“I’m sorry. Boston will take care of her,” I tell her gently.
“She’s dead?” she asks, sadness etched in her expression.
“Yes. Now, can you walk?”
She turns her attention to where Rylas’s body lies sprawled a few feet away. He ran at me, thinking he could take me, but he was sorely mistaken. The second our bodies made contact, I stabbed him in the kidney. And when he went to pry the knife from my hand, I accidentally cut off his finger. He screamed as he fell to the ground, and I knelt beside him and stabbed him straight in the neck, leaving the blade embedded in his flesh. I wanted him to die very slowly.
I watched as he thrashed, unable to use his hand to pull the knife out because his index finger and pinkie were no longer there. His other hand was holding the wound over his kidney, and that’s when he started to blubber.
While I wanted to relish in his suffering, I knew I had to check on Cora. What I didn’t expect was for her to stand up and then start beating him until he was no longer breathing. I always knew she had a lot of fire in her. That much is true just by talking to her. And to say I’m proud that she can hold her own is an understatement. She’s broken right now, and despite that, she still took her rage out on the man responsible. If I could bring him back to life so she could kill him all over again, I sure as shit would.
“Don’t worry about him. Trust me,” I say.
“Is trusting you a smart thing for me to do?” she asks as her gaze locks on mine.
“I would hope so, but only you can be the judge of that.” She wobbles, but before she can fall, I catch her and lift her into my arms. “I’m walking you to my car, and then we’re leaving,” I inform her.
I hear Boston following behind us, and when we reach the edge of the clearing where the cars are parked, a set of headlights shines on us.
“Did you leave your car on?” I ask Boston over my shoulder.
“No,” he replies, then reaches for his gun and walks ahead of us. I stay where I am, holding Cora in my arms as she silently cries. That’s when I hear Soren’s voice, followed by Boston’s.
“I know he’s back there, Boston. You have loyalty to Arlo, and I respect that, but you can’t hide him from me. You know that.”
I hold her tighter in my arms as she attempts to see what’s happening, and I whisper, “Do not get down from my arms, no matter what you hear. Do not speak. Understand?” When she only stares back at me, I hiss, “Tell me you understand, Cora.”
“I understand,” she says, then adds, “I can walk.”
“No, it’s best that you’re in my arms,” I tell her because while I trust Soren, his protection for the Society is stronger than his love for any of us.
And I will not risk her.
Not now or ever.
“Soren.” I step closer, Cora gripping me tighter, and under the moonlight, I see Soren’s gaze flick to her, then back to Boston.
“Boston said there’s a dead body in there.” Soren nods to the woods.
“Two,” I correct.
He steps closer, but not too close.
“And this?” He waves a hand at Cora. “You haven’t pulled a Reon on me and secretly married her, have you?” She stills in my arms. Cora doesn’t know the story of Reon and how he and Lilith got married. He did it to protect her, and now I understand why.
“No, but I plan to marry her,” I tell him.
“And what does she know?” he asks, his gaze assessing her.
“She knows that Rylas is fucking crazy and that he killed her friend and tried to kill her. What else is she supposed to know, Soren?” Soren eyes me, expression both hard and skeptical. He’s trying to work out if she knows more. Boston didn’t tell Soren about the mask Rylas used, and that she may very well know more. I’m going to fucking owe him a big one.
“I suggest taking her to see a doctor. And, Boston…” He turns to face him. “What do you plan to do about the bodies?”
“I’ll drive them somewhere else and have them discovered so both parties can bury their loved ones.”
Cora cries softly in my arms.
Soren is looking at her but says to me, “You can guarantee she will never speak of this to anyone?” Which makes her stop crying as she holds her breath.
