"Natalie, get up!"
The siren in my head was back. Sevastyan was standing beside me, but his words sounded distant.
He grabbed one of my blood-coated hands and hauled me to my feet.
"This isn't happening," I muttered as I stumbled along, glass from Paxan's beloved clocks crunching beneath my heels. "This isn't happening." My father couldn't be dead.
Sevastyan dragged me over to where Filip squirmed in pain, blood pooling from his gut wound.
In a broken voice, Filip told me, "I-I didn't want this. I came tonight . . . because others were already . . . on their way. It was going to happen. No matter . . . what I did. The bounty is . . . unthinkable."
Hatred welled up inside me, drying my tears. "Goddamn you! How could you do this?"
"Swear to you, I only came for Paxan." He reached his
