Page 44

SETH | EKEZ

T hey’re here for Sunshine.

I know it the moment another merc appears inside the dell while the rest of the death squad stands sentry above us. It makes my trigger finger a tad less itchy to see their rifles pointed at the ground and not at Sunshine, but it won’t change their fate.

The mercenary blocking our way home holds up his hands in mock surrender and stops ten feet away while slowly reaching for his helmet. The moment his head pops free, revealing a mop of short brown curls plastered to his forehead, blue eyes, and a full beard, I immediately get the urge to shoot him. The look on his smug face says he already thinks he’s won.

I can’t wait to turn his intestines into a neck scarf.

Maybe we’ll use his bones for our Halloween decorations this year.

In a weird twist of fate, Thorin, Khalil, and Ezekiel have been waiting for this day for ten long years. They’ve been waiting for the day Isaac hunted us down and tried to take Zeke back. And now I’m starting to wonder if we’ve been waiting all this time in our self-imposed exiled for this .

To protect our fallen star.

The commander keeps coming with his gaze locked on Aurelia, and I feel Bane’s rage rising to amplify my own as I shift to stand between the mercenary and Aurelia. If I let Bane free, this thing gets infinitely more fucked because he’s not just a danger to the mercenaries but to Sunshine, too—so I push him back down while keeping a close eye on the merc.

The commander’s grating smile widens, and then he shifts like he might try to come closer—to get within grabbing distance—but Aurelia lifts the bow, stopping the commander with an arrow aimed at his face. He really shouldn’t have taken off the helmet.

“You can take that mask off now,” the douchebag orders. “We know it’s you.”

He doesn’t say her name, so maybe he’s bluffing. Either way, Aurelia keeps it on, her annoyed gaze staring back at the mercenary through the holes in the mask. It reminds me of the day we met. Only this time, I’m not on the other side of her ire.

“Who are you?” she inquires coldly.

Having no doubt that she can handle that asshole, I let her do the talking while I survey the situation, marking each of the mercenaries’ positions on either side of the stream bed.

If I’m quick enough, I could maybe take out two of them and send them all into a frenzy since they won’t expect such a rash and stupid move. It will give Sunshine and me just enough time to run and take cover in the trees, but I find myself hesitating.

It’s too huge a risk.

All of their bullets will be focused on me, but if one should find Aurelia, even by mistake…

“Patrick Finnegan,” the leader replies. “At your service.”

“Okay, Finnegan. I don’t mean to be rude, but what the fuck do you want?”

My hackles rise when the commander doesn’t answer immediately. It feels like he’s weighing his words, and why the hell would he need to do that unless he plans to lie? “We’re here to find you and return you to your uncle. Aurelia .”

So, it’s not a bluff.

“Okay. Well, you found me. Now run along and tell my uncle I’m doing fine and thank him for his unnecessary concern.”

Finnegan shakes his head. “I’m afraid that won’t be enough. We were hired for a particular task, and delivering a message was not it.”

“Either you’re as dumb as you look or hard of hearing, so allow me to clarify a few things. It was my money my uncle used to hire you, which means you work for me , and my first order is for all of you to fuck off. Go on,” she says when they all just look at one another. “Shoo.”

The mercenary visibly bristles at her dismissive tone while all the rage and suspicion I was feeling earlier evaporates until I’m the one left feeling like an ass.

I shouldn’t have doubted her.

Once I figure out how to kill them all and get Sunshine back to our cabin where I can keep her safe, I’ll find a way to make it up to her.

“I was afraid of this,” the commander replies in a concerned tone that feels staged.

“Afraid of what ?” Aurelia snaps.

“Do you know what Stockholm syndrome is?” Aurelia doesn’t respond, but I notice her aim waver just a little. “It’s when a hostage or someone who’s been abused forms an emotional attachment to their captor or abuser. It’s a survival instinct, Aurelia. Nothing more. What you’re feeling isn’t real.”

At that last, her gaze narrows, and she steadies her aim once more. “What are you? My therapist? Did you read Psychology for Dummies on the plane ride here, Patrick Star?”

“Ms. George, you might want to look around you,” the commander says, finally dropping the act. “You’re outnumbered and outgunned. If your boy toy had a move to get out of this, he would have made it by now. We know you’re stalling. We know the other two are probably racing like hell to get here in time, but it won’t make a difference. You do have a choice here, though. You can come with us and save your little harem, or we can kill them all and return you to your uncle anyway.”

“You forgot option three,” I say, speaking for the first time since they arrived. “The one where I kill you because there’s no chance in hell I’ll let you take her. Either way, someone dies, and it won’t just be me.”

Finnegan’s smile returns, and it’s no longer friendly as he signals his men. “If you insist.”

The sound of several rifles rising and the safeties switching off follows, and then I have several red dots covering my chest at center mass. When Aurelia gasps, I tear my glare away from Finnegan, expecting to see red dots covering her, too, but there are none. Her watery gaze is locked on my chest while her mouth is open in horror.

