Page 241 of Nemesync
I took a drag, tilting my head to savor the sight in front of me, and threw the cigarette on him.
“Consider this my parting gift. Tell Hell that Zanae and the Devil send their regards.”
They played with me, thinking they couldn’t make me a bigger monster than I was before Zanae, but now they’ll know.
I was an abomination without her.
I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and wrote a message for the woman who orchestrated it all.
Dear Zanae’s Mother,
Your pawn has fallen.
Immolated, he found his redemption.
Consider this a taste of the inferno you’ve unleashed upon yourself.
Sincerely,
— The Devil.
I placed the letter beside Lukas’s remains and ashes, ensuring it would be the first thing Zanae’s mother would see upon her return.
A man entered just after with a fire extinguisher to stop the fire but all he found was ashes and me admiring my work.
42
ZANAE
My eyelids, heavy as anchors, refused to rise.
Was I in the hospital? The smell suggested so.
With a hesitant blink, I met Ben’s gaze. Was he checking my pulse? I couldn’t quite tell.
“Hey there. Open your eyes, Zee.”
I managed to finally open them completely, feeling exhausted, my body aching sensing the hole in my stomach.
The gunshot wound had left me drained, and for a moment, perishing to its grasp felt like a tempting option. I remembered little by little everything that happened in the past hours or the past days. I didn’t even know anymore.
“Niko is waiting outside. He’s been a bundle of nerves since you got here.”
Taking a moment to collect myself, the few words Lukas told me felt heavy on my chest.
I remembered everything—his scent, his breath tickling my skin, his voice—hell.
Niko entered the room, relief and hope etched on his face. He rushed to my side, gently taking my hand in his. “You scared the hell out of me, Princess.”
My eyes softened, and I squeezed Nikolai’s hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You have to stop putting yourself in these dangerous situations. There was so much blood. We thought that you— we thought that you were dead, Zanae.”
“I’m really sorry,” I replied.
I didn’t know what else to say.
I was sorry for this, and I was sorry for constantly causing them stress and worry because danger seemed to be glued to my damn life.
