place, my gaze darting from him to the gun, debating whether or not I could get to him before he shot me. My anger was boiling inside me, melting away my grief, bubbling up to such a frenzy I thought steam might start rolling off my skin.
I didn’t care if he shot me.
If there was a cloud in here, I would bring the sky down on him with such a display of vengeance they would whisper about it in awed tones for a hundred years. I would show people what the fury of the gods looked like.
There were clouds outside. I could taste the condensation in my mouth. I stretched my fingers, calling to the weather, pleading with it. The breeze kicked up, dust and ash swirling upwards in a frenzy. The air around us was suddenly damp, the smell of rain heavy.
His eyes went wide once he realized what I was doing.
“I gave you a chance, you know?” His gun hand trembled. “I told you this would happen.”
I had no words to give this man. I had nothing but my hatred.
The only need I understood was the need to kill.
Electricity sparked on my fingertips, and I raised my hand.
I’d make it so there was nothing left to bury.
The air sang with promise, the threat and menace of a coming storm. It made my skin pucker with goose bumps. The security guards who had been following us took a few steps back.
“I’ll show you how much the gods care,” I snarled.
He lifted the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Forty
“No.” Everything went still when the sound of the gunshot echoed.
As quickly as the storm had come, it was gone, leaving only the sticky humidity as a reminder it had been here at all.
The man crumpled into a heap a few steps from me, and everything was in motion all at once. The police and security guards were all shouting at one another, shoving their way up the stairs and past me. One of them gave me a stern look and nudged me back towards the main floor.
I took two steps backwards, then my foot caught on something and I fell, landing flat on my ass and bumping a few steps down the staircase. Whatever I had tripped over groaned.
“My gods, Imelda.” I scrambled back up to where her body was lying, probably where she’d been since the first blast had sent her flying. She was bloodied, her skin burned down one side of her face and one of her legs resting at an impossible angle.
I used myself as a buffer, making sure none of the men with guns jostled her any further as they moved back down the stairs.
“Send a paramedic,” I barked. “She’s still alive.”
They didn’t say anything to me, but one of them nodded to let me know I’d been heard.
I sat down next to her, and when I’d determined her arms seemed to be okay, I took one of her hands in my own. She looked bad, but compared to Sunny and Sawyer her condition was…well, maybe not hopeful, but not hopeless either.
“I should have listened to you,” she muttered. Her eyes were closed, but she was apparently well aware of who I was.