With the last of his strength, Jim brought their hands together, linking them over the pinhole in his chest that had changed everything for all three of them, holding the two halves of them so they were one.

As his vision receded, he looked at those fingers, the small and the large, woven among each other. In a rush, he knew for certain the future was going to be kind to them. The demon was gone from Vin and somehow those talismans were in the possession of Adrian. These two fine, broken people were going to heal each other and walk through the hours and days and years of their decades side by side, and it was right; it was good.

He’d done a good thing. After so many years of taking lives, he’d saved one that mattered. And two that counted.

At the crossroads, he’d chosen wisely.

Abruptly, Jim’s chest seized up and he coughed hard, his mouth becoming wet. His next inhale was nothing but a gurgle, and his heart started to hopscotch. Not long now, not long at all.

He couldn’t wait to see his mother. And he was surprised at how much what he had done put him at peace.

Just as red lights played across the ceiling—the sign that an ambulance had pulled into the driveway—Jim let out his last breath…and died with a smile on his lips.

CHAPTER
41

The ambulance ride was bumpy from the speed and bright from the flashing lights. The sirens, however, came on only at intersections.

Marie-Terese took this as a good sign.

Sitting on a built-in bench beside Vin, with one hand locked on a vertical stainless-steel bar to steady herself and the other tight to his warm palm, she figured if his condition were really dangerous, the rip-snorting, high-pitched stuff would be going constantly.

Or maybe she was just trying to placate herself.

As he lay on the gurney, Vin’s eyes were closed and his face was pale, but he was holding on to her. And every time they went over a pothole, he winced, his lips pulling back off his white teeth—which had to mean he wasn’t in deep shock or a coma. And that was good, right?

Compared to the downside potential.

She glanced over at the medic. The woman was concentrating on the screen of a portable EKG, and her expression gave nothing away.

Marie-Terese leaned to the side and tried to get a look at whatever readout the machine was giving…and all she saw was a white line making some sort of pattern against a black background. She had no clue what it meant.

Out the back window of the ambulance, she prayed to see more street lamps on the sidewalks…and buildings instead of strip malls or residential streets…and cars parked parallel to the curb.

Because that meant they were finally downtown.

It wasn’t just for Vin’s sake.