5

I scream.

It’s a raw, tearing sound that rips from my throat before I can stop it. The phone slips from my sweat-slicked hand and clatters onto the floorboards.

"Thalia!" The voice is tinny, coming from the speaker on the floor. "Thalia, pick up the phone!"

I stare at the black plastic device like it’s a grenade.

Nikos.

My husband. The man I buried six months ago. The man whose suit I picked out for the casket.

My knees give out. I hit the floor hard, the impact jarring my teeth. I scramble backward, crab-walking until my back hits the radiator.

"You're dead," I whisper. "You're dead, you're dead, you're dead."

"I'm not dead!" His voice is frantic. Manic. "Listen to me! I don't have time!"

I can't breathe. The room is spinning. The dust from the floorboard hangs in the air, choking me.

I reach out. My hand shakes so bad I have to use both to grab the phone. I press it to my ear.

"How?" I choke out.

"It doesn't matter," he snaps. The tenderness is gone, replaced by a sharp, jagged edge. "Drakon. He was going to kill me, Thalia. I had to disappear. It was the only way."

"Drakon?"

"He found out about the deal. With the Reapers. He was going to put a bullet in my head." Nikos laughs, a high, breathless sound. "He probably already told you lies about me, didn't he? Trying to turn you against me?"

"He... he saved me tonight," I say, my mind reeling. "Mick was here. Drakon saved me."

"He didn't save you!" Nikos screams. "He wants the money, Thalia! He thinks you have it!"

"What money?"

"The payout! The fifty grand! Is it under the floor? Tell me you found it."

The question hits me like a slap.

He doesn't ask if I'm okay. He doesn't ask how I've survived six months of hell, drowning in his debts, scrubbing floors until my hands bled.

He asks about the money.

"There's no money," I say, my voice hollow. "Just the ledger. And this phone."

Silence on the line. Heavy. Cold.

"No money?" His voice drops. It sounds dangerous now. "Thalia. Think. Did you check the lining of the mattress? The vent in the bathroom?"

"Nikos... where are you?"

"I'm coming for you. But I need that cash. I can't protect you without it."

"Protect me?" I look at the text message still glowing on the screen. Deliver the girl. "You sold me, Nikos. I saw the text. You sold me to the Reapers."

"It was a trade!" he yells. "Just until I could get clear! They weren't going to hurt you. I made them promise!"

I feel sick. Bile rises in my throat.

He’s not a ghost. He’s a monster. A pathetic, greedy monster.

"You let me mourn you," I whisper. Tears blur my vision, hot and angry. "I cried over an empty box."

"Thalia, baby, listen—"

BOOM.

The entire apartment building shakes.

I jump, dropping the phone again.

The sound came from the front door. Not a knock. An impact.

"Thalia?" Nikos is yelling from the floor. "Thalia, are they there?"

BOOM.

Wood splinters. The frame groans.

"Open up!" A voice roars from the hallway. It’s not Drakon. It’s deep, unfamiliar, and terrifying. "We know you're in there, bitch!"

I scramble to the window. I look down.

Three motorcycles are parked on the sidewalk. Not Harleys. Crotch rockets. Savage Reaper colors.

They aren't here to collect a debt. They're here to collect me.

"Nikos!" I grab the phone. "They're here! The Reapers are here!"

"Run!" he screams. "Get out! But bring the ledger! Thalia, do not leave that book behind!"

"Go to hell," I snarl.

I snap the phone shut.

CRACK.

The front door gives way. The lock flies across the room, embedding itself in the plaster.

Heavy boots stomp into my tiny living room.

"Check the bedroom!"

I don't wait.

I grab the ledger. I shove the burner phone into my bra.

I throw the window open. The cold night air hits my face like a slap.

Rain is falling. Hard.

I climb out onto the fire escape just as my bedroom door kicks open.

"She's on the roof!" someone yells.

I don't look back. The metal grate is slippery with rain and moss. My boots skid. I grip the rusty railing, the iron biting into my palms.

I run.

Up. Not down. Down is where the bikes are. Down is where they'll be waiting.

I scramble up the ladder, my breath tearing at my lungs.

A gunshot rings out.

A chunk of brick explodes next to my head. Dust sprays my face.

"Stop her!"

I pull myself onto the roof of the building. It’s flat, covered in tar and gravel.

I sprint across the wet surface, slipping, sliding.

I can hear them behind me. Boots on metal. Heavy breathing.

I reach the edge of the roof. There's a gap. Four feet. Maybe five. To the next building.

It looks like a canyon in the dark.

"Thalia!"

I turn.

A man climbs over the parapet. He’s wearing a Reaper cut. A skull mask covers the lower half of his face. He raises a gun.

"Don't make me shoot you, darlin'. Boss wants you whole."

I look at the gap. I look at the gun.

I clutch the ledger to my chest.

I jump.