Maybe I should have let Piper get a taste for the kill before I did this, so she would know firsthand what it feels like to be a god, but I couldn’t do it. What if she didn’t win?

She’s like a doll—a beautiful, petite doll who has no idea of the fierce, deadly woman hiding within. Her ability to stay calm and even crack jokes in the face of terror proves everything I need to know for now.

Piper is one of us. I can’t wait for her to realize it.

“Evan, we need to go,” Matt snaps. In the distance, I hear the faint sound of sirens. The fire is raging now, smoke filling the sky.

Another pane of glass from the windows at the front is smashed out. I grin.

So what if there’s years of hard work being burned to the ground? It was beginning to get dull anyway. I need more. I want to do something different next. I don’t even know what that is, but the possibilities are endless, only restricted by my imagination. Thankfully I have a good imagination.

It’s been a hot summer; there are forest fire warnings and barbecue bans all across town. I knew the second Piper suggested setting the place alight that it wouldn’t take long for the fire department to come. But that only makes it more thrilling. It’s time-sensitive. We’re minutes from being caught, and this isn’t over yet.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins.

“I’m not leaving without her! End this and let’s go,” I tell him.

“No, you’re insane. We can’t take her. She’s a damn liability, man. Why can’t you see that?” Matt shouts.

I turn as he throws his hands up, shaking his head at me with disgust plaguing his face.

How dare he.

My stomach is burning hotter than the building next to me. I reach out and grab Caleb’s gun. Without hesitation, I aim and shoot.

Matt falls to the ground. The wound in the center of his forehead seeps blood.

Turning my gaze to Caleb and Owen, I ask, “Either of you want to leave her behind?”

Caleb’s response is immediate. He shakes his head. But Owen hesitates.

“Owen?”

“Man, I’m on your side. I always am. But there are people looking for her, so don’t you think we have a better chance of getting away if the cops turn up here and find all of them dead?”

Wrong answer.

I don’t hesitate that time, either.

Owen’s body slams to the gravel, blood trickling from the hole in his chest.

Looking up at Caleb, I say, “Why do they have to be stupid?”

He opens his mouth and snaps it shut. With wide eyes, he stares at Owen and Matt’s lifeless bodies.

“Caleb?” I prompt.

Oh God, don’t tell me he’s upset by this?