Unless.
A piercing possibility shoots through my mind.
I turn toward my True Mate. He is looking at me. I run my fingers over Salt’s pale face, the reflection of fire and smoke flickering in his eyes as it rises above the row of units. "Oh, Salt. I’m sorry." Then I draw my brows together. "But I will end this."
"Eliano, what are you saying?"
Shouts ring out around us.
We hear people running, spilling out of their units. Thankfully, the two neighboring units next to ours were empty. From what I can see in the distance, they were damaged as well. There is a chance no one was killed, but that does not change how I feel, exposed, like a sitting duck. Rocco can reach me anywhere.
There is only one way I can protect Salt and our child.
Only one.
Eliminate Rocco.
"I need to kill my brother, Salt," I say quietly but with conviction.
Salt’s eyes widen in the dim light, the fire from the burning unit still reflecting in his irises, giving his face a slightly eerie look.
If we weren’t True Mates, I could go to Rocco, take a bullet to the head as my punishment, and Salt would be free and safe. But that’s not an option. If I die because of our bond, he dies too. I have to handle this another way.
"Are you serious?" he whispers. "You’ve always been against taking justice into your own hands."
"But I’m not alone anymore. What kind of alpha would I be if I let the ones I love be killed?"
Salt’s eyes are on my face, his lips slightly trembling.
"But he’s your brother." It’s obvious that for Salt the wordbrothercarries a warmer and deeper meaning than it does for me, but he didn’t grow up among the Ferros.
"Not anymore. He’s just a murderer."
There is silence. We sit like this, nothing to add. It has to be done; there's no other way.
My arm is wrapped around Salt as we wait, staring at the smoldering wreckage of the unit.
Then I hear people running from the direction of the administration building. A quad arrives carrying several betaswith fire extinguishers, and the team begins putting out the flames.
Still, I keep staring. It feels like having a millstone tied around your neck, unable to reach the surface because its weight drags you down relentlessly until, sooner or later, you run out of breath. I feel a deep exhaustion and a fierce need to free us. The madness in our lives has to end.
I desperately need a miracle. Or do I just need to work on that miracle myself? Damn.
"I'm taking a ferry to the mainland tomorrow," I say flatly. "We will never be safe here, Salt, as long as he’s alive. Simple."
In the half-light, Salt’s eyes settle on my face.
"Eliano, let’s wait a few days and talk about this again. We’ll think it through properly. That’s your method, right? Think first, then act."
I look at him, raising my eyebrows.
"You seem very calm. We just narrowly escaped death again. Aren’t you angry? I brought this on us, my past, my fucked up family."
He shrugs with a hint of amusement.
"Well, they say you can get used to anything. But you had no choice and no control over it. I understood the threat from the start. Why would I be angry at you? You picked the Alpha Slayer. I picked an ex-mafioso. We gambled, but call me naïve, I still believe we’ll somehow find a way out, Eliano." He lifts his hand, his fingers brushing my face. "I just know it’s going to be okay! It’s just the last bump in our journey."
My gaze shifts across his face. Some chaotic thoughts run through me, along with a sense of relief.
