“I don’t want Cyrus to die!” I blurted, unthinking. The loss of blood had made me stupid with fatigue. Choose your words carefully, a cautious inner voice urged. You might not think things could get worse between the two of you, but you proved tonight that they always can.

I looked at Nathan, but offered no apology. “I don’t want Cyrus to die. He doesn’t deserve it. You killed Marianne! He didn’t. And as for the other crimes he’s committed, he’s served his penance!” It felt good to vent some of my hurt on him, though I knew I should feel ashamed for taking such a low road.

“Every time I go to sleep in the morning I remember holding your dead body in the alley.” Nathan pounded his chest with his fist. “Every time I close my eyes, I see Marianne’s face—”

“That’s your fault, not his!” I laughed at the ridiculousness of it, a bitter, explosive sound. “Didn’t you learn anything tonight? Marianne was dead long before you walked into that trap. It’s not Cyrus you hate, or even the Soul Eater. It’s you! You hate yourself because you couldn’t save her, not from the cancer, not from yourself. And you hate that she wanted to leave you! But it’s over, Nathan. It’s over!”

He nodded, his expression tight and pained. “You’re right, Carrie. It is over.”

Brushing past me, he growled at Max, “Do whatever the hell you want. I’m not one of your Movement flunkies anymore. Look to someone else for help.”

The bedroom door slammed so loudly I thought it would break off the hinges. It was so final, so jarring, I couldn’t even feel sadness.

With grim resolve, I turned to Max and Bella. “Let’s go find Cyrus.”

“We can’t just leave Nathan here. If the Soul Eater’s guys came, he’d be alone,” Max began.

I cut him off. “Nathan has lived in the same building for fifteen years now, worked the same business for just as long. If the Soul Eater really wanted him, really wanted any of us, he would have sent someone by now. Don’t you see? He’s just playing with us, waiting to drive us out! And I, for one, am sick of being toyed with!”

“She is right,” Bella said softly. “The Soul Eater knows where we all are, every moment. Why else did he have men here in town?”

“So, what, he’s not really all that into becoming a god? Have you all lost your damn minds?” Max punched the wall with the side of his fist and the plaster crumbled beneath his hand. “You’re not thinking straight!”