Devil’s Luck

by Kory M. Shrum

“You could’ve killed me and left me in a ditch.” Lou’s voice rasped, breaking at the ends. She needed water.

  “I thought about it when you slumped over in my seat,” Blair said with a flick of her eyebrow. “I’m still thinking about it.”

  Lou leaned back against the pillow and mashed the call button on her plastic bedrails. Blair must’ve seen her do it. If she was worried Lou might call for help, she showed no signs.

  “But I don’t think I can walk away without answers,” she admitted. “And boy do I have questions.”

  “Like?” Lou prompted.

  “Is Diana dead?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you do it?”

  “Yes.”

  Blair didn’t look surprised by this. She nodded once, a short jerk as if checking an unseen box.

  “Were you planning to kill her from the beginning? Were you just fucking with us?”

  “No.” It hurt Lou’s throat to speak. “She didn’t leave me a choice.”

  Blair’s eyes flicked down and to the side. It looked like she was having her own private consultation. “My sister is…was like that. She had a way of boxing people into corners they couldn’t get out of.”

  A short black woman pushed open the door, knocking on it as she did. “Good morning, miss. Glad to see you’re awake.”

  “Can I have some water? Please.”

  “Sure thing. And I’ll tell the doctor that you’re awake. He’ll wanna have a chat with you about what happened. Your hero could only tell us so much.”

  When she closed the door, Lou arched a brow at Blair. “Hero?”

  She shrugged. “I told them I found you on the side of the road.”

  She didn’t speak again until the nurse left her with a Styrofoam cup of water, a straw, and assurances that someone would be back soon.

  As the door clicked shut, Blair asked, “Can you really do what I think you can do?”

  Lou continued to drink her water, her gaze steady over the rim of the cup.

  “Right.” Blair laughed, a tired, humorless sound. “You know, I don’t think it was the questions or the curiosity that stopped me from killing you. I think it was the blonde.”

  The hair on the back of Lou’s neck rose.

  “What’s her name? Your little sidekick? The squirrelly one?”

  Lou said nothing.

  “It was how she looks at you. I know that look. It’s how I look—used to look—at my sister, before things got bad between us. I couldn’t kill you knowing that someone loves you that much.”

  She rubbed the scrunched skin between her brows.

  “When Dee disappeared, I was only eight. She was my world, you know? Everything she did was the coolest. When she started painting her nails, when she started dancing to MTV videos in the living room, mastering the choreo, when she would walk down to the gas station with her friends to buy soda and candy bars. I wanted to do everything with her. Then she didn’t come home…”

  Her voice trailed away.

  “I mean, her body came back. Someone came back. My parents put her back in her room and called her Diana, but it wasn’t my sister. Somehow she’d been replaced by this other creature. My sister had been funny and fun and kind, and the girl who replaced her…”

  She searched for the words.

  “It was like someone had taken Diana and scooped out her insides. Everything that was her was replaced by this insatiable hunger. And no matter what you said, or did, or gave her, it was never enough. Never.”

  Blair ran a hand along the back of her neck, massaging the muscles there.

  “I think I was hoping that someday she would really be able to put it all behind her and we could build a life. Maybe that life would never be as great as what we started with, but it would be a life. But after she finished Winter, I realized how stupid I’d been. It was in her eyes. One look and I just knew. She’d finally gotten everything she wanted, but the hollowness was still there. And then she killed Spencer. Spencer. He’d been so loyal to her. If you can do that to someone who loves you so much—there’s no coming back.”

  She looked up, finally meeting Lou’s gaze.

  “I guess I’m telling you all this because I want to understand, Lou. What the hell happened? Why couldn’t she stop? Why didn’t she come back?”

  Lou looked at her blood-crusted knuckles and scarred arms. She thought of her own losses.

  It had been one terrible night, but it’d been a clean break and she’d been saved from the worst of it when her father lifted her from their patio and threw her into the pool, knowing it would save her life. Angelo and his men could have—would have—done more, but they hadn’t had the chance.

