He grins, bruised and bloodied. “And you always were worth the fight.”
I jerk on a pair of sweats I pull from a drawer and shirt. As I dress, he drags on his clothes and slips into his double sided holster.
The second I get a pair of shoes on I’m outta here. My whole life is ashes again because of this man.
I turn to leave, but when I get to the bedroom door, I turn back and level him with a glare that I hope puts a hole in his heart. “You know the irony of it all? I never went to New York. I stayed here. I didn’t take the spot up north and you’re wrong. Loving you never put my job at risk because you’re not a criminal.”
His eyes flick over my shoulder and he goes deathly still. He kills the light and turns me around just in time to see a figure hulking through the snow outside my window. My blood goes cold.
Cipher mutters a curse and starts checking the rounds he has in his guns. “You have any weapons stashed away here?”
I shake my head. “No one knows about this place. I thought I was safe.”
We kneel on the floor, below window level and watch another shadow pass by.
“All I have is my service weapon, and I left that in the living room. Again. It was supposed to be only me out here in the middle of nowhere.”
He goes to leave the bedroom, but I grab his arm, pulling him back. If we die here someone needs to know what I know. I can’t let the whole truth die with me. “Wait, I didn't tell you everything.” I make quick work of telling him the full name of the Chemist and how she got wrangled up in this mess to begin with.
“And there’s one more thing.” I fumble for my phone from the dresser, my hands shaking so bad I almost drop it.
Cipher watches me with an intensity that steals my breath. “Show me.”
I pull up the most recent photo. It’s a sheet of paper that is water-stained and crumpled. On it in black ink is the Euphoria formula scrawled in a rushed, almost frantic hand.
“She sent me this. It is the complete recipe, if it’s legit. If we die, you have to let your brothers know to continue looking for her. She’s been out of contact for two weeks, and I’m scared she’s already dead.”
He stares, silent, jaw working. “Can you send that to my phone?”
I hesitate, and he catches it. “Do you trust me, Harlow?”
A thousand answers war on my tongue. “Yes,” I whisper. “I do.” Sometimes the first unmeasured answer is the truest one. It shocks me as much as it does him.
He nods, something easing in his shoulders. “Reaper has a friend in the Russian Bratva. His name is Ares. His family and best friend have lost a lot to Euphoria. They were behindpushing it, too, years ago. Guilt’s eaten both of them alive. If I send Ares and Rage this, they can confirm if it’s the same recipe or if it’s something new. Either way, it could help us stop it or find a way to fight it.”
“Do it,” I say, and shoot the file over. My hands are shaking, but it feels right to trust him. To let him in, even if it scares me in the end.
Cipher’s thumb is flying over the screen. He pauses, then turns his attention back to me. “I’m not letting anything happen to you, Harlow. I’ll burn the world before I let Veles or the Vultures touch you. No one is dying except them tonight.”
I want to believe him. God, I do. But then I look at the cold window, at the night pressing in on all sides, and I wonder if he can keep such an impossible promise.
“Why do you care so much?” I ask, voice soft, scared of the answer.
He puts the phone down and catches my chin in his hand. “Because I never stopped loving you. Because you’re the only thing in my life that ever made me believe I could be more than a monster. Because you’re the best damn thing I ever had, and I’m done letting my fears run my life. If other people have a problem with us being together, that’s on them. I learned my lesson the hard way. Now it’s time for me to protect our love and your heart. Trust me. Please.”
The rawness in his voice undoes me. “I hate you,” I whisper, voice breaking.
He smiles, slow and sad. “Yeah. But you love me, too. That love burns hotter than anything heaven or hell can cook up. It’s what keeps me alive.”
He tugs me into him, his mouth slanting over mine. This kiss is different. Slow, worshipful. It feels like a silent plea for me to let him in. My head says I’m an idiot for entertaining the idea, but my stupid heart wants to trust him one more time.
His hands roam my back, my waist, grounding me even as the world tries to tear us apart.
The fire crackles. Snow slides off the roof. For a moment, it’s just us again, and we are lost in each other.
Then a distant wail splits the night. Fire explodes all around us. I spin, staring out the window, and my stomach drops.
A bloom of orange lights the sky above the trees. My cabin is on fire. Flames lick up the walls, reflected in Cipher’s wide, furious eyes.
