I push away from the table and stand. Travis glances up for a second. We exchange a quick nod before I turn and head for the stairs.
Upstairs, the shower has gone quiet. I go to the bedroom.
Brooke is already in bed when I open the door, Luna curled along her ribs.
I reach into my pocket before anything else and pull out the ring.
For a moment I just look at it again.
Then I cross to the dresser and open the top drawer. I move a few things aside and set the ring carefully in the back where it'll stay hidden and safe.
Not yet.
Soon.
I close the drawer and turn back to the bed.
I toe off my boots, strip down, and slide under the covers beside her.
She shifts immediately, fitting herself against my side like she has been waiting for me. I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her closer, pressing my mouth against the curve of her neck.
Her hand finds my chest. My palm settles over her hip. I hold her a little tighter.
One day soon, when the kill list is finished and the world finally stops hunting her, I will take that ring back out of the drawer and ask her to be with me for the rest of our lives.
Chapter 44
Brooke
I'm still in the manor.
The ground presses cold and wet beneath my palms, and the mud glues itself to my skin in heavy streaks. Pine needles cling to my forearms as I struggle to push myself upward. Pain throbs through my shoulder where the crossbow bolt tore through me, and the sensation crawls down my arm in steady electric pulses that make my fingers twitch uncontrollably. Miles lies motionless behind me with his blood soaking into the forest floor, and his body doesn’t move or respond.
I try to crawl forward with every ounce of strength I have left, but my legs refuse to cooperate. My arms buckle beneath my weight, and every inch forward feels futile and hopeless.
Asher steps out from between the trees with his crossbow already raised and aimed at my head. Elliot follows with the chainsaw balanced in his hand. The motor roars awake with a jagged snarl that vibrates through the ground and through every bone I have. Sophie moves to his left with her curved blade catching the dim light that filters through the branches. Knox stands behind them with his axe held loosely at his side while he watches me.
They form a half circle around me.
Elliot tilts his head with a slow smile that carries nothing except cruel satisfaction. He lifts the chainsaw, and he lowers the snarling blade toward my face.
I scream as the world shatters open around me.
I lunge upright in bed with my breath tearing through my chest and my hands clawing at the sheets as if the fabric can stop a blade.
Seth reaches me before I can even inhale.
He wraps his arms around my body and pulls me tightly against his chest. One hand cradles the back of my head while the other presses firmly against my spine, holding me together while the nightmare shakes every part of me.
“Hey, breathe,” he murmurs into my hair with quiet patience. “Breathe baby. You’re here with me, and you’re safe.”
My heart slams against my ribs with frantic force.
“I was still there,” I whisper with shaking breath. “All of them were there, and I couldn’t move or fight or breathe.”
He tightens his arms around me.
“I got you,” he holds me tighter. “You’re safe with me.”
