Chapter 14
Sabrina
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Honestly, the factthat nobody went on a screaming tirade is a miracle. So I don’t utter a single protest when Kaige insists on carrying me the entire trip back, as Slade, Cinjin, and Reid continuously find reasons to touch me as if assuring themselves that I’m really here. It’s a long hike back on foot, the twins are completely naked, and not a single one of them gives a shit about any of it, simply using the time to settle their still racing heartbeats.
“You found her.” Ash’s whisper is followed by him bending over, clutching his knees and exhaling heavily in a rush of relief.
The sentiment is tainted by the several dozen dead bodies littering the ground around him, though.
Movement at the avalanche site grinds to a halt, and my eyes widen as I realize not only how many people were forced into the rescue attempt, but that they even bothered. There’s got to be several thousand pounds of rock that attempted to upgrade themselves to tombstones here.
Striding over with clipped steps, Ash is bolder than he’s ever been before, checking first that I don't have any broken limbs, blatantly ignoring the pissed off sounds coming from the guys. Treating me like a China doll, he delicately grabs my arm, forcing me to slide off of Kaige’s back so he can get a better look, as if need me to prove that I survived in one piece.
“For once in your life, watch your tongue, okay?”Aurelia warns in my head, her cautious tone immediately giving me pause.“I’ve never seen him this... unhinged.”
Carefully, I extract my arm from his grip, my gaze flicking to the sea of corpses behind him and back. “Sorry for all of the trouble and to make everybody worry.”
He swallows, voice alarmingly cool and level as he looks past me to Hunter, Bo, and Damian. “You have one job. Keep. Her. Safe. What part of that sounded like going anywherenearthe cliffs was a good idea?”
Half-heartedly lifting a hand, I clear my throat. “That would be my fault.”
With a great amount of effort, he tears his glare away from them, but it doesn’t soften in the slightest when it lands on me. If anything, it might actually darken.
“I was seeing if there might be an easier way to break into the mountain that wouldn’t require you having to wait so long for me to be at full power, and technically Idid, it was just... a regular old cave under the mountain, not some secret demon prison.”
“Obviously, or I could have gotten them out myself.” An ominous rumbling escapes his chest. “What would I have done if you’d died, did you even think about that?” Before I can say a single word, he shouts, “You’re the key toeverything,Sabrina! What part of that aren’t you understanding?”
“Don’t scream at her.” Cinjin’s soft demand carries like a gunshot across the scene that’s gone completely silent as they watch everything play out with bated breath. “None of us could have stopped a fucking landslide, and you know it, yet they still managed to keep her safe despite it.”
Subtly taking a step to the left, I put myself slightly between Ash and Cinjin. Him, he won’t hesitate to kill, already threatened to do so once. And by the body count he tallied up this evening, it’s looking like a pretty safe assumption. Me, though, he’s not going to risk hurting.
Eyes wild, Ash’s voice rises with his vehemence. “None of you are taking this seriously, and it ends now. I tried to be nice. I tried to work together. But you insist on making things difficult at every turn. Clearly, you need some more motivation to get with the godsdamned program.”
Reaching into his back pocket, he withdraws his phone, pressing a few buttons before passing it to Slade, and I crane my neck to see. The air turns to icy shards in my lungs at the sight of the video chat showing Emmy and a few of her mates in the middle of a snowball fight behind a cabin. Her faint laughter echoes out as she uses Maddox as a human shield before he turns on her, dropping snow down the neck of her coat.
Pressing the end call button, Ash takes it back, unflinchingly holding Slade’s stare. “One call, one text; it really is that easy. I don’t want to, but you’re forcing my hand here, so if this is what I have to do to make a point, so fucking be it.” He turns his glare on the rest of the guys. “If you cannot protect Aurelia, you serve no purpose; it’s that simple.”
Facing me, he takes a deep breath, releasing it in a rush and piecing his benevolent image back together like the world’s best sociopath. Though his smile is a bit more strained than usual, how quickly he was able to flip a switch is one of the most nerve-wracking things I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life. “You must be tired of the cramped living situation you’ve been trapped in. I’ll have your ‘fathers’ send over your luggage, but I insist you and your mates take a few of the rooms at my place.”
Swallowing, I match his energy, slapping on a plastic smile that I don’t remotely feel. “I’d hate to upend your life and put you out. We’re fine here. And I promise; no more risky business, just mind-numbing house arrest.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
