I gulp but nod in understanding. “Raphael, I should have told you earlier. The orderly I stabbed? It wasn’t just anyone. It was the Prophet’s nephew. His only heir. And the pot with the gold bar, there’s something else buried in the dirt. A thumb drive. It has evidence on it. Damning evidence. I took it as insurance.”
“Good girl.”
I almost choke on the words I didn’t expect. I’m the reason why they’re coming. The Prophet has countless men on his side, expendable ones, including police and even military. It doesn’t matter how many weapons my boys have. The Prophet will find a way through. He won’t stop until he has me, his vengeance, the only one who escaped him without dying.
“Jude.” Raphael nods to his partner. “Take her to the mine. Underground entrance.”
“What?” I grip Raphael’s arm, digging my fingers in. “No.”
He grabs my throat and practically snarls, the firelight and shadows making him seem more sinister. “Don’t ever tell me no.”
I tighten my grip, the emotion tearing through me. “You can’t leave me!”
“I’m not leaving you. You’re leaving me. You’re keeping yourself safe. And my damned soul. You don’t have a choice.” He shoves me to Jude and nods to him.
“What if one of you gets hurt?” I glance at their healer, who cups my shoulders, tender but firm. “You’ll need Jude.”
“Get her the fuck to the mine. Now.”
Raphael sharpens his eyes one more time before charging for the door and slamming it behind him, taking my damned soul with him and leaving me with his.
I squeezemy thighs around Jude tightly as he carries me through the underground tunnel leading to the mine. He moves quickly, with purpose and protection.
All I have with me is the tactical vest outfitted with a single loaded handgun. And my cane.
“Promise me,” I tell Jude, gripping onto the back of his neck. “Promise me you’ll go to them once I’m safe. They’ve never needed a combat medic more, Jude. You have to go to them.”
“No, Babydoll. I’m not leaving you. Protocol X. Kinship Law.”
“Fuck Kinship Law,” I spit. “If it’s all for one and one for all, then you have to go. Because if one of you gets hurt, I get hurt. If one of you dies…I will?—”
“Shut the fuck up,” he growls, causing me to flinch because he’s never taken that tone with me before. Jude might be dominant, but he’s never cruel. His muscles strengthen around me, and his gaze turns as black as burning pitch. “What happens ifyouget hurt, Briella? What the fuck will happen ifyoudie? Do you truly believe our lives would simply go on? That we would move on? We’d sooner slit our wrists, bleed out next to your corpse, and let the ground swallow us whole until our very bones fuse forever. We’ll hunt you to the goddamned gates of heaven and pull you back to hell where you belong. With us. On hell’s throne.”
My heart unravels. It won’t happen. We’ve come too far. I can’t lose them.
When we emerge from the tunnel, I recognize a few things. Off to our right are the entrances to the Initiation dungeon. I stillshiver, my blood running cold at the chains dangling from the ceiling. But I can still see the adjoining room with the bed and the chair, the chair where Raphael watched and waited. It’s still facing the dungeon entrance. Like a relic of that night, frozen in time.
When Jude anchors a hand on the back of my neck and moves past the caverns, I know exactly where he’s going.
He leads me to the edge of the pit of bones.
My heart nearly stops, caving in.
Jude lowers me to the ground and sets to work on unrolling the ladder before opening his strong hand to me.
My whole body shakes, blood racing in my veins until my lungs struggle to pump air.
“Briella, I will be with you,” he insists. “And you can sit on my lap, cry, and feel our heartbeats as long as you need.”
No wonder Raphael sent Jude with me.
The moment I slide my hand into his, a brutal crack splits the night.
Jude jerks—his body slamming into mine as the force of the bullet knocks him off balance. We hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me. I hear myself scream his name, raw and instinctive, as I scramble over him, my hands searching, fumbling.
His chest rises. He’s breathing.
“I’m okay,” he gasps, wincing. “Vest took it.”
