“Why didn’t you stay in the driver’s seat?” I moaned.
“And let you take the arrows?”
“Yes.”
“That was never going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“I never leave anyone behind.”
With a sigh, I gently touched one of the shafts, but I had no idea how to get it out of him. The one with the broken arrowhead should pull right out, but these….
I shuddered at what it would be like to remove those. He was already suffering enough; withdrawing them would only make it worse.
“The arrows have to come out,” he said. “I can’t heal while they remain in.”
“Okay. Tucker should be back soon.”
When his head turned toward me, I was surprised by the sympathy in his silver eyes. “That could be hours. They have to come out now.”
I gulped as I looked from him to those awful things to him again.
“I already broke the head off one; just pull it out,” he instructed.
“I… I… don’t know how.”
“Grab the shaft and pull it straight out. Don’t lift up or down; go straight.”
“It’s going to hurt you.”
“I’ve endured far worse than this.”
That was true. Ryker’s body was a roadmap of all the atrocious things he’d endured throughout his life, and those were only the scars I could see; he had many more on his heart and soul.
A lump lodged in my throat as my hand squeezed his shoulder. He was one of the strongest men I’d ever known, and when he allowed it to melt, he had one of the kindest hearts, and so many of those he’d trusted had inflicted pain on him… including me.
“I’m so sorry,” I breathed.
When he turned toward me, I felt his gaze boring into me, but I couldn’t look at him as tears slid down my face. “There’s nothing to be sorry for; I made this choice.”
“Not for this… well, I mean for this too.” I lifted my head to meet his confused gaze. “For everything. You never deserved any of this… or… or what I did. You deserve so much better than what you’ve always had.”
His face shuttered as he looked away. “It’s the past.”
“Yes, but?—”
“Take them out, Ellery.”
I closed my eyes and wiped away my tears. He didn’t want to hear this, and I was delaying the inevitable.
CHAPTEREIGHTY-TWO
Ellery
With trembling fingers,I gripped the shaft of the broken arrow and kept my other hand on his shoulder. I took a deep breath to bolster my courage and pulled.
Ryker didn’t make a sound or flinch as the arrow slid from him. Blood dripped from the shaft to stain the earth before I tossed it aside.
