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Blake crouches in front of Dorrian and begins to weave his hands under the newborn, but Dorrian presses him into his chest tighter, wrapping his T-shirt around the baby like a cradle. Blake purses his lips, head slumping as he nods.

“Come on, mate.” Asher gently pulls Dorrian to his feet, then their footsteps fade out under the crunching of glass.

I look to Kain, who’s staring blankly at the pool of blood stretching from Cassie. I slide over to him and grab his face in my hands. “You will have time to talk about it,” I whisper reassuringly as my neck painfully tightens from my crying. “Your mind isn’t in the right place to think about everything that just happened.” He registers me then and presses his lips to mine once more. Desperately, like I might still die.

I don’t think it’s quite clicked for any of us yet. All we know is that this group of people have helped us. Saved us. Or those of us who could be saved.

“I really thought this was over… That we were going to die,” he mumbles into my lips. “And Dorrian… he—”

A throat clears, gathering our attention. “Heath and Vivian managed to get away in the shootout,” the brown-haired woman states, and my heart sinks.

“Here.” The blonde woman that freed me minutes ago rushes over and places a duffle bag in front of me. “It’s clothes. I’m Camila, this is Nova”—she points to the brown-haired woman—“Axel”—she points to a man with shaved hair who paces at the back of the church on his phone. “And Xander.” She points to a tattooed man who’s lent up against the church wall, quietly watching with a clenched jaw.

“You were here five years ago,” I breathe. “Looking ‘to move into town’ at the sermon.” The night I was sent away.

She nods.

“Dorrian he’s been in contact with me for years, but—” Nova shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter, we’re here now. We can go and find Heath and Vivian—”

“Through the tunnels,” Dorrian’s shattered voice cuts through. “There’s underground passageways that lead to the castle. That’s where they went.”

He stares right past me to Cassie, breaking down once more. Dropping to his knees at the entrance of the castle as the moon beams its light on him, cradling a crying, newborn baby boy. His mother should be here. This is supposed to be a happy ending. This was never supposed to end like this.

Blake crouches next to Cassie, his own eyes lined with tears, before he gently picks her up bridal style and leaves the church. Asher pulls Dorrian up by his arm and they disappear.

“We can get our men to the castle, and have someone clean this up—”

“No,” I cut in, then look over to Kain’s beaten face, bleeding wrists, bloody cuts, dishevelled hair…

A rage fills me.

That fire that was put out by people who thought they owned my body, owned me, slowly starts reigniting.

They broke me.

They broke my friends.

They broke the love of my life.

Now it’s my turn.

There’s two people left to kill.

38

Jordan

Camila helps me out of the church, rubbing a comforting hand on my own while Xander shows Kain how to reload a pistol. All of Nova’s crew flood out of the castle behind us as I turn and numbly stare at it in my fresh clothes.

This was a building I once thought was beautiful, thinking it was teaching me the right way of life. But there is no right way. Not when your body and thoughts are being controlled. Not when you’re told all your natural human urges are wrong. And not when you’re told the person you love isn’t right for you. Not when every little thing you do is a sin.

Samuel’s body still hangs in place, replacing the cross and Jesus that was once there. Piles of dead bodies decorate the pews and pile out across the churchyard, while blood pools out of the front doors, and the red glow from the lights spills out into the night.

“Do you have a match?” I ask.

“That alone won’t work,” Nova says.

Axel passes a large petrol can to Kain and he takes it inside the church, dressed in fresh black clothing before reemerging a few minutes later, pouring the last bit of liquid onto the stairs.