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“You’re not doing this,” he growls, crowding me against the side of the Escalade as Chloe starts to cry.
I cup his face, staring into his eyes as my heart starts to crumble. “I have to.”
“No,” he rasps, covering my hand with his and pressing his jaw into my palm. His eyes burn into me, seeing right into my soul exactly the way Dante claimed they would, and I don’t blink—I can’t—as I lean in and press my lips against his. Breathe in his breath. Let the rough stubble against my hand ground me in this moment, just for a second.
And then that second is over.
I step back, walling off the pain in my heart. Maddoc reaches for me, something wild flashing in his eyes. I know he’s going to try to stop me, and I can’t let him do that. So I bring up my gun and take the safety off, the harsh click unmistakable as I cock it and aim it at his heart.
My hand shakes, but Maddoc freezes, getting the message. He grits his teeth, his jaw going tight and emotions that neither one of us ever had the courage to put into words cascade across his face.
Finally, he rasps, “You won’t shoot me.”
“But this way, neither will they.” I steady the gun and take another step backward. And then another. “You have to let me go.”
“You’re making a mistake,” he grits out, his gaze locked onto mine.
“Keep Chloe safe.”
He closes his eyes for a split second, but not before I see the war of grief and rage there. When he opens them again, he’s pulled the mask of the Reaper leader into place. His body is unnaturally still. Poised to pounce on me the minute I waver… so I don’t.
My eyes flick toward Dante and Logan, and the expressions on their faces are so raw and tortured that I almost break. Chloe has tears streaming down her face, but the way she shakes her head frantically is just a reminder of how all this started. I’ll do whatever I need to, to keep the ones I love safe. Everything else may have changed over the last few weeks, butthatnever will.
Especially not now that my sister is no longer the only one I’m trying to keep alive.
I keep the gun steady, a reminder that I won’t change my mind, and touch my fingers to my heart, tracing a spiraling, twisting shape as I hold Dante’s eyes. He permanently inked my mark onto his body, but I remember the way he marked me too.
He nods, the vibrant green of his eyes blazing with recognition, and I drag my fingers to the right, running them over the twin scars Logan gave me. Logan’s mask slips, the emotional distance he’s put between us since the night we all fucked ripped away in an instant.
I look to Maddoc. He hasn’t blinked. He barely looks like he’s breathing. And I fucking hate that he’s about to see another woman walk away from him and into Austin’s arms.
“I’m not her,” I say, holding his gaze.
His jaw ticks. “I know.”
“Tick tock, baby,” Austin calls out, tapping the gaudy gold watch on his wrist. “If you want me to leave any of these Reapers standing, time is running out.”
I want to say something else, to promise things I can’t, but my throat is too tight with unshed tears, and all I can do is hope that they know.
Then rough hands are on me, snatching my gun away and shoving me roughly into the back of the silver car. Austin slides into the back seat next to me, his hand twisting my hair into a leash, and one of the goons slips into the driver’s seat, gunning the engine before the doors even close.
The last thing I hear as we speed away from the alley is a hoarse roar of fury from Maddoc.
But he’s alive.
They all are.
And if this is what it takes to keep them that way, then it’s worth it.
***
