And the next thing I knew, Augusta’s glowing poker cut through Lila’s stomach until it was sticking out her back.
Lila stared down at the piece of metal that speared her abdomen, her expression frozen in shock. Even Augusta looked stunned, and though it only lasted a moment, she dropped her poker as if she’d also been burned. Lila sank to the floor, and Augusta’s expression smoothed.
“I’m so sorry, dear, but you gave me no choice. You’re just like your mother.”
Knox flew across the room and knelt beside Lila.
“Christ, Augusta, what did you do?”
“No matter,” she said, and despite her cold facade, her voice broke. “We have a spare.”
Knox touched the bleeding wound in Lila’s belly, and she moaned. “We have to get her to the infirmary. She’s going to die—”
“Kitty?”
Cold terror poured through me, and hoping to hell I’d imagined it, I glanced at the entrance.
Benjy stood in the doorway, and he stared at Lila, his face ashen.
“Benjy, please, it’s not me,” I said. “You have to get out of here.”
Augusta tried to smile, but it wavered. “You’re just in time, young man. Why don’t you join us?”
Benjy stepped inside, looking between Lila and me.
“Is she—”
“She gave me no choice,” said Augusta, and for a moment her eyes watered before she blinked and regained her composure. Still holding Knox’s gun, she gestured toward Benjy. “You’ll cooperate, though, won’t you, Kitty?
You’ll do the right thing, and you and your friend will both get to live.”
I stood there, choking on my own fear. Lila was dying because she’d fought back, and I couldn’t even find the courage to spit in Augusta’s face. I deserved my III. I deserved everything that had happened to me if I couldn’t do the one thing I had to do in order to stop this. It was Daxton all over again.
“She needs a doctor,” said Knox. He ripped off his shirt and pressed it against Lila’s wound, the poker still inside her belly. “You can’t do this, Augusta. Think about your family.”
She didn’t care about her family, though. The only person she did care about was— “Think about Greyson,” I blurted. “They’re best friends. If you let her die, he’ll hate you, and you’ll have no one. You can’t hurt him like this, not if you want him to love you anymore.”
Augusta stiffened, and for a fraction of a second, I thought I saw her expression waver. “Very well,” she said. “I’ll give you a choice, Lennox.”
I had a clear shot now, and if I unloaded the clip, I would have a chance of hitting her. Knox was close enough that he could wrestle her gun away from her— But if I missed, she could kill Benjy. I didn’t move.
“What choice?” said Knox hoarsely. Lila lay by his side, growing paler and paler as the blood drained out of her. His shirt was soaked now, and his hands were covered in it.
“Do not think for a moment I am not aware of the role you have played in this mess,” said Augusta. “You will remain alive because it would pain Daxton to have to tell your father you are dead, and I do not wish to hurt him. So you have a choice—things stay as they are, and
Lila dies, or I kill Kitty’s little friend, and Lila gets to take a trip to the infirmary to see if she can be saved.”
My mouth dropped open. Benjy? But why— It hit me, and I finally understood.
Augusta knew everything. She knew Celia was the leader of the Blackcoats. She knew Knox had been playing both sides, and she knew how much I trusted him.
I would never have gone along with Celia if he hadn’t been there, too.
And Augusta knew I would have nothing to do with him or the Blackcoats ever again if he let Benjy die.
For a split second, Knox’s eyes met mine, and when his shoulders slumped, I knew what he was going to say.
“No!” I started to stand, but Augusta pointed her gun at me, and I stopped cold. “Please, Knox—”
“Me,” said Lila weakly. “Knox, let her kill me. He— doesn’t deserve—”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to Lila, and he kissed her forehead before addressing Augusta. “I need Benjy’s help carrying Lila down to the infirmary. Then do it.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t an option,” said Augusta. “However, since you’ve made your decision, I will happily oblige.”
All the air left my lungs. Benjy stood still as a statue, and I silently willed him to run. “Please,” I begged Augusta, desperation clawing at me. “You can’t.”
“Oh yes, my darling, I can,” said Augusta. “Perhaps now you will understand just how powerless you truly are.”
Suddenly the world around me seemed to move in slow motion. Augusta aimed, and Benjy flinched, but everything was sluggish, as if time had slowed down to give me a moment to decide what to do.
My mind was made up. All I needed was that extra second. I pulled the gun from my holster and raised it.
I didn’t need to know how to aim properly in order to line up the barrel with her body and pull the trigger.
And I did.
Over and over and over again, until only a faint click remained.
In the back of my mind, I heard shouts and the thunder of footsteps. I felt hands on me and tried to shake them off, but when Benjy wrapped his arms around me, I stopped, limp in his embrace, and I dropped the gun.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Knox and Greyson carry Lila toward the door, and I heard more shouts as a dozen guards rushed in. The sound of Knox’s voice filled the room as he issued orders, and the guards went from outraged to determined as they produced a stretcher seemingly out of nowhere and carried Lila away.
But the only thing I understood was Augusta’s bulletriddled body lying in a pool of blood that slowly expanded, staining the white carpet crimson.
Chapter 20
Benjy refused to let go of me as Knox led us down to the infirmary. Greyson stayed with the handful of guards that remained in the room to deal with Augusta’s body, but there was still no sign of Celia. I couldn’t find it in me to care. Everything seemed fuzzy, and the only things anchoring me to reality were the feel of Benjy’s arms around me and the sound of Knox’s footsteps beside me.
I’d killed her. One moment she was alive and talking, and the next she was dead, all because of me. I knew I’d had no real choice. If I hadn’t, Benjy and Lila would both be dead, but that didn’t stop the guilt from hemor-rhaging through me.