Fuck. She would, wouldn’t she? The statement, her sacrifice, explodes through my body like cannon fire, shaking my bones.
“No, Briella.” I groan, gripping my shoulder. It’s not the first time I’ve had a through and through.
A heartbeat passes.
Alden exhales, exasperated. “You clearly have Stockholm Syndrome, Bri. Please allow me to help you. Don’t throw your life away for these monsters.”
“I won’t.” Her voice is flint and steel. “But only if you let them go. Let them live. And I’ll…I’ll come willingly.”
“No!” I snarl, getting to my feet. “Babydoll,no.”
She doesn’t look away from Alden. Her balance teeters on the ledge, just enough to make my heart try to rip from my goddamn chest.
“Hmm…” Alden considers, but I already know what he will choose. “While the authorities won’t stop their pursuit, I will agree to give them a head start to escape.”
“Not good enough,” she hisses. “You call off your dogs. You tell them they were never here. You tell them they left me all alone. You lead them in a completely different direction.” She stabs a finger at the radio pulsing static, the one on his belt. “Now.”
“Briella, for fuck’s sake.” I take one staggering step. “Don’t do this. You know Raphael will?—”
“Raphael isn’t here.”
Buy time,I want to tell her. Raphael is smart. He will know there’s no chance but to run. He will come here. They all will. Just a little time.
So, I turn back to Alden, this false prophet, on the verge of charging. Gun be damned. If he shoots again, all I can hope for is the Kevlar will take it again.
“Pull back,” Alden orders into the radio, attention still trained on me. “I have the girl. The felons went north. Turned tail and ran like the cowards they are.” My jaw clenches.
“Copy,” a baritone responds.
“Leave the surrounding area of the compound. I don’t want any more lives lost,” Alden adds convincingly.
I plant my boots hard in the ground, ready to charge at him. I’d rather take multiple bullets than let him take her. And my brothers would do the same.
“And you’re going to give them the keys to whatever car you used to drive up here.” Briella presses him, then eyes me as if she recognizes my stance, the plans in my head. “Jude.” The emotion fractures her. She’s holding back the tears. “Don’t. Just let me do this. If you do what I know is going on in your brain, I’ll jump. I need you alive. All of you.”
She holds me here, and I can practically hear her thoughts screaming:I need you all alive so you can find me, come for me. Raise hell. Rain down hell on them.
“You’ll try to come for me,” she confirms.
The Prophet snorts, raising his radio, keeping it close to his mouth. “I assure you, my Bri, Easthaven will be so fortified with police and my personal militia, it will be locked down tighter than Fort Knox.”
She swallows hard, more tears coming, but she starts to tiptoe away from the pit’s edge, picking up the cane. As she does, Alden taps his radio in warning. If I try anything, I have no doubthe could call men down here. And I can’t afford for Briella to get caught in any crossfire.
So, I let her go.
It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
It feels like tearing my soul in half with my bare hands. Everything in me screams to fight, to run, to doanythingbut stand here and watch her disappear with that monster. My throat is tight, like I’ve swallowed broken glass. Pain, helplessness, and hatred claw their way through my chest.
She walks with her spine unyielding, that cane tapping defiantly against the stone, Raphael’s cap still perched on her head like the crown it is. As she walks past me, close enough to touch, I reach out and seize her wrist. Alden stiffens, humming.
“Just give me a damn moment,” I bark. “Briella…Babydoll.” I sweep my knuckles along her right cheek, thumb away two tears, then lower my hand to her heart, feeling its beat. Because it’s all that matters—as long as her heart beats.
“I love?—”
“I know.” For once, she doesn’t give me that swooning expression. It runs deeper with the truth we both know. Rory may have said it first, but I loved her from the moment I held her in the cave. No. I loved her from the moment she bit me and took off running.
When I open my mouth to finish, she shakes her head. “Save it,” she whispers.