  More than that, her landing had been soft. In the wake of her loss, she’d been folded into her aunt’s arms. A kind, loving aunt who knew her and her abilities better than anyone. She’d been able to help her in ways that even her father hadn’t managed.

  Diana had been in the shed for weeks at the hands of the man who’d kidnapped her—and then Winter had come after her. The prolonged pain of what must’ve been done to her…

  Lou licked her dry lips. “Maybe what happened to her was worse than what happened to me.”

  “How did you do it?” Blair asked. When Lou said nothing, she added, “How did you move on?”

  “I haven’t.”

  “But you have a life. You have people you love and who care about you. You don’t push them away or use them as a means to an end. If someone comes for them, you blow them away. You might still go after assholes, but you do it for a reason that’s not just about you, right?”

  Lou was stuck on the phrase people you love.

  “You might still be dealing with the shit that happened to you, but you built a life around all that darkness. How? How?”

  The desperation in Blair’s eyes hurt to look at.

  Lou thought, I don’t know. She said, “I’m sorry.”

  Blair sat back in her chair, tears in her eyes. “I forgive you.”

  Lou’s throat squeezed.

  “It was only a matter of time before she lost control and hurt a good person. Spencer was a good person. Hell, maybe she would’ve killed me. I guess I should be thanking you. But you probably want to make sure I’ll never hurt your people either. I won’t, but I understand if you need to be sure.”

  “No,” Lou said.

  Blair nodded, a tight, strangled sound slipping past her quivering lips. “It would’ve been easier if you just killed me. What comes next will be harder.”

  A rough knock rapped against the door and a black man in a white lab coat pushed it open. “Good afternoon, ladies. Mind if I come in for a chat?”

  Blair stood, pushing back the chair. “I’m leaving, actually.”

  The doctor and nurse shuffled out of the way, clearing her path to the door.

  “Blair,” Lou called out to her. “What will you do now?”

  With one hand on the door frame, Blair quirked a smile. “What I should’ve done a long time ago. What I kept begging my sister to do.”

  She tapped the doorway once, as if for luck.

  “Move on.”

  43

  Piper sniffed, rummaging through her dresser trying to find something for Dani to wear and finding it difficult. Her shirts were too small to accommodate Dani’s ample chest and her pants too tight for her butt.

  Meanwhile, voices warred in her head.

  Maybe she can trade the Lexus for clothes. Or get her loaded parents to replenish her wardrobe.

  Don’t be like that. She just lost everything. Now is not the time to be petty.

  At least all Piper had to worry about were the clothes and the cat. King, she knew, was working with the police department to create a decent cover story for the arson. With his connections, he was the most likely to throw suspicion off of Dani and onto Diana.

  “We’re sticking to the truth,” he’d announced before leaving to meet up with Investigator Dick White.

  What version o
f the truth did he plan to sell them, Piper wondered.

  Good thing it’s August, Piper thought glumly. She’ll just have to wear my night shirts and boxers.

  She wiped her running nose on her sleeve, and the pressure between her ears popped.

  Still elbows deep in her dresser, she turned and found Lou standing in the dark corner of her bedroom. Her hair was wet and she smelled like soap.

  “Is Dennard dead?” Piper asked.

  Of all the things to say. How are you? Are you okay? I’m sorry I was an asshole. Thank you for saving Dani’s life and jumping off a freaking building for her.

  Lou looked paler than usual but her voice was steady. “Yes.”

  “Like you saw her dead dead? I don’t want any of this villain-comes-back-in-the-eleventh-hour shit we get in the movies.”

  “I shot her and dragged her corpse into the lake. Last time I saw her, she was at Jabbers’ feet.”

  Piper nodded. “Yeah, okay. That works for me.”

  Lou glanced at the half-packed bag on the bed. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m making an overnight bag for Dani. Mel took her to the hospital. They think Diana dosed her with opioids or something. We just want to get her checked out to make sure there’s no lasting damage. When she finds out she slept through a kidnapping and a base jump off a building, she’s going to freak.”

