Sing Me to Sleep (The Lost Shards Book 3) Page 29

  Only Mom had been able to quiet that chaos and dim that crazy light.

  “Are…are you real?” Echo rubbed her eyes to clear them.

  “As real as your boyfriend here.” She ran her fingers through Stygian’s hair.

  He didn’t so much as flinch. “Toss me the key, Echo.”

  She couldn’t. Her limbs were too weak with shock.

  “I thought you were dead,” Echo said.

  “And I thought you loved me. I guess we were both wrong.”

  Stygian looked behind him again. “Who are you talking to?”

  Echo ignored him. She was still struggling to absorb how her dead sister was here, casting such open hatred in her direction.

  “I waited for you,” Echo said. “In front of the post office. Just like Mom said. I waited for weeks.”

  “And I died over and over again every day for years.” The crazy light brightened until it was too intense to look at directly. “You never came for me.”

  “Echo, honey,” Stygian said, his voice low and soothing. “You need to bring me that key. Let me help you.”

  “I didn’t know where you were,” Echo said. “I didn’t even know you were alive.”

  Anger twisted Hedy’s pretty features. “We were sisters! We share pieces of the same souls! You should have known I needed you! You should have listened to the voices begging you to help me!”

  Was Hedy right? Had she somehow missed the signs that Hedy was in trouble? Had she abandoned her sister when she needed her most?

  Stygian shifted toward her as far as his chain would allow. “Whatever is going on, let me help you. Give me the key, Echo.”

  She shifted her attention to him. “My sister is here. Why can’t you see her?”

  “It’s a trick of your mind,” he said. “This is Hazel’s doing.”

  Was it? Hedy seemed so real.

  Echo squeezed her eyes shut and told herself it was all in her head. Hedy was dead, not here. She was resting in peace and this crazed apparition that looked like her sister was all a trick some dead bitch was playing on her.

  “It’s okay, honey.” Stygian’s voice was calm, cool. “We’re going to get through this together. I just need you to bring me the key. Let me hold you, help you.”

  Hedy laughed. The sound was so real, so present. Echo could practically feel the vibration of her sister’s mad rage flowing beneath her feet.

  Echo opened her eyes. Her bloody sister was still there, standing on the stairway, right behind Stygian. That twinkle of insanity was bright in her blue eyes. Her mouth was twisted with a too-wide smile.

  “He can’t help you,” Hedy said. “No one can.”

  With that declaration, Hedy pulled a bloody knife and lifted it high. The blade was covered in dried blood. A blur of silver and rust streaked through the air toward Stygian.

  He dodged wildly to one side, as if he saw the blow coming, but chained as he was, he couldn’t move far enough to dodge the knife.

  The blade sank into Stygian’s back. One quick thrust, in and out. Over in a blink.

  Echo stood there, stunned. She couldn’t believe her eyes—couldn’t believe what Hedy had done.

  She was real, and she’d stabbed Stygian.

  He gasped in pain and shock, then spun around to face the threat. The move was awkward and slowed by his restraints. He had no weapons, no way to lash out with anything other than his hands.

  Blood soaked the back of his shirt, right below his left shoulder. Red stained the soft, gray fabric, spreading far too fast.

  Echo felt a sick wave of denial and revulsion sweep through her.

  Hedy had stabbed him. He hadn’t done anything but offer to help Echo, and Hedy had shoved a knife deep into his back.

  Time seemed to elongate. Echo simply stood there, her sluggish mind struggling to grasp what she was seeing.

  She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to help.

  She didn’t know who to help.

  Was Hedy protecting her from Stygian, who’d tried to kill her? Or was her sister simply so far gone that violence was normal for her.

  Hedy backed out of his reach and grinned at him. “Can you see me now?”

  Blood dripped from the tip of the knife.

  Echo didn’t move or speak for the space of several stuttering heartbeats. None of this seemed real.

  Hedy had stabbed him. She’d stabbed him and smiled as she did it.

