My heart dropped again, like an elevator that just kept plummeting down, down, down. I’d once killed an innocent man, been tricked and manipulated into it much the same way Fletcher had been, so I could imagine how he’d felt. The anger, the guilt, the shame at how completely Deirdre had fooled him. The icy sting of her betrayal would have eaten away at him the rest of his life.
“Once he’d realized what I’d done, Fletcher actually tried to stop me. Pulled one of his little knives and came at me as if he thought he had a chance against my Ice magic.” Deirdre shook her head. “He put up more of a fight than I expected, and we beat each other up pretty good. Fletcher even had a chance to kill me.”
“So why didn’t he?” I muttered.
She shrugged. “Because I grabbed hold of Finnegan’s cradle. I threatened to freeze him to death if Fletcher didn’t let me go.”
Despite all the bad things I’d done, all the people I’d killed, all the gruesome torture I’d endured and dished out in return, even I sucked in a ragged breath at that. Dimitri and Santos both winced and shifted on their feet. Tucker kept messing with his phone, as bored as ever. Fletcher had warned me that Deirdre didn’t care about anyone other than herself, but the casual, matter-of-fact way she talked about killing her own son . . .
She wasn’t coldhearted—she didn’t have any heart at all.
“Of course, Fletcher let me go. I told him that if he ever threatened me in any way, I would kill Finnegan, along with those two Deveraux busybodies. Then I walked out the door and never looked back.” She shook her head again. “Although the same can’t be said for Fletcher. I knew that he kept track of me, crept around in the bushes and took pictures from time to time. As if there were ever any reason for me to come back to Ashland.”
“Not even for your son?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Finnegan?” She shrugged again. “He’s just another tool that I happen to need.”
“And once you’re done with him?”
“Then I’ll dispose of him, just the way I did Fletcher all those years ago.”
Her words chilled me to the bone, because I knew she meant every single one of them.
But she still hadn’t told me the most important thing: exactly what she needed Finn for. I opened my mouth to ask, but Tucker cleared his throat, cutting me off. Deirdre looked over at him, and he waggled his phone at her, reminding her that it was time to wrap up our little tête-à-tête. Whatever was going on, whatever their plan was, it was starting now.
“Santos,” she called out. “I believe you have an appointment to keep.”
The giant nodded and pivoted on his heel. The sudden motion caused his coat to fly out from his body, revealing his dark gray clothes again. I frowned. I’d been right about him wearing some sort of uniform, complete with a company name stitched on the breast pocket, but the coat dropped back into place, and he walked away before I could make out what it was.
“And I also have my part to play.” Deirdre fixed her icy blue gaze on me again. “Good-bye, Gin. Say hello to Fletcher for me when you see him. And do tell him that I’ll be sending Finnegan along shortly to join the two of you.”
“You bitch!” I hissed, my hands clenching around the cage bars. “If you so much as touch Finn, I will rip out your heart with my bare fucking hands.”
“Oh, I doubt that, since you’ll be dead long before Finnegan will be. He is still useful, while you are not.” She tilted her head to the side, studying me as though I were some odd specimen. “You really are just like Fletcher. So protective and so predictable. He couldn’t see the big picture until it was too late. And you? You’ll never even get the chance.”
“Well, enlighten me, then,” I snapped.
“I’m not that foolish.” She smiled. “I only indulged your whim about Fletcher because it amused me, and I knew how much it would hurt you to knock him off that pedestal you’ve put him on. Besides, I rather like the idea of you going to your grave knowing that you failed to protect your so-called brother.”
“I’m more Finn’s family than you are, you coldhearted bitch.”
“As if I would care about something as silly as that.” She looked at me again, that cold, cold smile still on her face. “The only thing your precious family has gotten you is dead, Gin. Think about that when Dimitri starts torturing you. I’ll be sure to remind Finnegan of it when I do the same to him.”
Her smile widened at my horrified expression, and she threw her head back and laughed, the light, pealing sound ringing like a death knell as she turned and left the warehouse.
21
Tucker didn’t even glance at me as he slid his phone into his jacket pocket and trailed outside after his boss. Santos was already gone, so that left me alone with Dimitri Barkov. He snapped his fingers a couple of times, and the guard standing at the door stuck his head outside and let out a loud whistle.