This stronghold remains disconnected from the world, but for a few fleeting moments, the emotions from outside filter in here.
Through the dark, cold, snowy night comes the puerile hopes and joys of seasonal miracles.
A ghost from a childhood I never really got to enjoy. For the last fifteen years, Christmas has been just another day in the endless cycle of survival. Another reminder of everything normal people have that I never will again.
Because Roman stole that from me, along with everything else, leaving only my rage and my lifelong mission to make him understand what that loss feels like.
Considering what he’s said, I’m sure the song’s lyrics hit Max the same way.
They’re a painful reminder of the family he lost, the youth that ended in the kind of trauma that transforms eight-year-olds into weapons.
The carol comes and goes again, vanishing quicker than the wind and leaving us in stagnant silence.
Max scrunches his eyes closed. Then, he relaxes. His breathing slows and deepens as sleep pulls him under.
I guess not even Mad Max can stay a monster for so many days on end. He pushed himself past every limit and finally stopped fighting.
His legs droop, and his arms fall into his lap. He’s completely out.
I stand slowly, my knees protesting. Hell, everything is protesting except for Max. I don’t even get a twitch in response when I nudge him with my foot and poke his hand.
I’m upright, fully dressed, and unbound with an unconscious captor.
For the first time in days, I’m completely free.
The locket is right within reach. I could take it.Shouldtake it.
The urge to grab the necklace and disappear into the night hits me like a physical blow, propelling me forward.
If I walked out and left the door open, he’d die of exposure in hours. I’ll have what’s mine. What I’ve been working for all these years.
I could finally cut all ties with my former life.
All ties…
Including Max.
I…don’t want that.
Especially if I could stay, and through some miracle, have both. He was listening to me, hearing me out.
For the first time, I have a chance to form a real connection. I can’t waste this opportunity.
All I can see is the blood on his forehead. The dark circles under his eyes that speak of days without restful sleep.
All I can taste is the heady edge of violence and pain that resides in his kisses.
All I can hear is the harsh pull of his ragged and uneven breathing.
I have a choice to make.
Chapter 26
Nika
I pull Mom’s locket free from Max’s pocket. The chain glints in the firelight, and all the memories come tumbling back. The island, the storm, the blood…
I shove them back down before they overwhelm me.
