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“You what? I saw you. Why?” I can taste the saltiness of my tears as I struggle to keep them from flowing down my face. The pain in my chest is unbearable - it feels as though the same man has ripped my heart out twice.
“It was my idea,” Scott says, shifting uncomfortably.
“And my order.” I turn my head to look at Caleb.
“So you were all in on this? Why?” My heart feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest, and my palms are drenched with sweat. I can’t believe they were all in on this.
Caleb sighs deeply, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. “Because he joined The Twelve after what happened to Aisla. People wanted us dead, and they wouldn’t have hesitated to do to you what they did to her. We received threats naming you because of your relationship with Aidan. I wasn’t joking when I said you were family, Blakely. We had to protect you from this.”
“And what did they do to her?” I know partially what happened. I know her boyfriend tried to sell her, but that’s it. They’ve kept the details locked away, and my grief was so overwhelming that I never tried to look deeper into it. But I need to hear it from their mouths. I’ve been waiting eight years for them to tell me the truth.
Aidan lets out a deep sigh, and I can see the rise and fall of his Adam’s apple. “Her boyfriend tried to sell her. He was in debt due to his drug addiction and saw trafficking her as a way to make some quick money. She was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted. She killed herself. She shot herself up with Fentanyl and overdosed on purpose,” he finishes with pain in his eyes.
Sadness is written all over Caleb’s face when he speaks, “We learned later on that her boyfriend, Fergus, was the son of Apollo - one of The Twelve. That’s how he learned that Aisla was related to me. We never connected the two of them, and why would we? We had no reason to look deeper into his life. My father and grandfather trafficked women in addition to dealing drugs, and Apollo was a fervent servitor of my father's doing. He saw my power ascension as threatening his business.” He takes a deep breath and continues. “Fergus and Aisla meeting was maybe a coincidence, but her death was directed towards us. I killed them both, Apollo and my father, the day we learned the truth.” Bailey flinches at the mention of Caleb committing murder. I grab her hands, hoping to give her some comfort. “The Twelve Olympians are not all good, Blakely. You were their next target,” he finishes.
Aidan’s looking at me, pleading for me to understand him. “That’s why I decided to leave the military and join The Twelve. The elders' generation is not all good. Some want to continue with the shady businesses, but the new generation is trying to move away from the flesh trade, drugs, and weaponry. I wanted to ensure the other victims had a chance to survive since Aisla was never given that. I was angry. I was in pain. I became a monster. Where my purpose before was to do good, now I’m just destruction.” I can almost feel the pain in his voice as he speaks, each word dripping with sorrow.
“The Spectre,” I whisper.
I feel a lump in my throat that makes it difficult to swallow. I didn’t know half of it. The ache in my heart for what Aisla went through makes my tears more visible. Bailey’s face is streaked with tears as she clings to me, her breathing ragged. She didn’t know what happened. The bond between the three of us was unbreakable. It was as difficult for her as it was for me.
“How do you know that’s what they call me?”
I ignore his question and swivel my body to face Scott. “And you knew. It was your idea to make me believe he cheated?” He nods. He fucking nods. My brother. My own brother.
Each inhale is like trying to suck air through a straw, and my throat is raw. Bailey draws nearer to me, providing a sense of comfort while Tim’s hand presses firmly against mine. I pivot to look at him.
“Did you know?” My cheeks are glistening with the tears that won’t stop flowing.
“I knew. I was there when we found Aisla, and I was there when he had to make the hardest decision in his life. ”
Boring my eyes into Aidan, I ask, “Why?”
“I never touched that girl, and she never touched me. I needed you safe. Don’t think for a minute I wasn’t dying inside. But keeping you alive and safe was more important to me. If I had to do it again, I would, a thousand times over, because I’d rather live in a world where you’re not mine than in a world where you don’t exist.” His fingers wrap around my chin, holding it softly yet firmly. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for the pain I caused you, but I need you alive. I’ve been miserable without you, but I knew it was what needed to be done.” My throat is constricted, and no sound can escape my lips. I cannot breathe. I need air. I need to get out of there. Without any words, Bailey helps me to get on my feet.
“Blake, don’t leave,” Scott pleads. I shake my head.
“I can’t. I can’t right now. You watched me suffer for years. You watched me cry. You watched me fall apart, unable to eat or drink anything, and you were partly at fault. I lost both of them that day, and still, you hid things from me.” With a simple gesture, I lift my hand to bring him to a stop. “I heard you. I heard you all. But I need time. That’s the least you can do.” Just as I’m about to reach the door, Aidan’s voice interrupts me.
“Don’t leave. Please, don’t leave.”
I know he’s not talking about this moment.
“I won’t leave. Because we need to talk, but for now, I need time. I’ll be at Bailey’s, but I’ll come back tonight.”
I cry. A lot. I’m trying to understand what happened. Each year that has passed rushes over me, and I cannot stop the flood of tears that emanates from me. Bailey had to change my bandage once we came back because, apparently, I cried so much that my wound bled through my T-shirt.
I’m sitting on the sofa with a warm blanket that Emilie deposited on top of me and a cuppa. Despite my reluctance to drink anything, they both insisted that I have some tea. The warmth of it has a surprising effect on me, as it not only soothes me but also brings some much-needed warmth to my body.
“Do you want to talk about it, babes?” Em asks, sitting next to me.
“I… No”
“I know you don’t want to hear what I have to say, but I knew he was hiding something. While I didn’t expect it to be that, I knew he loved you too much to cheat on you like that,” says Bai. She’s struggling to process everything she’s learned about Aisla, but she’s handling it much better than I expected.
“Why didn’t he say anything? Why didn’t he tell me about the danger? I would have understood,” I say, sniffing.
“Are you sure about that? If my memory serves me correctly, you were completely infatuated with him and acted like a completely different person back then. You would have never understood and never left him alone to deal with this. You’d have looked for a way to stay.” Even though I see her point, it still hurts like a bitch.