  Stygian was quick to react. He put one foot on the edge of a stair, outside the railing, and lunged upward toward Hedy.

  Her knife slashed in front of her, catching the skin of his forearm. A three-inch long gash opened in his skin.

  His hand missed her. She slipped past his arm, down the steps and into the dining room.

  “Shoot her!” Stygian roared.

  Hedy held up her hands. Blood dripped from the blade onto her fingers. “Don’t shoot me, shoot him. I’m not the one who hurt you.”

  How did Hedy know that he’d hurt her?

  How did she know to come here? a small voice asked in the same voice that begged her to trust Stygian. Hazel rules her.

  “I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again,” Hedy said. “I’ll kill him just like I did the others.”

  Echo’s voice shook. “You’ve…killed?”

  Hedy’s smile widened as she beamed at her blade. “My knife is thirsty.”

  Echo didn’t know what to think. She didn’t know who to trust. Hedy was clearly insane. No one smiled at a bloody knife like that if they weren’t totally off their rocker. But Stygian was no more trustworthy.

  Echo was standing in front of two possible enemies now, with no idea of how to handle it. And without a hint of doubt in her mind, she knew the rat man would show up next.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Blood flowed from Stygian’s back and arm. Hedy’s aim had been too good, her blows too fast for him to dodge even though he could see them coming.

  Locking himself up had been a bad idea. He couldn’t fight like this. He couldn’t even get out of the way of a single knife.

  Inside his mind, he heard Hazel laughing. You should have obeyed. You should have given me a child. Now you will pay. I will make you watch the woman you love die by her sister’s hand.

  He ignored the bitch and looked for an opening, a solution to stop Hazel’s plan.

  There is no stopping me. All my pieces are here. Only one of you will survive. I will be made whole.

  We’re going to shove your ass in that locket and bury you where no one will ever find you, he told her.

  I want your vessel. You will be the last one standing. All of me will be inside of you, strong and whole. You will be mine to use as I see fit.

  Never!

  I already control you. I made you use that woman to heal your flesh. I made you strangle Harmony. I will make you kill them.

  Hazel was wrong. She had to be.

  And yet, he already wanted to kill Hedy. If she got just a little closer…

  As if complying to his wishes, Hedy stepped closer. Her gaze went distant, empty. The knife in her grip dipped to hang uselessly at her side. Like a lifeless puppet, she took a step closer, then another.

  She was almost in his reach. He could practically feel her thin neck under his hands, feel her pulse beating against his palms, going faster and faster until it stuttered to a final, weak stop. He imagined her face turning red, her eyes going bloodshot as he choked her.

  He wanted that. He wanted to feel her life slip away from her by his hands.

  Hedy moved closer, taking that last step.

  Stygian reached up and closed his hands around her throat. He was covered in blood. His grip was slick with it.

  Her neck was so delicate inside his fingers. So easy to break, to crush.

  “Stygian,” Echo said. “What are you doing?” There was fear in her tone, but it didn’t seem to reach him.

  He had to kill Hedy. He had no choice. She was a threat to Echo.

 
He tightened his hold. Hedy’s face went red, but she didn’t fight him. She didn’t even struggle.

  Killing her was going to be easy.

  Hazel laughed.

  Echo screamed, “Stygian! Don’t!”

  Her voice was so sweet, so musical. Even with all her fear and anger thrumming through her words, the sound mesmerized him.

  He drew Hedy closer. Her small body stumbled toward him without a fight. She was making these faint choking noises now. Her blue eyes were wide with fear. Pinpoint dots of blood exploded inside the whites like stars.

  “Stygian!” His name on Echo’s lips was sweet. He wanted to possess that music for his own.

  He glanced her way. Tears streamed down her dirty cheeks. She had a gun in her hand, but couldn’t seem to bring herself to aim it directly at him.

  Besides, he knew she wasn’t going to shoot. If she did, he’d see it coming before the bullet left the muzzle. He’d simply shoved Hedy’s body in front of his and let her take the bullet for him.