“Seth…”

The urge to tell her everything will be okay rises, but I can’t bring myself to say the words. I can’t bring myself to lie. Instead, I whisper, “Don’t look, Sunshine.” Aurelia’s gaze meets mine, and then she whimpers and shakes her head like she knows what I’m about to tell her. “The moment I’m down, you run . As fast as you can. As hard as you can.” I risk being turned into Swiss cheese when I raise my hand to cup her soft, brown cheek. I can’t resist touching her one last time. “Thorin and Khalil will find you.” Trusting that much, if nothing else, I finally let the words free. “Everything will be okay.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Take care of Thorin and Khalil,” I say, ignoring her vow. “They’re not so bad.”

Sheer desperation rises up in her eyes when she realizes I’m telling her goodbye.

“Seth, I swear to God, if you die, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

The hollow feeling in my chest heals a little more, and my response is tumbling free before I’m even aware of what I’ll say. “I love you, Sunshine.”

“I know that!” she snaps like a brat. “That’s why you can’t really expect me to let you die.”

“You’ve got ten seconds to decide, Ms. George!” the commander yells while Aurelia glares at me.

I turn my head to roar at the mercenary, “She’s not going anywhere with you!”

My heart is pounding too fast to catch my breath when I close my eyes. I keep them shut even when I feel Aurelia pull away from me. Every part of me is focused on searching for that steel vault in the deepest recesses of Zeke’s mind—the cage that barely holds Bane at bay anymore. Once I find it, I let the only key that will unlock it from this side form on my lips. “Chrysa—”

“Fine, ass-face. You win. I’ll go with you.”

My eyes fly open to the sight of Aurelia already approaching Finnegan. The merc had even managed to sneak closer, getting within grabbing distance while I attempted to free Bane. I lunge to grab Aurelia first when one of the mercenaries fire a warning shot into the ground near my feet. Finnegan uses the opportunity to grab her arm and start pulling her away.

“Take your fucking hands off of her!” I roar. Charging forward, I follow after Aurelia, ignoring the barrage of warning shots the death squad fires at will but to no avail.

“Stop, Seth!” Aurelia pleads with terror in her eyes. Terror for me. “You have to stop! Please!”

“No.”

“Go home before they kill you!”

I shake my head as another bullet too close for comfort whizzes by me and hits the exposed bedrock on the other side. “Not without you.”

“Just forget you ever knew me.”

“ Never. ”

“You better do something about him, or I will,” Finnegan warns as he backs away with my girl in one hand and a gun pointed at me in the other.

I can tell by the panicked glance she gives him that Aurelia takes his warning to heart.

When her eyes return to me, something crumbles inside both of us.

“I overheard the three of you,” she stumbles to tell me. “Out on the deck the day they came. I was eavesdropping from the lower deck.” I’m barely listening as I continue to close the distance between us, but then she says, “Seth, I knew all along the real reason they came. I knew the three of you were lying to me again. You played me.”

My blood turns cold as I shake my head. “No, baby.”

“ Yes ,” she insists. “You still didn’t trust me. I knew then you never would, and I can’t live like that. I can’t be bound to that cabin and only the three of you forever. I need more. I need my old life back. I need to matter again.”

“You matter to me, Sunshine. You’re everything. Isn’t that enough?”

She tilts her head back and gives a derisive laugh. “Seriously? You weren’t even enough for Thorin and Khalil to stick around. How could you ever think you could make me happy? I’m Aurelia George. Get fucking real.”

Her words burn through me like acid, bringing me to a screeching halt while every fear I’ve had since Aurelia told me she loves me comes to fruition. What if she lied? What if she stops? What if she wakes up one day and misses her old life?

“I don’t believe you,” I grind out, returning her words from earlier.

Please…please say it’s not true, I bet her silently.

“What about this morning when I snuck out?” she challenges instead. “Open your fucking eyes, Seth. You were right. Can’t you see that? I was running again. I was looking for their camp, but you found me first, and I knew what would happen when you got me back to that cabin. I knew you wouldn’t keep your promise, so I lied. There was no damn deer, and I don’t love you.”

No.

My heart doesn’t listen to the denial my soul screams back at hers in response. It shatters inside my chest while my footsteps grow heavy.

I still continue to put one foot in front of the other, though.

“That’s enough warning. Put one in his leg,” Finnegan orders.

“Noooo!” Aurelia screams just as a bullet tears through the skin in my thigh.

The shot echoes around the forest while I grit my teeth in agony and fall to my knees. Aurelia struggles to break free of Finnegan’s hold to get to me, but the mercenary quickens his pace until he’s practically dragging her away while Aurelia screams obscenities at him.

The pain and the bullet don’t stop me, though.

I crawl.

Through the mud, rocks, and dirt…I crawl to get to her. Even if she doesn’t want me. Even if it was all a lie and she doesn’t love me. I crawl to Aurelia because it was real for me, and I can’t let them take her.

I know why they’re really here.