Page 60 of Run, Little Rabbit

I hold my chin up. “I’m not ashamed of what I did.”

Hell, if I get the chance, I will be doing it all over again.

“Then I’m ashamed for you, Echo,” he says, and his words cut through me like a knife.

“Get out,” I say through gritted teeth and tears burning in my eyes. How could Veon say that? I thought he was my friend, that he wanted to be more.

The man doesn’t budge. He runs a hand through his dark copper waves as a look of horror passes over his face. “Echo, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?! You’re the one who only ever saw me as yourduty.” I spit the word out like it’s toxic. “Your pride and your honour wouldn’t let you touch me, and now someone else has; you’reashamedfor me.”

“Echo—”

“No. I don’t want to hear it. You’ve already said enough.” I can’t even look at him. I’m just so angry and hurt, and my heart shatters into a thousand pieces as he stands there, staring at me. “Get out!”

“Please. Just give me a chance—”

“A chance to what, Veon? Hurt me more? Tell me I misunderstood you because I’m too naïve to understand. I thought we were friends!”

“We are,” he yells back. “We’re more than that.”

“Are we? Could have fooled me.”

His hands grab my face, and his eyes burn as they hold mine. There’s so much pain and hope twisted with sorrow and anguish that I nearly fold and grab him right back. But I can’t. I won’t. “Veon, you don’t want me. I think you’ve put me on some pedestal, and you like the masks I wear, but you don’t likeme.”

“Echo, I love you.”

“Bullshit,” I cry. “If you loved me, you’d have done something. You would have sacrificed your pride and canned your duty. You don’t love me. You love theideaof me.”

“You’re wrong, Echo.” He leans in to kiss me, but I push him away.

“Get out!” I sob. I can’t take any more. My chest constricts as I try to breathe through the pain. “Please, just go.”

Tears brim over his eyes, and he exhales a shaky breath. “Echo—”

“I think you should leave.”

I spin my head towards the doorway and see Sphinx holding the door open, his brows drawn down in an angry slash.

Veon drops his hands from my face, and I turn away from him. I refuse to look at him. I know that if I see him break, I’ll forgive him, and I can’t. Not after this. I’m not sure I ever will.

I hear the door close softly and then the bed dips behind me as Sphinx climbs in. He pushes me to lie down, and I curl in on myself as Sphinx wraps his arms around me without saying a word. He just holds me as I fall apart, catching the broken pieces and holding them safe until I’m ready to put them back together again. He hums a soft tune that I can feel rumbling from deep in his chest and strokes his long fingers through my hair.

I don’t know how long I lie like that, but I must have dropped off at some point because I wake up cocooned in the safety of Sphinx’s arms, my head tucked under his chin and our legs tangled together. I take a moment to look up at him, and he seems so peaceful in his sleep. So carefree and at ease. The lines of worry and focus have vanished from his face, making him seem so much younger.

“You should take a picture,” he grumbles, his voice heavy with sleep. “It’ll last longer.”

I snort and snuggle back down into his embrace. “Why are you still here?”

“Because you needed someone.”

His words hit the spot behind my solar plexus and sank heavily to my stomach. My body feels better than it had earlier, but my heart is in tatters, and my head is all over the place. I’m still reeling over Veon’s words, and I’m worried about the others. Niki had been shot. Was he okay? And someone had tackled Maxim, and I didn’t even know if they were alright. I probably would never know if they were okay.

And nope. I am not going to cry again. I have shed enough tears, and now it’s time for action.

But where the fuck do I even start?

I gingerly sit up, my bones creaking a little, and fluff up the pillow behind me so I can lean back against it.