  The round wouldn’t kill her. That pleasure was all his.

  And then he was going to kill Echo.

  The thought was like an itch in the back of his mind. He could hear faint voices shouting at him to stop, but they didn’t matter.

  Only Hazel’s voice mattered.

  Something about that was wrong, but there was no time to figure it out now. He had so much to do. So many people to kill.

  Hazel needed to be whole. She needed his body. Even with his knife wounds, he was the strongest of all of her vessels. His body was the one she deserved.

  Echo let out a musical sob of fear and pain. “Stygian, please. Don’t kill my sister.” She sucked in an audible breath. “Please.”

  The word reverberated inside his head. Everywhere it touched, cracks began to form. He could see something in the gaps—something warped and twisted. Something evil.

  “Please,” she said again.

  The cracks widened. He saw Hazel’s face, saw her long, dark hair and her witchy eyes. He saw the malevolent smile she wore.

  He saw her plan to use him to kill everyone so she could take over his body.

  He saw Hedy’s eyes flutter shut, saw her die, a moment before it happened.

  Denial so powerful it bordered on rage exploded inside of him. He let out a roar of defiance and shoved Hedy back as hard as he could.

  She landed on the floor, gasping for breath.

  Hazel screamed in fury. She’d been so close to taking over, so close to winning.

  Stygian knew in that moment exactly what needed to be done. He only prayed that Echo would be strong enough to make it happen.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Stygian had almost killed Hedy. Echo had watched the whole thing and still couldn’t believe it had happened.

  She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know who to trust.

  Stygian offered her a solution. He kept his eyes trained on her, his gaze full of menace. “Shoot her, Echo. Shoot Hedy while she’s down.”

  Revulsion made her stomach heave dangerously.

  “I can’t.”

  Hedy pushed herself upright. The knife was still in her hand.

  Why hadn’t she stabbed Stygian again when she’d been close enough to do so? Why had she let him choke her nearly to death?

  Hazel controls her, a voice said in answer to her question. Hazel will sacrifice all of you to be whole.

  Is that what had happened? Had Hazel made Hedy stand there and be strangled so that her shards could go into Stygian?

  Had she made him close his hands around Hedy’s throat and squeeze the way he’d done to Echo only this morning?

  Hedy coughed. “She’s not going to shoot her sister,” she said, spittle flying from her mouth like venom.

  Stygian ignored her. He looked only at Echo. “She won’t die if you shoot her from that distance. Shoot me too. We’ll both be incapacitated. Then you can cast the spell and we’ll sort this all out when it’s over. But you need to do it now, before we miss the window.”

  The gun sagged in Echo’s pocket, feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds. She fumbled for the grip. The box containing the locket vibrated, as if it wanted out.

  Echo didn’t know what to do. They were running out of time. Stygian was bleeding. Hedy was crazy. The rat man was coming. Hazel wanted to be whole.

  Hazel. She was the cause of all of this. She was the one Echo wanted to shoot.

  The alarm on her phone went off—the one warning her that they were almost out of time. She had only five minutes to cast a spell that was going to take longer than that to cast.

  Stygian’s gaze met hers. “You have to shoot us now, Echo. There is no other way.”

  Tear streamed down her cheeks. She knew he was right. She didn’t want to hurt either of them, but she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t even get close enough to put the locket in the center of the circle without getting too close to Stygian.

  Even wounded and in pain, he’d have no trouble killing her. He’d just proven that with Hedy.

  Maybe that was Hazel’s plan all along. Maybe the bitch wanted to get them all in the same place so that they could fight it out until only one remained standing.

  Then she would be in control.

  She will sacrifice all of you to be whole.

  A warning sounded in her head. Something about all of this was off. Wrong.

  Hazel would want all but one of them dead. Incapacitation wasn’t good enough for her shards to be made whole.

  Echo slid the magazine out of the Glock to check the bullets. Instead of the bright emerald green ones that Marvel made, these were shiny silver tipped with matte black. Hollow points, meant to damage flesh, meant to kill, not to subdue.

