SWNOVELS Prince Of Greed: Chapter 15
I would never be the same. The undying thirst had been quenched, and not by blood or power. It was a combination of things in the end. One was the way Evie held her head high and drew strength from her pain. The next was having the privilege of standing at her side as she took what was owed to her by her father.
Her life for her own.
His office was dark when he stumbled in an hour after we’d arrived. Evie sat behind his desk in the plush leather chair, her hand firmly wrapped around her mother’s locket. Both she and the trinket were reborn and under my protection.
“Evelyn?” Harris’ eyes darted between me and his daughter. “What’s this all about?”
“I’m giving you a chance to explain yourself.” Her voice was firm and direct.
“He’s a monster, kitten, you can’t trust a thing he says,” Harris said.
Harris was a trapped rat. He had traded all three of his children’s souls that day. But as fate would have it, their mother had perished instead of Evie. Perhaps it was a sleight of hand by her mother’s Reaper that saved Evie’s life.
“You’re going to have to do better than that, Gerhardt,” I chided.
From where I stood, I could see the panic and rage wash over him. “If you don’t think I know who to call to get rid of you and your bastard brothers, you’re underestimating me.”
The threat surged my blood. “I’d rethink your tactic. You’re not in the position to make promises you can’t keep,” I volleyed.
He scowled but didn’t dare argue. If it were up to me, he wouldn’t make it out of this room with his mortal life.
“Dad. I know what you did.” Evie got to her feet and rounded the desk to meet his eyes. “I need to know that you didn’t trade our family just for politics.”
Harris paused. His last blood relative stood before him confronting him with more than his lies, sins, and deepest regrets. Evie was baring her pain to him for the first time in a new light. They were finally seeing each other for who they had become by the consequences of his actions.
“I knew I could make a difference, not just for our family but for the world. I was born for greatness, power, and to make real change. One small moment set all of this in motion.” He gestured to the room around us in a vague attempt to justify his choices.
“This life was worth your children and wife?” Evie’s tear-strained voice shook. “Sacrificing our lives and souls for a chance at the White House?”
“I did what I had to do. Duty and honor had to come above all else.”
It was the last nail in the coffin for Harris Gerhardt. He’d squandered his only chance to talk himself back into her good graces and save himself from my wrath.
Evie’s shoulders rose as her lungs filled with stale disappointment. I stepped to her side and placed my hand on her lower back. Her muscles tensed, but her next words held the strength I’d hoped my show of solidarity would inspire.
“You had a duty to protect your family,” she said, her tone lethal. “And I will spend the rest of my life honoring them by exposing you for the stone-hearted fraud you are. Not one of your achievements will be saved from the stains of your betrayals.”
“No one will believe you. Angels. Demons. You may as well be spouting about aliens.”
“You can keep that truth to yourself. I have plenty of others to share,” she countered.
“Many supplied by me,” I interjected. “The perk of working so closely with your many high-powered campaign donors.”
“There’s no proof.” Harris narrowed his eyes at the both of us. “Not a single paper trail would lead to me.”
“You’re forgetting the kind of influence I have over humans. What I could promise for a few small favors.” I gave him a crooked smile to remind him of what I really was.
“And what am I supposed to do, then? What about all the good I have done for the community?” He was starting to scramble. “The charities or beautification projects that I personally founded to make this state a better place? Were those things for nothing?”
“The thing about ambition is that it can be blinding,” I said. I looked down at Evie and cupped her cheek to bring her eyes to mine for a moment before finishing my last point to Harris. We both needed the moment of connection. “No matter how good your intentions are, you’ve done it out of your own selfishness, not for the betterment of your own kind. You’ve tainted them all.”
“You’re going to resign from all public positions,” Evie said, beginning her list of demands. “Tell them that you’ve decided to pledge your life working with nonprofits. And every day, until the day you’re too old and decrepit, you’re going to volunteer in the name of the family you slaughtered.”
“Evelyn—”
“You owe me a soul, dad.” She was finished listening to him. “You’re going to earn the clemency you reserved for yourself away from the spotlight you’ve craved my entire life.”
“Make the announcement in the morning or I’ll be back to assist you,” I added.
Evie turned into my chest, and with that signal, I took us through the void to my home.
Through everything, Evie still loved her father, and who was I to fault her for that.
She’d granted him a kindness that grated on my nerves, but for her sake, a slow burn from the public eye would be the best precursor for the punishments he would receive in Hell.
I couldn’t return her soul to her—the laws of balance would never allow it—but I could take care of her and keep her safe for the rest of her days on this plane, then for an eternity after.