  “Will she be okay?”

  Piper sniffed again, her eyes beginning to itch. “She’ll be okay.”

  Even though King and Mel had both assured her this was true, Piper had a hard time believing it. She wanted to see Dani’s brown eyes open and lucid. Then she’d believe it.

  Piper took her largest t-shirts from the top drawer, both of which she’d stolen from Henry, and slid them into the overnight bag. She’d have to pick up a package of underwear on the way. Dani had way more booty than she did. Oh, and socks. Dani’s feet were always cold, no matter the season.

  With the bag packed, there was only one thing left to do.

  Piper crossed to Lou, stopping short of her. She wanted to cross her arms but didn’t. She forced her back straight and met Lou’s gaze.

  “I’m sorry,” she managed to spit out. “Lou, I’m very sorry for the things I said to you.”

  Lou shifted her weight to her other foot.

  That’s okay. No words is a valid response, she reassured herself. Keep going. Finish the apology like you practiced.

  Piper cleared her throat, which was now itching more than her eyes. “It’s my fault. I’m the one who pushed Diana out into the open by exposing her, and you had to clean up my mess. She came for Dani because of what I did, not what you did, but I put that on you. I’ve been so stupid lately. I’ve been suffocating you with this friendship stuff and you’re clearly not into it. I get it. I’m…me, and you’re this super-cool badass way above my pay grade. I should’ve never tried to—”

  Lou’s frown deepened. “What are you talking about?”

  “The road trip and all that. I know you hated it.”

  “I didn’t hate it.”

  “You were super bored, but I kept pushing it on you because I wanted you to have something normal in your life and I wanted to give you a reason to be my friend when all this is over.”

  “When it’s all over,” Lou repeated. Her eyebrows nearly touched.

  “King is old. He’s going to die or retire. And I have no idea what I’m doing in school, if I’ll be a cop or a lawyer or whatever, but I can’t expect you to hang around if my life goes off in a new direction and I get all suburban or something. I was trying to prove I had something to offer you, and all I did was drive you into the arms of a psychopath who understood you better. And I get why you liked her, I really do, but I want you to know I wasn’t trying to change you. I wanted to give you more. You and Diana had more in common than you and me, but I care about you. I really, really care about you, and oh god please say something. Your scowl is terrifying.”

  Lou looked like someone had shoved a lemon in her mouth.

  “Please,” Piper prompted.

  “I don’t care if we’re different.”

  “What?” Piper’s itchy eyes began to water.

  “I murder drug kings and mafia soldiers. Konstantine runs a gang of them. We’re very different.”

  “Oh.” Piper swiped at her nose with the bottom of her sleeve. “Oh, right. Wow, why didn’t I think of that? But he’s still living in that underworld with you. You guys have that. He’s got resources and a decent level of badassery. He can hold his own with you.”

  And he’s rich. Which I will never be.

  “You hold your own,” Lou said, searching her face.

  “I mean, I can dig up a body and use a computer and I don’t scare easy, but is that enough for you?”

  Lou pulled her close. “More than enough.”

  Piper sniffed.

  Lou’s hair was cold and clammy, but Piper didn’t care. She hugged Lou back.

  “Are you sure?” Piper sniffed again. “It’s just going to be bad TV and boring road trips and drag shows and pizza. And problems, oh so many problems.”

  Lou hugged her tighter. “It’s enough, Piper. It really is.”

  An emotion so raw and coursing tore through her chest. The muscles in her back softened in Lou’s arms and she sank into the embrace. It took her a while to gather enough air and control to speak again, but she managed a whisper.

  “You’re enough too. I don’t ever want you to think I want you to be normal when I make you do normal things. Just because I…because I’ve never had a friend like you doesn’t mean I want you to be like everyone else. You mean so much to me.”

