If the sheriff doesn’t buy her story, I’m coming clean. I’ll spend a hundred lifetimes running before I drag my baby down with me. Hearing her alter the events of the night we found hertaking shelter in our cabin—and all the ones that followed—had made me yearn to go back in time and be the man in the picture she painted. A man worthy of her protection, love, and loyalty.
In that moment, it felt as if the only way I could ever be that for her was to let her go.
But then Zeke stopped me, and at Aurelia’s request—little do either of them know. He’d done it for her, and he’s hated himself for the knee-jerk reaction ever since. Of course, he’ll deny it and say it was to protect me. I’ll try not to lord it over him too much since this soft spot he has for Aurelia isn’t entirely his own. And it’s not the first time Seth’s or Bane’s emotions have influenced Zeke’s.
If only that were enough to prove Seth’s alive.
Is it even possible for an alter to die?
Zeke’s heart had stopped by the time we unburied him. What if Seth died in that avalanche?
I can’t deny it’s been a constant, unspoken fear, never straying far from my mind.
Disbelief floods my chest when I’m forced to admit—albeit to myself—that I’m actually worried forSeth. Less than three months ago, all I wanted was to figure out a way to rid Zeke of his alters for good, and now I find myself actually caring for Seth and not just because he’s a part of Zeke.
I actually miss that asshole.
“It’s not bullshit,” Thorin retorts with his eyes closed. “Not all of it anyway. Her uncle really is trying to kill her.”
“It doesn’t concern you how pretty she lies?” Zeke plows on as if Thorin hasn’t spoken. “The sheriff is a shrewd man, but it only took her minutes to have him eating out of the palm of her hand.” He stops and gives us a pointed look. “Imagine what she could do with a few weeks.”
Thorin groans and rests his head against the wall behind the bench he’s sitting on. “Here we go. What are you saying, Zeke?”
“I’m saying you both need to stop thinking with your dicks. She’s playing you.”
“And why would she do that?” I ask with little concern.
“Revenge?”
“She had the perfect opportunity to do that hours ago. She could have turned us in, but she didn’t.”
“And you’re so pussy-whipped, you haven’t wondered why?”
“We trust her, Zeke.” I hesitate a moment before adding, “So does Seth.”
“Well, if Seth does,” he tosses back sarcastically.
I scrub my hands down my face to keep from caving in his and then I watch him pace back and forth for a few moments before realization dawns and I feel my lips twitch. “What’s interesting is how quickly she got underyourskin.”
“She’s up to something,” he says distractedly. Zeke abruptly stops his agitated pacing to white-knuckle the bars with both hands. He then tries to wedge his stubborn head through the narrow space and frantically searches the hall for her. “I know it.”
Thorin and I share a look.And I thought I was the paranoid one, he seems to say with his eyes.
I grin, but my amusement is cut short when I remember the reason for this personality change.
Tatum.
Bitch did a number on him.
It had taken a long time before Zeke was even willing to talk about her, but when he did, it became painfully clear how much he loved her—so much that he ignored his gut when it warned him about Isaac. He refused to leave her behind, and it had cost him.
ZekelovedTatum, and she betrayed him.
She used his feelings to trick him into staying just for Isaac to later torture him, and when the truth came out, he killed her.
Or rather, Bane did.
The pain of Tatum’s betrayal was so heartrendingly, soul-crushingly great that it caused another identity to manifest. A particularly violent one that couldn’t be reasoned with. And Zeke being unable to see the stark differences between Aurelia and Tatum makes my blood run cold as horror injects itself into my veins. It means that if Bane wakes up, Aurelia would not only be in grave danger…she’d be as good as dead.
