“Go get your wife, K. I’ve got this,” D shouted as we reached the door.
We moved along the walls, trading shots with a few shooters hiding behind counters and furniture. Draven covered me with bursts of gunfire while I hunted for the basement entrance.
“Here, I’m here. Please, help me!” I heard Serenity’s desperate cries over the chaos and my heart damn near tore out of my chest.
“D, I have to go. Cover me.”
“Bet.”
I found the door, heard her voice, and ran for it. Bullets cracked past my head, but D had my back. I reached the door and tore down the stairs. What I saw made me lose every ounce of restraint. My wife was chained to a metal pole and Eleana had a gun to her head, ready to pull the trigger.
I didn’t think. I raised my hand and put a bullet in Eleana’s skull. Serenity screamed when Eleana’s body hit the floor. More shots burst through the room and I dove, hitting the ground just in time.
“Korven! Come die like a man if you’ve got the guts!” Seylan’s voice howled through the basement, gunfire answering his challenge.
I kept moving, keeping myself away from Serenity in case a bullet flew wide. One clipped my arm and I dropped my gun. For a split second, I saw how bad this could go. So I lunged at him, taking him down hard. I hammered his arm against the floor until he dropped the gun. Then I let loose, punching his face over and over, not stopping as blood poured out.
He kneed me in the stomach and sent me sprawling. Then he scurried for his gun but I caught his foot and yanked him back, then kicked it away. I grabbed his neck and smashed his face into the ground.
“I told you the next time you breathed the same air as my wife I’d be less merciful.”
Another blow. Then I yanked him up and smashed my fist into his ruined face again and again. His bloodied body slumped, but I didn’t stop until he was crawling away. He spotted his gun and dove for it. I rolled to mine, raised my arm, and shot him in the head. His body dropped and his gun slid from his grip. I got up, walked over, and put two more in his chest for good measure. He pissed me off that much.
Upstairs, the gunfire died. D’s voice called out, “All clear. They are down.”
I let out a long breath, finally letting the pressure drop. Removing my mask, I gripped my gun and turned to Serenity. My face was stone cold. Seeing her chained, clothes torn, bruises on her skin—I nearly lost it. Those bastards touched my wife.
“Please, don’t kill me. Konflict, I… I’m begging you,” Serenity pleaded as I approached.
My anger faded the second I saw the fear in her eyes. Right then, all I wanted was to hold her and make it right; to promise nothing would ever hurt her again, not while I was breathing.
“Please… just let me go. I need to live, not for me, but I can’t die. Please don’t kill me. I know you want all the Veylor’s erased from the earth and I do understand your rage. But… I need to live.” She was crying, her words cracking.
I didn’t take my eyes off her as my heart poundedhardin my chest. Glancing at her cuffed hands, I scanned for the key until my eyes landed on Eleana’s corpse. I checked her pockets and found the key. For that alone, Eleana deserved another bullet. No one should have messed with what’s mine.
Back at Serenity’s side, I crouched to her level. Putting my gun on the floor, I unlocked her cuffs without saying a word. When her hands were finally free, I picked up my gun and set it in her hands.
“What are you doing?” She looked at me, confused.
I held her gaze. My heart was thundering. My fingers slid to my shirt, unbuttoning it to expose the Venus tattoo. Serenity’s eyes followed, landing on what she recognized. Her hand came up, trembling, slowly tracing the ink on my chest.
“No. No. No. This—this isn’t possible. You… Knox?” she stammered, her whole body shaking.
I placed my hand over hers, pressing her palm to my heart. Her touch burned through me.
“As I told you that night, this tattoo is for someone precious. The planet Venus, carved into my skin, was the only way I could keep you close when you felt out of reach. If you still believe this world isn’t big enough for both of us, if we really can’t both survive this, then put a bullet in my head. I can’t do it. I couldn’t last year. I can’t now. And I never will. Everything in me refuses to hurt you because you’re a part of me. You always have been. You’re my soul, Serenity. You invade my every thought, every breath, and every heartbeat.”
Serenity sat frozen. Her eyes was locked on her hand over my tattoo.
“If you give me another chance, I’ll spend every day showing you the man I really am. I’ll make sure to show you how deep you’re engraved on my skin, on my heart. That every part of me is nourished by your presence, by your smile, by your joy. Every time you shed a tear, every time you suffer, the need to put anyone who made you feel pain in the ground turns my heart black. Serenity, if you give me another chance, I won’t hide my feelings behind a mask anymore. I’ll worship the ground you walk on, and the air you breathe. I’ll never take you for granted and treat every day as if it were the last. If you give me another chance, I’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
Her whole body trembled. I squeezed her hand tighter in mine, my heart slamming against my ribs.
“Baby, please say something.”
She slowly pulled her hand away and lifted her head to meet my eyes.
“You lied. It was you. All those nights, I thought… I… It was you, all this time. You made me believe…” Her voice broke and her eyes filled with tears.
