REDEMPTION: FEAR MY RETURN

Lucian Moretti held a gun to Elias Hills's head.

Two of his men had Raina pinned to the floor, one knee between her shoulder blades, a pistol pressed against the back of her neck. Her cheek was crushed against the hardwood. Dust caught in her mouth. She tasted blood where she'd bitten her tongue.

"Let her up," Elias said.

Lucian didn't look at him. "Give me the ledger."

"I don't have it."

The man on Raina's back shoved her down harder. Pain flashed through her shoulder.

"Stop!" she shouted. "He said he doesn't have it!"

"Raina, be quiet," Elias snapped.

That hurt worse than the guard's weight. Her father never spoke to her that way. She twisted, trying to see him, but a hand clamped around her hair and forced her face to the floor again.

"Don't touch her," Elias said.

"Then tell me where it is." Lucian's voice was calm, almost bored. "You're making this unnecessarily difficult."

Rain battered the windows. The front door hung open behind the men, letting cold air sweep through the house. Raina could see her father's slippers near the kitchen threshold, one turned on its side. A bowl of oranges had spilled across the tiles. One rolled to a stop beside Lucian's polished shoe.

Elias stood with his hands raised. A split at his lip darkened with blood. He kept looking at Raina, as if checking she was still there.

"Is this what you call collecting a debt?" she said. "Pointing a gun at an old man?"

Lucian shifted the pistol against Elias's temple. "Your father borrowed from my family. He missed the deadline."

"He didn't borrow anything from you."

"Raina," Elias warned.

"No. You're going to let him shoot you because he says you owe him money?"

Lucian's eyes flicked toward her. "You should ask your father why he's so afraid of one book."

"I'm not afraid of you," Elias said.

"Then tell me where the ledger is."

"I told you. I don't have it."

Lucian nodded once. The man holding Raina pressed his gun more firmly against her neck.

Elias's hands lowered by an inch. "Don't."

"Then answer me."

"I can't give you what I don't have."

Raina's heart hammered. The guard's arm pinned one of hers beneath her chest; her other hand was stretched toward the overturned table. If she could reach the heavy brass candlestick lying beside it-

She lunged.

The guard caught her wrist and twisted it behind her back. Raina cried out. The pistol at her neck followed the movement, cold against her skin.

"Stay down," he growled.

Lucian glanced over. "She's persistent."

"She's my daughter," Elias said. "Let her go."

"Then give me the ledger."

"You keep asking for something that isn't here."

Lucian's jaw tightened. "I know you have it."

"Who told you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"Not anymore."

Raina stopped struggling. She could feel the guard's breath against her hair. A second man stood over Elias, weapon raised, blocking the hallway. Lucian was close enough that rainwater still glistened on the shoulders of his coat.

She looked at her father. "Dad, what ledger?"

Elias's expression changed-a flicker of fear, quickly hidden. Lucian noticed.

"There," he said. "She doesn't know."

"She doesn't need to," Elias replied.

"Maybe she does. Maybe then she'll understand why you're about to die."

"Lucian," Raina said, forcing his attention back to her. "If you shoot him, you don't get the book. You don't get anything."

The guard's grip eased a fraction. Lucian's gaze sharpened.

"You know where it is?"

"No."

"Then you have nothing to bargain with."

"I have a house full of neighbors who heard you come in. I have your face. Your name. If you kill him, every person in this city will know what you did."

Lucian gave a small, humorless smile. "You think the truth is what keeps people safe?"

Elias took one step forward. Lucian's gun followed him. "She's right. Let her go. This is between us."

"It stopped being between us when you hid what belongs to my family."

"It never belonged to your family."

For the first time, Lucian looked angry. The shift was subtle, but Raina saw it: the smile vanished; his hand tightened around the pistol.

"Where is it?" he demanded.

Elias said nothing.

Lucian pressed the barrel harder into his skin. "Answer me."

"Please," Raina whispered-not to Lucian, but to her father. "Just tell him what he wants."

Elias looked at her. His eyes were wet, though he wasn't crying. "I'm sorry."

"No. Don't do that." She jerked against the guard. "Don't say goodbye. Tell him!"

Lucian lifted his free hand. The second man grabbed Elias by the shoulder and forced him to his knees.

Raina screamed. "Stop! Please!"

Elias didn't fight. He kept his gaze on her, steady and full of things he had never said. She kicked, bucked, clawed at the floor. The guard's knee dug into her back until she couldn't draw a full breath.

"Last chance," Lucian said.

Elias's mouth moved. Raina couldn't hear him.

"What?" Lucian snapped.

"I said no."

A sharp crack split the room.

Elias fell sideways. His shoulder struck the floor first, then his head. Raina's scream tore out of her before she could stop it.

The guard released her for an instant. She scrambled toward her father, palms sliding on the floorboards. Lucian's men grabbed her again, but she threw herself forward, reaching until her fingers caught Elias's sleeve.

"Dad! Dad, look at me!"

His eyes were open. He tried to lift his head, failed, then reached for her. Raina caught his hand in both of hers and pressed it to her cheek.

"You're going to be okay," she said, though his blood was warm on her fingers. "I'm here. I'm right here."

Lucian stepped closer. "Search the house."

One of the men ran toward the stairs. Another headed for the kitchen.

Raina looked up at Lucian. The pistol hung at his side. "You killed him."

"He made his choice."

"He was my father!"

"And he kept something that could cost many more lives than his."

"You don't get to decide that."

Lucian's gaze hardened. "I already did."

His men pulled Raina backward. She fought them, crying out, twisting toward Elias as they dragged her across the floor. Her father's hand slipped from hers.

Then he moved.

Elias's fingers closed around her wrist.

"Wait," she gasped. "Dad?"

His grip was weak, trembling. Raina dropped to her knees beside him again, ignoring the guard's curse.

Elias drew her close enough that only she could hear him. His breath brushed her ear.

"The ledger is inside the saint."