  Stygian had switched out the bullets and not told her.

  Why, then, had he told her to shoot him? Was he even aware of what he’d done? Or had Hazel made him do it without remembering?

  Before the answer to that question came, Stygian lunged toward Hedy. A fraction of a second later, she let out a scream as she charged, knife raised, toward Echo.

  He tried to intercept her. His free arm stretched out. Tendons strained in his neck. His face hardened with determination. There was a sickening sound of a joint breaking as he reached the end of his tether. His body came to a sudden stop. His fingertips brushed the fabric of Hedy’s sleeve, but didn’t slow her.

  Echo pushed the magazine back in the gun, but there wasn’t time to aim. All she could do was lift her hands to ward off the wicked edge of the knife headed her way.

  Hedy’s fist caught in the X of Echo’s crossed forearms. The gun was jarred out of her hand and slid over the eyes in the floorboards. She fell backward, landing awkwardly against the couch with her sister on top of her. The wooden legs screeched over the floor then thudded to a stop against the wall. The bloody blade hung suspended, right above Echo’s eye.

  Hedy screamed in fury and clenched her teeth as she tried to plunge the knife into her sister’s flesh.

  “Get off her!” Stygian’s voice vibrated through the room, its fierce echo shaking the walls.

  From the corner of Echo’s eye she saw something else, something she’d feared from the time she knew what fear was.

  Beady, blood-red eyes appeared in the doorway only feet from where Stygian was chained. Six eyes. Three rats.

  Panic exploded against her temples and pounded at her ribcage. Even one rat had been impossible for her to kill. Only Stygian and his well-aimed bullet had been able to take one of them down from a distance.

  And he had no gun.

  “Behind you,” she screamed as she held Hedy’s knife at bay.

  “Can’t fool me like that,” Hedy said, then shifted her weight to bear down harder.

  Echo couldn’t see Stygian now. All she could do was hear his shocked intake of breath.

  There was a horrible wrenching sound from his direction. Metal squealed against wood. Plaster cracked. The floor beneath Echo’s body
reverberated with the force of his struggle to get free.

  The rats screamed, but Echo couldn’t tell if the sound was one of pain or excitement.

  Hedy’s blue eyes glowed with feral lust. Blood spotted her cheeks. Spittle leaked from between her gritted teeth. Her body seemed to strengthen.

  The knife dipped lower.

  A second alarm on Echo’s phone went off, warning her that time was nearly up. Their chance to trap Hazel was slipping away.

  More shrieking, pounding, thrashing noises came from Stygian’s direction. He grunted and cursed.

  Hedy began to laugh.

  The sound of it clashed with Stygian’s desperate thrashing, creating a grating dissonance inside of Echo’s skull.

  She longed for that pure, perfect note again, for the peace and hope that reverberated inside of it.

  The box in her pocket vibrated.

  Lift your voice in song.

  Her mother had scratched that note into the box holding the locket. It was a message like all the rest, leading her closer to freedom. All Echo had to do was listen.

  She was panting with the effort of holding the knife at bay. Her body was weak from hours of digging, exhausted from all the terror and heartache she’d endured.

  The rat man was here.

  Hedy was trying to kill her.

  Stygian had tried to kill her too.

  She loved him, even now. Even as she knew she could never be with him again the way she had been.

  Her broken heart bled, leaving no room for song, no space for celebration or music. And yet her mother had given her the message.

  Lift your voice in song.

  Echo pulled in as much air as she could manage. Her lungs felt compressed and full of concrete fear, but she stretched them out as far as they would go.

  On her next, rapid breath, she tried to form a note. Any note. She didn’t care which one.

  The sound came out garbled and hollow. It was little more than a pitiful squeak of air.

  Stygian let out a grunt of pain. The rats chittered, their voices drawing closer.

  Echo tried again, filling her lungs once more.

  This time, the note she sang came out. It was flat and misshapen, but still something resembling music.