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“No,” I cut in. “No way. Once this is done, there won’t be any more of that. You’re retiring from this life, all this bullshit. Just nice and easy all the way. No more danger, pain, and self-sacrifice.”
“All right, Jonah,” he told me. But then he smirked at Caleb.
Caleb chuckled and slung his bags over his shoulder.
And then we watched as he made his way down the porch steps toward Aaron who was gonna walk him off the property line safely, avoiding the traps we had in place.
As I watched him go, Asher came to me and slipped his hand into mine. “It’s going to be okay. We’re all prepared for what’s coming. We’ve got a good team with us. As you heard when we ironed out the details yesterday, I’m also bringing Bryce and the security team in on it. We’ve been waiting on this opportunity for years and now it’s right upon us.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “This is it, Jonah. We’re almost free.”
I turned to see a beaming smile lighting up his handsome face. It was infectious and I was smiling back within moments. “It’s almost over. For real.”
“It is.”
I wrapped my arm around him and walked us back into the house.
And he didn’t just let me, he actually sank into it.
We both jolted as we heard thuds sounding through the house, followed by grunts, then a curse from Kill.
When we’d left them, Aurora, Kill, and Lance had been finishing up eating dinner, while Asher and I had walked Caleb out.
As we passed by the kitchen, finding their empty plates left there, and followed the sounds, it became clear it was coming from the makeshift gym.
Kill came running out then. His eyes went straight to Asher. “Can you stop this?” he asked, frantically, his eyes wild, in a real panic.
Asher frowned and pulled from me, shifting to high-alert mode.
“Chill,” I warned as I saw his eyes flash, the sign that he was on the verge of switching to that dangerous beast state, which now he’d balanced it, he was able to contain and then call on in full force within seconds. Getting it to calm down, though, was a whole other deal.
He drew in a breath, took a moment, then followed after Kill. “Stop what?” he asked.
“You’ll see,” Killian said cryptically.
Asher rounded the corner with him and I followed, only to be pulled up short when I took in what was happening inside the gym.
There Aurora was in a brutal battle.
With her dad, of all people.
Blood was trickling from her lip, her knuckles of one hand were grazed, and her bright-pink tank was drenched in sweat, even soaking the waistband of an equally blindingly vibrant pair of yoga pants.
The interesting thing was that Lance appeared to be fairing a whole lot worse.
He had a black eye forming at his left eye, a gash down the length of his arm that was visible in the white tank he had on, and his nose was also bleeding.
“He said he wanted to help her keep her skills sharp for what’s coming, because it’s been a few weeks since she’s been in combat. But I think it’s more of a test. Or, just another excuse to go back on allowing her to take part in this upcoming mission,” Killian said.
When Asher just stared at the scene, Killian nudged him. “So, do it. Stop it then. You know that you’re the only one of us who he listens to.”
“I’m not stopping it.”
“What? Why?”
“She needs to do this. She needs to prove herself to him. And he needs her to as well.”
“Then you think he’ll finally let go?” I asked.
“Not all the way, but enough to not make things a constant uphill battle for her.”
