The Eruption of Mountgomery

Chapter 49

I was certain that flames would erupt, but I hung my head. I knew she had been wrong; I knew she would deliver the final blow. I shook my head, releasing my hold upon his. I did not care; oh, but I knew deep down I did. She would keep pushing, she did keep pushing. I glared at the back of her head. It was a dangerous game that was flowing through my veins, the magmatic pressure within my veins pressed deeply against my skin, circulating around my bones.

"Till death do us part?" I quipped dangerously. As sinful as the inquiry was as it fell from my lips, the resentment toward her mounted. It weighed heavily upon my mind. "You loved him—you simply used him. Even you admitted that. What exactly did you use him for? Why did you kill Haben? What was that purpose? I didn't give you instructions. You had no gripes with her and yet you did not kill her for my sake."

"You have not a clue regarding what you are questioning me."

How was she so arrogant? By the way, she bit her lower lip, something was not wanting to reveal itself. "It's not a difficult question to answer, Skyler."

"I killed her because of what she did to Nero."

I scoffed and folded my arms across my chest. I glanced down at Nero, noticing how his fingers twitched at the sound of his name. I halted my movements, my eyebrows raised at the loud crash of thunder. He's not truly dead, you know that. He's just wounded. The bleeding of his wound has stopped though. I lowered my hands to my side as a flash of blinding neon blue light entered the room. He's alive and you know that. Do not indicate that you know he is alive. That was easier said than done, however I shook my head. "What exactly did she do to him? Go on, tell me. It took me a few days to piece it together with more than just Haben's file. You barely knew Nero."

"Oh, and you know him? He left you. Perhaps his parents sold him out."

I laughed and shook my head. His parents loved him, adored him. Why would they do anything to harm him? It was a diversion tactic—it was a tactic, a futile attempt to make me believe the circular lie. I smirked as I knelt beside Nero again. As I did so, I could see his fingers twitch, his grasp tightened and loosened against the pistol. I raised an eyebrow and raised a hand carefully, pressing my fingers to his neck. The pulse was there, it thrummed like the distant rumble of drums. With a soft chuckle, I smiled as I glared up at Skyler.

"You are trying so hard to divert the question away from what I desire. You are trying so hard to get under my skin. However, I am not exactly the one you should worry about. Why the hell would you, an assassin of nothing more than sloppiness and arrogance, kill Haben without hesitation? Without enough payment? Was it to blame me? Why would you want to pin it on me? Did I ever truly stand in your way for you to wriggle your way into his heart?"

Skyler huffed and glared at me. She folded her arms across her chest just as I placed a hand upon Nero's chest. Relax. Patience. Easy now. What exactly is your rush, Nero? Let it brew. "We are not here to talk about you, Vesuvius."

I smirked and could feel a sharp intake of breath under my chest. "You are not looking at me." I rose to my feet. "And yet you are not looking at Nero. You have something to hide, and it will ruin everything. You want me out of the way completely. Why?"

"You were supposed to die."

I laughed as I advanced toward Skyler. I could feel her fear ebb off her in spades and she quivered. I scoffed and froze between her and Nero. "Yes, yes, of course that fact has been made crystal to comprehend, Turner. I seem to be a mistress of evading death's needy scythe. Do not try to change the subject, Turner. Why did you kill Haben? She posed absolutely no threat to your existence."

She scoffed and raised an eyebrow. "And she posed a threat to yours? You were dead! You're going to kill me anyway so why should I reveal anything?"

I could not contain a loud, sharp and arrogant bark of laughter. Me? Really? Nero was twitching on the ground, seething, it was mounting, and I could do nothing to indicate that he needed to calm down. I shook my head, pausing the words that cascaded from my mouth when a whip-like crack sliced the silence. "Who said I was here to kill you? Indeed, you hurt somebody, at one point, I loved—"

"Then why does it even matter? Why are you still here?

"You are full of hot air, you know that? Why did you kill Jennifer Haben?"

Control. Stop. No. No. No! "I told you already."

"That's bullshit and you know that. You killed Hannah, why?"

Sky scoffed again and rolled her eyes. "There's a storm brewing." She pointed out an amused glint appearing in her grey eyes. "You should know why. You exposed me—"

"I exposed you to defend myself, Skyler. You were assigned to kill me because I got too close to the truth and released it to the public. Now, why did you really kill Jennifer Haben?"

Nero inhaled sharply, but it was more silent than what I expected. "You know Nero deserves better than you. Better than some—

"You did not kill Haben for Nero's sake, Skyler. Don't be an idiot. You and I both know that you were always shit at lying," I snapped, my patience was fading.

"Perhaps, you had something to do with the experimentation he endured. The torment he faced."

A look of surprise blossomed upon her face and her eyes hardened quickly. "You're a bitch." She seethed dangerously. I laughed and with a smirk, I turned to face Nero. "I'd say I'm damn close to being correct.

Skyler lunged toward me, and a sharp shard of hardened lava pierced her hand. "You know nothing! The attorney general had more to do with his experimentation than I did. He ordered it. Haben knew I had the files—she knew—"

I raised an eyebrow and where I should feel inflexible ire, I felt shock and amusement. "So? You killed Haben to save your own skin? Was there a deal between you and the attorney general?"

Sky folded her arms like a petulant child when I knelt beside Nero once again. "I am not telling you any more than I've revealed."

Again, he twitched, but this time, his lips curled into a dangerous sneer. Skyler returned to glaring out the window. I stared down at him, placing a hand on top of his. "Wait, please, wait." I whispered choosing my words carefully. He inhaled sharply as his fists tightened. His hand twisted until it gripped mine. Again, I whispered, "Wait." I raised an eyebrow as there was a subtle shift in the wind. It howled then everything fell still. There were distinct rumbles of thunder that tore through the atmosphere.

"There was a deal between you and the Attorney General. What was it? Something along the lines of 'you kill both 'freaks' I will pay you handsomely and give you criminal immunity for any and all your assassinations'? Was that it? You got off scot free from the crimes and a corrupt politic continues seeing the light of day." I sneered dangerously. The distant rumbles of thunder intermingled with the sound of heavy balls of ice upon the roof. He was quivering as a loud train-like grumble roared to life. A burst of lightning and I relinquished my grasp upon him.

"You are a lying whore." He whispered hoarsely and cymbals crashed together immediately. A scream later and Sky was sprawled on the floor, shards of glass surrounding her body.