How can she ever look at me again?
Chaos finally, thankfully, regretfully, erupts around us as my cousins and my men burst into the clearing.
“No!” Chief screams. It’s terrifying in its guttural pain, and it’s what has me lifting my head in time to see Terra reach for Clover, a sharp blade in her hand.
I move on instinct alone, everything in my body telling me to put space between Clover and that blade, but she doesn’t need me.
Everything happens five feet away, and I still struggle to process what’s happening.
The instant Terra’s hand clasps over Clover’s shoulder, Clover’s fist kicks up then back, hitting Terra right in the nose. Then she rams her elbow backward into Terra’s gut. Clover spins herself around so she has Terra in a chokehold I had no idea she could execute while also squeezing Terra’s wrist until she drops the knife.
When Clover’s gaze finds mine, I have the distinct feeling that she’s surprised herself even more than she’s surprised me.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Chief chuckles as Roman’s team circles Clover. “All that training paid off after all.”
More men converge on Chief with first aid supplies, asking about injuries.
But I can’t hear them over Clover’s silent tears.
Over Terra’s voice infiltrating my mind.“Good boy. Such a good boy.”
Because all I can focus on is Clover’s face—the woman I love—staring at me as though I’m a stranger.
A team leads Terra past us in handcuffs. Her bloodied face is almost serene, as if she’s happy with the outcome.
She spent twenty years trying to destroy what Clover and I had. In the end, she didn’t need elaborate plans.
She only needed the truth.
We have Terra in custody, but we may never get the answers we seek.
“Get them both out,” Roman orders. “Separately.”
Separately.
Of course. Separately.
How could it be any other way now?
As Sterling hauls me upright, I catch one last glimpse of Clover. She’s standing perfectly still with her arms held tightly at her sides.
She’s not crying or hiding.
She trusted me enough to let me in completely.
And I destroyed her.
The drive back is silent.
My head is pounding with memories I longed for and now wish I could forget.
The compound. The other children. Terra’s weird fascination with Clover—girls in general, but especially Clover. Clover’s small hand in mine as we hid in our tree. The stories she told about Prince Valor defeating the evil stepmother, Terrantuella.
She always believed in me.
Prince Valor. The protector. The savior.
What a fucking joke.
