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I nodded and turned on my heel to leave.
“And Captain?”
I paused, only half-turning back her way. “Aye.”
“A little friendly advice,” she said, her smile tinted with sadness. “Brace that ship of yours for a storm.”
4
NEVER
This is not happening.Pain pulsed from my back. Hot blood seeped from the wound, no doubt getting all over Leo. I’d only made two more steps before he’d grabbed me again, and now I was trapped against his chest, his big arms wrapped tight around me in a suffocating bear hug.
“Let me go,” I said, fighting a hopeless battle to break free. “I can’t let that thing have him.” I tried to twist, leading with my hips, but with every aching move, the pain siphoned off more of my strength. “Goddammit, Leo. Let me fucking go!”
Lily hovered nearby, watching but not making a move in any direction.
“Come on, Lily. We can’t let him get away.” I hit her with my most pleading look.
She hesitated for a moment, glanced down at herself, shook her head, and stalked back to my bedroom.
I wanted to scream. Instead, I stopped trying to break free of Leo’s hold. “I’ll never forgive you for this,” I said quietly.
He let out a grunt that could have been a laugh, but that was it.
The urge to sink to the floor was riding me hard by the time Lily came back down the hallway wearing my workout clothes and a pair of Matty’s old running shoes. She pinned her deep brown gaze on Leo. “Don’t let her leave.” Then she turned her attention to me. “You…” She glanced at the door and back at me. “If you try to follow me, Iwillstop looking for him to drag you back here.”
“Where are you going?” Leo asked, his voice gruff.
She gave me one last stern look. “Hunting.” Then she slipped out of the apartment.
Despite her warning, I still tried to go after her.
“Stop,” Leo said. His arms tightened around me. “You’re going to hurt yourself even more if you don’t stop fighting.”
Hot tears sprung to my eyes. Whether they were from the pain, or what had just happened with my brother, or just the collective shitshow the last few days had been, I didn’t know. I didn’t care.
“What will hurt is losing my brother,” I said, silently cursing everything in my world.
I wanted to fight my way free and go after him, but I also wanted to crumple to the ground and sink into the defeat welling up inside me. As long as this stubborn as fuck golden god was holding me hostage, I couldn’t do either.
“Lily should be able to track him easily enough.”
“You can’t know that.” I mean, maybe the dog version of Lily could have done that, but she wasn’t a dog anymore.
“In the meantime,” he said, deliberately ignoring my comment. “We need to do something about that wound.”
“I’m pretty sure step one is letting me go.” I was still chock full of snark, but my energy was fading fast.
“I will, but only if you promise you won’t try to go after them.”
“Scout’s honor.”
“Does that mean yes?” When I didn’t answer, he added, “Lily is my cousin. She was my best friend growing up, and I have spent most of my adult life searching for her. I walked away from my clan and spent decades working for that monster in the hopes that something, anything, would lead me to her. I just found her, Never, and now she’s out there by herself, in a world I know nothing about, searching for your brother. If you think that isn’t eating me alive right now, you’re dead wrong.”
Well, his guilt trip game was on point.
“I won’t try to go after them.”Until I’m bandaged up, I added silently.