  “I mean so much to you?” Lou repeated the words as if she didn’t understand them.

  Piper pulled back, wiping at her eyes. “Yes, damn it, you mean so much to me. You want me to say it again? Or tattoo it on my face, or what?”

  “Is that why you’re crying?”

  “I’m not crying,” Piper said, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with the collar of her t-shirt.

  “You have tears running down your face. Your nose is red.”

  Piper was definitely crying, and not just crying but on the edge of a full-on ugly cry. Still, she stiffened her lip and affected a pose of mock offense.

  “It’s the cat. Don’t look at me like that! It is. I’m really allergic and my apartment is so much smaller than Dani’s and the air flow isn’t as good. I think my allergies are worse because of it.”

  They regarded each other in uneasy silence. It was Lou who broke into a grin first. Piper felt her relief like a palpable wave. She fell into laughter.

  “I’m so glad she’s dead,” she said. She released her t-shirt, hoping her face was mostly clear now. “You really killed her?”

  Lou’s smile widened. “I did.”

  “What about the sister and the minions? Anyone else going to show up and throw people off the building to prove some point?”

  “Her sister is alive. But I don’t think we have to worry about her.”

  “That’s what you said about Diana.”

  “She saved my life.”

  “Diana?”

  “No,” Lou said. “Her sister. She could’ve killed me, but she took me to the hospital.”

  Lou’s gaze was suddenly dark and distant. Wherever she was now, Piper couldn’t go there with her. And that’s okay, she thought. It only matters that I’m here when she comes back.

  She shrugged. “Okay then. You’re probably right.”

  And we’re alive, she reminded herself. We’re alive, this is over, and we still have each other.

  Piper wiped at her running eyes. “Hey, how do you feel about cat-sitting?”

  44

  Italy was often warm in the summer, but on this night, it felt oppressive. Konstantine had taken off his shirt and wore only thin silk pants. Still, he opened the window in his bedroom and invited in the breeze caressing the Arno River. Enticed, the breeze swept through, ruffling
his sheets and the book on his bed.

  The river itself was beautiful to behold, pulsing with moonlight. The spell was broken by a group of teenagers laughing riotously on the opposite bank.

  “Do you still have your medical kit here?” a dark voice asked.

  Konstantine turned to see Lou shrugging out of her leather jacket. He hadn’t even heard her come in. It had been two days since he’d seen her.

  Her hair was down, accentuating the hollow of her throat. She removed her shirt, revealing that she was already braless.

  His throat clicked as he swallowed, his eyes tracing from the curve of her breast down to her hip bone. “It’s under my bed.”

  She stooped, hiding the best parts of her. It was enough for him to regain his composure.

  The case rattled as it was dragged across the stone floor and into the lamplight. She looked up, met his eyes. “Do you mind?”

  He gestured with an open palm, and that was all the invitation she needed to take the kit into the bathroom and shut the door.

  The shower ran, then quit. The kit clattered as the lid was thrown open and then she was there again, a towel wrapped around her body.

  Konstantine noted the stitches along her leg and knew they weren’t Lou’s handiwork. He’d seen hers, both on his body and hers.

  “Who did those?”

  “The hospital.”

  “You have a story to tell,” he said. “Maybe two.”

  She told him about Diana, Blair, the hospital. Her friends were alive and accounted for. The beast prowling the shores of La Loon was fed.

  “It’s a good thing I went to the hospital. You don’t have the right needles in your kit,” she complained, throwing the towel onto his bed. “How do you stock this thing?”

  He smiled. “Inadequately. Apparently.”

  She shot him a look. He crossed to the bed, to what he’d begun to think of as his side, and stretched out on the covers. He watched her arrange the packages in his kit. When her hands faltered, the shadows would shift and she’d disappear, only to reappear moments later with her fists full of sterile white packages, many stamped with red letters and blue trim.

  He held up a hand. “Do you mean to tell me that you’re appearing and disappearing, naked, in some medical supply facility right now?”