I stumble back, the flames licking my back.Alright, so we’re fighting first.“I had to do something! She’s going to marry me off to that animal! I will not be another statistic.” I won’t.I’ll kill Bruno first.
“Fucking hell,” he curses, grabbing my arm before I fall into the fire, throwing me away. Without warning, he grabs the corpse, dumping it into the flames and sparks float into the air.“I was handling it. When have I ever let anything bad happen to you?”
My heart constricts, ignoring the flutters in my belly. That damn childhood crush, built on his niceness from my panic attacks, stirs in my gut. There was a reason Hayes was the only man I claimed. Not because he was important to Maeve—but because he was to me.
He fought my bullies, complimented me on my braces, and picked me up in rainstorms. He held my hand when my lungs wouldn’t work and brushed my tears away. I depend on his steadfast presence—even when he annoys me.
And I did fantasize about him when I fucked myself.
“You screwed me.” He rubs his beard, voice wounded. “Left a huge mess for me without any warning. What were you thinking?”
Survival. I was thinking about how I would survive Bruno. And I called out the only name of the one person who protected me.
There’s no guilt. There hasn’t been since Ferguson.
“I was thinking of how to fix this,” I defend. “And now, it’s too late to backtrack. We need to get our story straight for Maeve.”
He scoffs, kicking the body into the fire, a hand flopping to the side. I stare at the callous disregard for life, not a flicker of compassion stirring in my gut.
“Ha..” He kicks the wood, making the flames higher. “Good joke.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” His deep blue eyes narrow. “Do you know what you did? It takes a ton of shit to gain your sister’s trust and I had it. Until you came in with your little stunt and ruined everything.”
Wincing, I rub my breastbone. “I’m sorry, I needed?—”
“I know what you needed.” He glares at me and my breath stops. His irritation and fury morph his handsome face into a work of art. “And I was handling it.”
“How?” I challenge. “By burning the competition?”
He laughs but it’s humorless. “We’re in a rare mood again tonight, I see. No, smartass, I was preparing for the Games.” He looks to the sky. “Now, without Maeve’s backing, I’ll likely not survive. Thanks for that.”
A prickle of guilt hits my sternum and I exhale.He was preparing for me?
“How was that supposed to help me?” I vaguely recall some comment from Uncle Michael, my father’s best friend and second of the clan about games, years ago but nothing comes to me.
“The Game of Trials,” Hayes supplies, running a hand through his hair. It falls free, caressing his jaw and shoulders. My fingers tremble as the urge to touch it floods my veins. “I was trading favors for votes. If I have enough votes, I can compete.”
I wrap my arms around my chest, shifting my weight. “And this helps me how?”
“The prize is to be second of the clan, sweetheart.” He rolls his eyes. “As second, I could stop all of this marriage business from ever happening. With a clear line of succession, the clan is stable and with it, we can withstand saying no to Bruno’s proposal”
Breath rushes between my parted lips. He was going to fight for me.
“You didn’t want Roman to have me?”
“Roman can fuck all the way off,” he retorts. “You don’t belong with him, Collins. You don’t belong tied to that kind of man.”
This proved I didn’t put my trust into the wrong man. Hayes is not a good man—he kills, tortures, runs guns and burns thebodies of my sister’s enemies. But I trust him to do right by me—like he always has.
Licking my lips, I step closer, tripping over branches. “What do you need to win the games?”
Looking me over, I watch the growing inferno brighten his gaze. Under the cloud of decay, I detect Haye’s clean, fresh scent that reminds me of rainstorms. “Votes. Luck. Sheer determination to win.”
“You need Maeve for that?”
“Fuck no,” he huffs. “But it helps to have a ruling Captain of the O’Brien line on your side.”
