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I stomped into the ashes, smothering the last tendrils of smoke.
Amelia cried out, her body moving abruptly as if she was suffering along with her dream self, as if she’d just been kicked. I ripped the leather straps binding her off her wrists, and they came away in my hands like they were mere strings.
Teresa watched me warily from a dozen feet away in the shadows, her hand on the hilt of her knife. I wasn’t sure if she was more afraid of me or more afraid of Stone’s wrath if she hurt me.
She could try. I’d been hurt a lot. I couldn’t be stopped easily.
I lifted Amelia from the rock. She fell against my chest, her face lolling against my shoulder. I frantically rubbed the ash from her forehead as my brother stirred and groaned, lost in her memories. Fuck him. I hoped they hurt.
Then her eyes flew open. Her frantic gaze met mine, and she struggled, shoving me away. She slapped me across the face, and the world went red for a second.
“It’s all right,” I told her, cradling her in my arms and rocking with her. “I’ve got you. I’m here to save you from the nightmares, just like you saved me.”
Her gaze focused on me for the first time. “Liam.”
There was relief in her voice, and the sound of it settled into me, heavy and warm. Her trust was a gift and a burden all at once.
“I’ll get you out of here,” I promised.
Stone was rising from the stone slab, his dark brows drawing together. “Liam, what the hell are you doing?”
I wasn’t going to waste my words on this idiot. I turned, carrying Amelia into the forest.
Stone came after me. “Liam, she and I are almost done—”
“You’re done now.” I didn’t turn back to face him.
He grabbed my shoulder.
I started to turn, shifting Amelia’s weight to one arm. Her arms clung around my neck and I didn’t want to fight with her here. Hell, I didn’t want to fight anyone, ever again, but I would if I had to.
For her.
For the first time since I’d been freed and vowed I’d never hurt anyone like I’d been hurt. The memories rushed up to swallow me: my head aching from being punched, the oppressive darkness when I’d gone blind, the broken arm left to heal crooked.
I wouldn’t let them make me like they were.
The next second, Amelia’s fingers dug into my t-shirt, holding herself tightly to me, and I was back in this moment. I inhaled the scent of her and I couldn’t remember whotheywere. Did I need to be different from the Longroad pack who had tortured me? From my own brothers who had tried to save me, but didn’t understand anything?
“Liam,” Stone said again, and there was that uncertain look in his eyes, like he got sometimes when I was lost between the moments.
But I just got confused between the past and the present and the future. Stone was worse off; he always knew where he was, but somehow he still didn’t understand how to live in the present.
“Let us go,” I said, and the deep rumble of my voice surprised Stone as much as it surprised me. There was a threat in my voice, even without saying the words.
He stared back at me. Then his gaze fell to Amelia, who clutched me, terror written across her beautiful features. A resigned look came over his face. “Go.”
I turned and carried her into the forest.
“Where are you taking me?” she whispered.
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere but the big house,” she whispered back.
With her body pressed against mine, I carried her toward a place we’d be safe.
CHAPTER41
