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Chapter7
Kaia
Ifelt the part of Liam that would always live inside my heart. Feeling him while knowing I would never see him again was the worst pain I’d ever experienced.
For days, I suffered abuse and torture that no one could begin to imagine. I held myself together. Because of Liam. But Liam’s death was what finally managed to break me. Losing the one good thing I had left shattered my world.
My chest was tight, and I was barely able to breathe. I dragged in deep, gasping breaths while internally screaming pleas for Liam's forgiveness.
When I went limp in Elijah’s arms, he slowed, telling E.Z. and Griffin to go on without us and to make sure the door was ready to open when we arrived.
I didn't question it. In the past, I would have fought that suggestion relentlessly. I didn’t want to be in a packed room with Elijah; I never wanted to be alone with him.
But I didn't care to fight him. I didn't care about anything.
Elijah lowered me to my feet, propping me against the rough stone wall. When I swayed into him, his arms belted tightly around my waist to keep me steady, and he didn’t let go.
Elijah shifted his head back, trying to catch my eye.
“Fuck you.” I jerked my head to the side, refusing to look at him. Refusing to give him any other words.
I blamed Elijah for putting us in this situation— no matter how unreasonable that was. I also didn’t want to see his face after what happened to Liam. I was afraid I’d see pain but more afraid to see nothing. Fuck him, the unfeeling asshole.
I closed my eyes and was assaulted by images of Liam's prone body hitting the floor before they dragged him away, painting the cobblestones red in his wake. The scene played repeatedly, a moment that would be forever burned into my mind.
The moment when my best friend sacrificed himself so that I would live. The moment when his life became the price of my freedom.
The price was too high. They could take back their freedom. If Liam could live, I would give myself to anyone they asked or spend the rest of my life rotting in that cell. I’d do anything.
How could anyone expect me to keep living now?
Elijah barked something in my face, shaking me in an attempt to knock me out of my shock. When it made no difference, he turned us so my back was fully bracketed against the wall. He jammed his knee between my legs and forced his entire body into mine to support my weight.
The press of Elijah’s body snapped me out of my head, and I opened my eyes.
He freed his hands from around my waist and, reaching up, pushed the hair out of my face. He cupped both cheeks with firm hands, angling my head back toward him.
He was more intense than I had ever seen him, and that was saying a lot. He was towering over me, trying to intimidate me like he always did. His ticking jaw and firm mouth were giving away his frustration. It didn't bother me; I was used to that type of behavior from him.
It was his sad eyes that were new and revealed more than he wanted me to see. They showed his pain over his brother's loss, and that hurt more than I expected.
I blinked and jerked out of his grasp.
Elijah took a step back, leaving me to support myself. He jerked up, raising them between us, promising he wouldn’t touch me again.
He blew out a harsh breath. “You have every right to be angry with me. But you have to hold it together, do you understand me?” His eyes jumped between mine. “You cannot give up.”
“You promised me that no one would see us. You promised me that if I trusted you, we would leave here without any trouble. I just watched Liam die!” I looked down, biting my lip. “You lied to me.”
Elijah stilled. “Kaia—”
I cut him off. My mind was racing with irrational, dangerous thoughts, but I zeroed in on one indisputable fact.
Elijah should have maintained the dome. He was more experienced and could have kept the shield secure despite the arrow and the pain. He’d trained longer and harder.
Yet, he had let Liam take the risk instead and now acted like I couldn’t mourn him?
He wanted me awake and alert? I was awake, and I was alert. And I was freaking mad. No, I was more vivid than I had ever been.
