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My smile fades. I take a slow, deep breath before finally letting myself look at Elijah in the backseat. I move around to the other side of the car, feeling the weight on my shoulders as it doubles with each step I take.
I open the back door and slide inside, sitting down on the seat next to my twin’s body. I expect him to open his eyes and scold me for waking him, but he just lies there. Still and cold.
I raise him up and place his head on my lap. “I’m so sorry, Eli,” I whisper.
I’ve been shot. Stabbed. Burned. Thrown out of windows.
None of it hurt as much as this.
I run my fingers through his shaggy hair. He never did get that haircut. He never got a second date with that nurse. He never had the chance to live the normal life he always should have had if it weren’t for me.
“Lilah.”
I glance up at Archer standing by the door.
“What do you need?” he asks.
“Tell me the truth. For the next five seconds, I’ll believe any word you say.” I bite my quivering lips as tears fall down my cheeks. “Was this my fault?”
Archer furrows his brow and takes a knee beside us. “No,” he says. “This wasn’t your fault, love.”
I nod once. I pull Elijah closer. I rest my forehead against his as Archer lays a strong hand on my back.
Chapter 24
Archer
Dante emerges from the house about an hour later with swollen, red eyes and the brunette by his side.
They move around the house to the dock and he pulls the small rowboat ashore. He drags it through the tall grass and sets it down near the driveway. I think to offer my assistance, but I stay with Lilah instead until she pulls herself out of the car and wipes her eyes.
“Do you have a knife?” she asks me.
I rush into my trailer and fetch one from the drawer for her. She uses it to trim a lock of Elijah’s hair. After tying it together with another strand, she puts the lock in her pocket and gives the knife back to me.
“Thank you,” she says, her voice breaking.
Gravel crunches behind me as Dante draws near. He silently kneels where I was before and Lilah’s head falls to his shoulder. I take several steps back. If they speak to each other, I don’t hear it, nor would I want to be an intruder on the moment. I never had a family. I’ve never been close enough to anyone to even have one. I can only imagine what they must be feeling right now.
“I’m Lucy.”
I turn, suddenly noticing the brunette standing beside me with an extended hand. I take it and give her a soft shake, careful not to disturb the bandage around her wrist.
“Archer,” I say.
Her eyes look just as red and swollen as Dante’s. It must be a powerful feeling to be the woman a man like Dante Hart breaks down for.
As she releases my hand, her gaze lingers on her wrapped wrist and tears swell in her eyes. She forces them down and stands a little taller as Dante and Lilah rise. They carry Elijah across the driveway to the boat waiting there and rest him inside with his arms folded across his chest.
They decide to burn him.
I don’t hear them discuss it. It’s silently understood between Dante and Lilah, although I assume they’ve all spoken to each other about what their wishes would be at one point or another. There’s no eulogy. No kind words spoken. Lucy circles the house once and gathers a handful of fresh flowers to lay around him. Dante fills the bottom of the boat with gasoline from a can he found in the shed by the lake.
Lilah lights the match. I’ve had my eye on Lilah Hart for weeks now, following and watching as she does her job — and does it well — but I’ve honestly never seen her any stronger than this moment.
As the flames rise, I stand beside her and take her hand. She squeezes my fingers. I feel a shake in her muscles, but she powers through it without tears.
Eventually, Dante breaks from Lucy’s embrace and turns to us. His eyes fall to our hands for a moment before he looks up again and nods.
