Matteo stepped forward, lips curling. “There he is. The angel of death himself.”
Halo shifted in front of me, shielding my body with his.
We were trapped. I could see no way out.
Matteo smirked. “Now say goodbye, Halo.”
Chapter forty-seven
Halo
“We Never Made it Home”
Wewereoutoftime.
Out of luck.
Out of ammunition.
I could feel Eden behind me, trembling. Her breath came shallow and sharp like she couldn’t pull enough air into her lungs. Maybe ten feet away, Matteo stood with seven of his men, guns leveled at us. I didn’t need to do the math. I already knew how this ended. I was a realist, and I knew there was no way we got out of this.
She gripped the back of my shirt with both hands, like if she held hard enough, none of it could happen. That maybe we could fold time, hide in the seconds we had left.
I half turned, pulling her in front of me so we could face each other. I ran the backs of my swollen knuckles along her cheek. She was so fucking beautiful. Even now, with dirt on her face and a split lip and terror in her eyes. Especially now. The world didn’t deserve her, it had never deserved her.
I cupped her face.
“Hey,” I whispered.
Her wide eyes flicked up to mine, like she hadn’t really been looking at me before. I felt the heaviest weight settle in my chest, and I wasn’t sure I could stay on my feet anymore.
“This is going to be okay.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Her voice cracked, tears poured clean trails down her dirty face.
“I’m not.”
But I was. I was lying because I couldn’t stand to see her lose that spark of hope.
I pressed my forehead to hers, feeling the heat of her skin and the way her body shook. “I’m sorry that you’ve suffered at all… but this is going to be okay.”
“You’re worth it.”
I wanted to scream. I didn’t deserve that. Not from her. I’d killed people with the same hands that held her. I’d been soaked in blood since I was sixteen. But she had always looked at me like I was worth so much more than all my transgressions. Where I felt I needed to wash my sins away to be worthy of love, she got to her knees with me.
She didn’t understand; she thought I needed to be saved. But maybe I never wanted to be saved, maybe I just wanted someone willing to drown with me.
“I love you,” I breathed, voice breaking apart. “God, Eden, I love you.”
I wished I had told her that I loved her sooner, that it could have meant something longer. I hoped that she’d known it before now. I hoped that when she had said it to me, and I didn’t say it back that sheknewthat I was just afraid.
She clung to me tighter. “Halo—”
“I’m going to get us out of this,” I lied. I lied because she needed it. I lied becauseIneeded it. “Give me a minute to talk to them.”
I wrapped my arms around her and pressed her head into my chest, holding her so tightly it almost hurt. I kissed her temple. One last time. I felt her body relax into me, like she was melting into my skin. I needed to feel her full of hope like she always had been. I couldn’t let this world do to her exactly what I had always known it would. I wouldn’t let her die in fear, or watch me take my last breath and have to deal with the agony of loss.
Then I looked up at Matteo.
