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CHAPTER28
Layla
My words echo around us he stares up at me, blood dotting his hands, arms, and cheeks. His eyes are cold, but he watches me carefully.
Let me.
It’s all I could think to do. I was losing him. I saw it. He was testing me, and I failed. I was scared and horrified by what he was capable of, that’s true, but the man he’s doing it to? If what they say on the news is true, then he’s more of a monster than Alaric will ever be.
Who is truly the devil here?
The man ridding the world of this evil by killing such a monster, or the man who the law cannot touch and remains free to cause even more suffering to his victims?
I don’t know. Morals and ethics have long gone out of the window. Everything I should be feeling is wrapped up in my love for the man before me and my desperation not to lose him, no matter what.
For hours, I’ve watched him torture this man, and as those hours passed and my thoughts swung back and forth, I realized one thing—I’m not afraid of Alaric, not even now. I’m only afraid of losing him. He would never hurt Zoey or me, only the bad people in the world. It almost makes me happy to know there are men like my husband out here, men who rid the earth of scum like the pedophile coated in blood.
He talked during those hours, detailing all his crimes and victims, and it made me sick to my stomach. I don’t know how Alaric is holding his composure, but every now and again, I see a flash of pure, electric hatred for the man, and I know he hates him and wants him to hurt.
It almost settles me in a way I never knew I needed.
All my life, I have been running and fighting to survive, but not anymore. I don’t have to because he will fight for me and always protect me, and if one thing is clear, it’s that the world needs men like Alaric, and so do I. Maybe if there were more men like him, men like Roy would think twice about killing their wives and kids.
He saved me when I was nothing but a stranger on the road, when no others would have. Without him, I would be dead. I have belonged to him fully ever since that day, and it’s time I embraced this side of him. How could I hate him and be thankful for his ability to take lives and save us at the same time?
I can’t.
I refuse to cower anymore. This is my husband, and I will love every dark jagged edge the same way he does me, because he’s not alone anymore either, and it’s time I showed him that.
I stepped forward and touched him with Gage’s face flashing in my mind, almost feeling at peace when he looked up at me and those words escaped my lips. I know I need to prove to him I am worthy of him, just like he did for me.
I need to pass this test.
“Layla?” he asks in confusion, his brow furrowing as he watches me.
“I want to do it,” I finally tell him. “You’re getting ready to kill him, right?”
He inclines his head slightly as the man sobs. He stopped begging and fighting hours ago, just letting Alaric hurt him like he did those kids.
“You rid the world of one monster for me, so let me rid it of this one for you,” I tell him, holding out my hand.
He gets to his feet, towering above me as he searches my gaze. I remain steady and strong, and then he slowly pulls out his gun and flicks off the safety before handing it over. He clearly doesn’t think I’m going to do it, but I don’t bother explaining myself. I just turn around, put the barrel of the gun to the man’s head, and look into his eyes.
I need to see them, to remember them and what I am willing to do for the man I love—the very same thing he is willing to do for me.
And with that thought, I pull the trigger.
CHAPTER29
Alaric
Istare at Layla in shock. She stumbles back and drops the gun, her face pale as she stares at his dead body. She looks at her hand like she can’t believe she did it.
That makes two of us.
I gave it to her knowing she would run away, but she surprised me yet again.
She killed him.
