“No,” I answer firmly. “There’s no time for that. Thor needs us.”
The reminder sobers the two of them as they nod and get into position. We aren’t taking any chances of this bitch surviving.
“Ezekiel, please,” Isaac begs when all three of us lift our guns to his head. “I’m your brother.”
“You were never my brother,” I say.
And then we fire. I’m numb as I watch the light leave Isaac’s eyes and then his body slump to the ground. It’s quiet except for the wildfire and the helicopter arriving. The three of us glance at each other, and I can see the silent question in their eyes as we consider Isaac’s insane belief that he’drise again.
“Just to be sure?” Aurelia asks.
Khalil blows out a breath and grunts. “Fuck it.”
All at once we lift our guns once more and empty our clips into Isaac’s lifeless body. I then grab him by his bloody robe and drag him toward the cliff’s edge, painting a trail of blood as we go. Once there, I drop his body and lift my boot before kicking his ass over the side.
Just to be sure.
AURELIA
The steady hum and beep of the machines surrounding the hospital bed is the only confirmation that Thorin’s alive, but the real question that plagues my heart is if he’s still in there.
Coma, they’d uttered after he was finally brought out of surgery. Among other things like skull fractures, brain injury, broken ribs, a ruptured eardrum, and a shattered left arm. Thorin may never walk again. He may never talk. And his doctors won’t know a thing about how bad it is until he wakes up. If he ever does.
Isaac didn’t do this.
My uncle did.
He’s the one who told Isaac where to find us. He knew what would happen. He’d banked on it.
I cannot allow him to get away with this.
I can’t.
It’s been three days since Isaac burned down the cabin and nearly killed Thor. Three days of sitting by Thorin’s bedside, wishing he would open his eyes and call me songbird or wolf and being disappointed every time.
Right now, I’m alone in the room. Khalil and Zeke left a little under an hour ago to go for a run and quell their aggression, which rises to new heights each day that Thorin doesn’t wake up. But there was no way for me to dull mine, which was quieter but no less furious. I refused to leave Thor’s bedside for longer than a few minutes, so I sat and I thought of nothing but revenge.
Khalil and Zeke will be back soon, which means I don’t have much time left to say goodbye.
Tucked inside the overnight bag next to my feet are the results from my own doctor’s exam, but I can’t bring myself to look at the damning sheet of paper for longer than a glance. Instead, I shift forward in my seat next to the bed and I take Thorin’s hand in mine, wishing I could feel him squeeze it or link our fingers together like he always does.
“I love you,” I whisper through my tears as I rest my cheek on his lap and rub the blanket covering him. “I love you so much. And when you come back to me, I pray that you can find what’s left of me in your heart to not hate me. To forgive me for not being here when you wake up. I don’t know what else to do since I can’t forgivehim. Not for hurting you. Never for hurting you. I can’t.”
Sobs rack my body because I know it’s a pipe dream. I’m already imagining the look in his eyes when he wakes up and finds me gone. I can feel his hurt and confusion and the hate that will inevitably come since I promised, I swore I’d never leave.
And to them, I know it will look like I’m choosing vengeance over being here for them when all I can think about is how long before my uncle tries again. How much will he take from me this time until he’s stopped? I’m constantly watching the doctors and nurses like a hawk, wondering which of them has been paid off, which of them will finish the job. We’ve never been more vulnerable than we are right now. My uncle is a calculating man. He knew there was a possibility Isaac wouldn’t succeed. How long before he tries again? Not long. I know that. This paranoia festering inside of me is whispering that my men will never be safe as long as I’m here. Even if I fail, Uncle Mars will have no reason to come after Khalil, Thorin, and Zeke. All he wants is me—back under his thumb or dead. It makes no difference.
“I have to go back, Thor. I have to. And I’m sorry it has to be without you. Khalil and Zeth need you, and you need them. Take care of each other. Forget me if you can.”
Sniffling, I grab my bag and rise from the chair I’ve barely left in three days, and I force myself to walk away before I lose my nerve. The beep of the machines keeping him alive follows me to the door, and then I look back one last time before I walk through it.
Five minutes.
It’s all the time I have before they return, and this gets a lot more complicated. Not to mentionhard. I won’t deny that I’m a coward, but I also know that if Khalil and Zeke ask me to stay, I will. And then my uncle gets away with what he did to Thorin. Marston George’s wrongs against me and everyone else fade into the background. Every day he’s left unchecked, my uncle grows more powerful.
It has to be now.
The elevator comes and I ride it down. Thorin wasn’t taken to the hospital in Hearth. His injuries had been too severe, so he was flown to the nearest city with a hospital equipped to deal with them.
