“I killed them, Julian.” Her voice cracked with emotion, tears filling her eyes.
“The crows. Yeah, he told me.” I nodded, smoothing my hand up and down her leg. “They were just crows, Jack.”
“But it could have been Tate.” She shoved up suddenly, stalking across the floor in front of me. “I could have killed him. I didn’t even know I had this power until a few minutes before, and I already used it on someone I care about. What’s to say it won’t happen again and I actually kill someone?”
“That’s not going to happen,” I reassured her, shifting up to sit where she had been. “You’re going to get a handle on this, I promise.”
“How do you know?” she cried out as she stopped in front of me. “How do you know? I can’t even say anything without worrying that I’m going to accidently use it on someone and make them stop breathing or something.” She waved a hand toward me. “You’re in danger just being here now.”
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me until my knees touched hers. “I’d gladly put my life in danger just to be next to you.”
Jack stared down at me, her lip wobbling.
Without warning, I dragged her down to sit in my lap, wrapping my arms around her. For a second, she didn’t move, her body stiff against mine. Then she wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her face into my chest, breathing out as the sobs began.
I just sat there with her, rubbing my hand up and down her back, letting her fall apart where no one else could see. To the rest of the world, she was a miracle or a weapon, but to me, she would always be this.
Just a woman who needed someone to let her be weak without ridiculing her for it, and I’d be whatever it was she needed me to be in return.
Chapter 23
Kyren
The water washed over me. I barely felt the difference in temperature from that of the bathroom. In all honesty, I didn’t want to shower. I didn’t want to sleep. Or eat.
I just wanted to... see her.
I wasn’t getting less attached to Jack by staying away. If anything, it made me want to see her even more. Whether it was to kiss or kill her, I didn’t know. But, knowing that Tate was getting to see her, touch her, taste her, while I stayed locked up in this house like some kind of recluse, was driving me crazy.
Of course, it didn’t help that I knew that hunter was there with her. Weaseling his way in where I belonged.
She was mine. Mine and Tate’s. Not his.
Even if they had something before, it was clear that it wasn’t going on now. I would have known or smelled him on her. Then again, she was able to hide her whole identity from me, and I had no clue until she walked into that auditorium and ripped the rug right out from under me.
My fist slammed onto the tiled wall next to the water fixtures, cracking the surface and leaving an imprint where my fist had been. My head bowed so the water surrounded me on all sides.
Damn her and her family. Damn my heart for beating for her. If I could rip the part of her that had wiggled into it out, I would. Anything to stop feeling so tormented.
I had to make a decision. I couldn’t hide here forever. Maybe I should leave the country, go on an extended vacation.
Except there was Tate... would he go with me or stay with her?
He clearly still wanted to be with her, and I couldn’t fault him that. She made him happy, and I wanted nothing more thanto make him happy. If being with Jack would do that, then I couldn’t take that away from him.
Either way, something had to give. I couldn’t continue on like this. I just didn’t know how to move forward.
A door slammed somewhere in the house. My head jerked toward the sound. The familiar sound of Tate’s footsteps moved through the house, heading in my direction.
He’d been down ever since his brothers left. His emotions came in waves of guilt and despair. Even though he had chosen me, it still ate at him to tell his brothers no.
Anticipating his appearance, I turned the water off in the showers and stepped out onto the rug. The door opened as I grabbed a towel to dry off with.
Immediately, I knew something was wrong.
Usually, if I was naked, especially wet and naked, Tate didn’t hesitate to let his gaze slide over me a hungry look in his eyes that said he wanted to lick every drop of moisture off my body. I quite enjoyed his attention so, when he didn’t even so much as look at me when he walked into the bathroom, it was obvious something else was on his mind.
I dried my face and hair, watching him move to the toilet seat and sink down onto as if burdened by a heavy weight. His shoulders slumped inward, his head hung down, hands on his face.
