“You and only you,” she states, meaning me and Maks. Only ever us. Like we’ve trained her.
“If you don’t see me, you’re not allowed to break.” It feels likeI’mgoing to break. I hate this. There’s a pressure in my chest that’s grabbing hold of me and not letting go. Fucking Murphy’s law. I let out a soft grunt.
She trails her fingers over my tattoos and puts her hand just beneath my healing wound. I can feel the warmth of her fingertips. A soothing comfort in the midst of this invisible blizzard. “I said somethinggood, Savage. Not another lesson.”
I tell her the truth instead. “It’s hard for me to allow myself to hang back and not protect you. Those are the demons I carry, Bri. None of this feels right to me. I know you have to do this, but I fucking hate it.”
Heartbeats pass between us before she gingerly cups my face with her small hand and kisses the corner of my lips. “ThenI'lltell you something good. Er, as good as it can seem. Probably sad now.”
I give her a nod, not letting her escape my grasp.
“Maksim and I found a judge that would marry us so our marriage would be in all the ways that matter… legal. The night… The evening of Halloween, we were going to tell you. We had everything planned. All the paperwork prepped. I didn’t mean to not tell you I love you. Okay, I did. But withpurpose, love. I swear it. I was going to get down on one knee and propose.” She frowns, then shakes her head. “I have had your ring in my valise since that day, hauling it with me because as soon as we find Maksim, and Damon sees him fit, I’m going to marry and carry your last name.Bothof your last names. Damn whomever deems it improper. I will love you in the light and in the darkness, and I will claim you for myself.”
My heart crashes against my ribcage in crazy loud thumps, my blood going haywire, racing and slowing. “Bri, baby—”
“Which is why I promise you I'll come back to you, Savage. You know how much I hate filling out tedious paperwork for hours and finding it to be a complete waste.”
I can’t help the grin from forming on my face and let out a soft chuckle. “Marry me, huh?”
“You trust me?”
I incline my head. “I do.”
“Then I swear to you, I’ll be back. I know for now we have nothing to go on or nothing to go by, but I promise you, as much as you’ve promised me you’ll never leave me”—she glares at me— “trust that I'll find every way to come back to you. Every time.”
And so, we make love one last time before a car shows up to whisk her away from me just before the sun rises. My heart sinks when I realize it’s a tiny thing and it’s too small for me to sneak into the trunk.
I follow by car as closely as I can until I’m parked by a tree, watching the damn thing roll onto a goddamn ferry. I pull up my phone,then the app that shows me her location. I follow it until it’s stopped moving and she’s in the middle of the goddamn ocean.
I head back to Barclay Manor to get ready for Phase Two—whatever that entails—when all three of Raven’s men practically march up to me.
“Have you seen her?”
“Who?” I ask, pocketing my phone again after making sure Sabrina’s pink dot hasn’t moved.
“Raven!” Damon declares. “We haven’t been able to find her. As soon as we woke up, she was gone. She could have sleepwalked—it’s fucking cold out there!”
“How long ago did you wake up? Did you check her location?”
Jonas shakes his head and runs back to their room.
“We just woke up about ten minutes ago. We were hoping she was here in the manor, but we’ve checked about a dozen rooms, including the library.” Mav sighs, hands on his hips. After a few more seconds of silence, all we hear is a string of expletives coming from the other room. And we all run to see Jonas holding his phone, panting, looking heartbroken as fuck. “She’s in the middle of the goddamn ocean!”
“Ah, shit,” I mutter. I reach for his phone, fish mine out, and pull up the app. Sure enough—Sabrina and Raven are in the same fucking spot.
“Take me to her!” Jonas demands.
I shake my head. “I can’t, man. There’s no way to get there but by a goddamn boat. I don’t have one of those.”
Panicking, he calls her, and we all hear when the call won’t go through. He rubs his chest then his stomach. “Damon!”
But Damon just looks as lost as I feel.
Jonas shakes his head. “Nah, man. No fucking way. Mav!”
I suck in my cheek and look for Aleksi’s number, dialing him immediately, grateful he answers on the second ring. “Hey man, we got a problem.”
“What’s that?”
