“No, you didn’t,” he said softly, running his thumb over my cheek. “I don’t know what was running through your mind while we were down there, but I can tell you right now you could have done it without me. I have never met a single person in my life who’s as strong as you are; who could go through what you did without making a sound; who could smile and laugh after everything you had to endure; who could look down at the people who put you through hell and end them.Youdid that.”
Every tear I’d held back for the last twenty-eight days poured out of my eyes. God, I wished I could see myself through his eyes. See the strength he was talking about when all I really wanted to do was curl up and cry. Would he still think the same if I let him in? If I showed him everything? If he felt everything I had, heard every thought in my mind?
“I know you went through something unimaginable, and I’ll probably never learn the full extent, but I don’t need to because it doesn’t change how strong you are. Even if you don’t feel it, even if you don’t see it, I do. I will spend the rest of my life reminding you of your strength. And if you feel yourself breaking, I’ll help you put the pieces back together. Because there is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do if you asked me to.” He paused, a small smile ghosting his lips. “That’s a lie. There’s one thing.”
“What is that?”
“Leave you.”
I meant to laugh but I was still crying so hard it came out more like a sob.
“I would never tell you to leave.”
“Good. Then we’re in agreement.”
I pressed a soft kiss to his lips. I would never get over how lucky I was that this man with a heart of ice melted for me. That I got to call him my husband.
“What do you say we finish this thing so you can take me home?” I mumbled into his lips.
“I sayfuck yes. Let’s do this.”
I turned back to the mountain, watching the chaos—maybe even revelling in it for a minute. The alarm was still going off, flashing red from every crack in the stone, guards running around shouting orders no one was listening to.
“I’m going to have to tunnel into myself a little, you have my back?”
“Always. Do your thing, baby.”
I smiled, closing my eyes. I had to focus on the ground beneath my feet. I needed to tunnel into it, use it to see, make sure everyone I needed in the bunker was there. My mind raced through the halls, passing guards and scientists on my way down and down and down. The levels blurred past me until I finally hit the bottom. I slipped through the steel door and did a head count.
Fifteen, just like Niko said there would be. Seven senators, the police chief, the ERT captain, the lead scientist, and five members of the House of Commons. The leaders of New Dawn—a.k.a., the people trying to end the world as we knew it, one city at a time.
They were all drinking, chatting, and laughing. Trying to kill off half the population must be fucking hilarious. Too bad I was about to ruin it.
The mountain began to tremble and silence fell over the room. I watched with glee as the lights began flickering, and the bunker shook with the force of the mountain breaking down around them.
“This place is meant to hold up even if the mountain collapses. Don’t worry, we’re safe in here,” the police chief said.
Untrue. You’ll all die in here.
More chunks—bigger chunks—of mountain hit the steel. One even managed to dent the ceiling. Their screams were music to my ears.
“Get to the tunnel. We’ll escape through there.”
Ah yes, the tunnel. It was already blocked off, I made sure the steel collapsed the second the mountain started shaking. I could have done that in here as well, but I wanted them to suffer a bit before I put them out of their misery.
The ERT captain was working on getting the emergency exit door open when I decided this was taking too long. I beganslowly flooding the room, diverting water from the river into the mountain.
That was when the panic really started. They began pushing each other out of the way to get to the door. Banging on the metal when it wouldn’t budge, screaming for help. Stupid, everyone outside the steel was already dead. The rest of the mountain was nothing more than rubble, no one was coming to save them.
The water was waist-deep when I began sucking the air from the room. Watching them choke with no oxygen in the room was beautiful. The scientist went down first, then three member of the HoC, Eric Ericson III, the senators, the remaining HoC, and finally that stubborn prick—the captain of the ERT.
It was over. New Dawn’s leadership was dead—this branch, at least.
“I get it now,”Austin said as my eyes fluttered open.
“What?”
“Why you stared at me the way you did when you found out about my shadows. Holy shit, you’re fucking incredible.”
