Page 46

Della

A hand clamps down on my wrist as I plummet, halting my descent in an instant.

I snap open eyes I hadn’t realized I’d slammed shut, and meet Vincent’s steel-gray stare.

“I’ve got her!” he yells, still looking at me. “Pull me up.”

He’s hanging completely over the edge of the clock tower. His entire body is off to the side, with his feet so far back I can’t see them.

“I’ve got you, Miss Jackson,” he says softly.

I must have grit in my eyes because they burn as someone pulls Vincent up.

My heart stops threatening to burst out of my chest as we slowly inch closer to the edge of the clock tower.

As he pulls me the rest of the way, I see Levi and Xavier holding Vincent’s legs, and they look as relieved as I feel.

I’m so unsteady, I don’t trust myself to stand when we’re back on the roof. “Did you just dive off a building to save me?” I ask Vincent.

It was one of those movie moments and I had my damned eyes closed and missed it.

He doesn’t say a word, just pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me, holding me so tight I can barely breathe. I don’t know who's shaking more. Me or him. Probably me. Alphas don’t shake.

I lean against Vincent, struggling to believe I’m alive.

A large hand cups the back of my head.

Xavier.

“You okay?” Xavier asks, eyes creased with concern as he searches my face.

I nod.

He kisses me. Hard . “No diving from buildings. A tree is fine as long as I’m under you, ready to catch you.”

I laugh at the ridiculousness of it. “Okay,” I shakily agree. “Scout's honor.”

Levi nudges him aside and clasps me around the nape of my neck, drawing me into a luscious air-stealing kiss that shatters my ability to think.

“Shit,” I mutter, struggling to breathe when he breaks the kiss. “You alphas sure know how to kiss a girl.”

He laughs as Vincent cups my jaw, and his eyes flick to my mouth. Not just hungry, but ravenous.

Everything in me stills.

He presses his forehead to mine, and the heat of his breath warms my lips. “If I kiss you, I won’t let you go. Not today, not tomorrow. Not ever. Do you understand?”

“You ditched me,” I whisper.

He grasps me by the tops of my arms and shakes me. “We wanted you safe while we caught a killer. We have…” He hesitates, avoiding my gaze. “ I have hurt you too much already. More than I deserve your forgiveness for.”

Guilt. It’s stamped across his face, and I realize then it’s always been there.

I just refused to see it until now.

“Bonehead alpha. I don’t blame you for that.” I grab the front of his shirt and yank him close, kissing him.

He freezes for a split second, then groans and deepens it, hungry and sweet. His arms tighten as the scents of raspberry and dark chocolate envelop me.

He wrenches himself away, breathing hard. “You don’t blame me?”

“I’d be coming at you with a bat if I did. One with nails in it. Just as soon as someone shows me how to put nails in one.”

He chokes out a laugh and drags me close again into a hug so hard it’s almost painful. “ Thank fuck .”

Xavier’s sudden bark of laughter startles me, and I peel my face from Vincent’s chest to meet his amused gaze. “What?”

“I will haunt you forever, you evil witch.” He laughs.

It’s contagious. We sprawl across the ground, filling the clock tower roof with the sounds of our laughter.

I wipe tears from my eyes. “I wanted my last words to be famous.”

Xavier pulls me against his chest. He’s shaking. “ Never do that again. Less cursing, more hugging the wall, okay? I lost five goddamn years of my life watching you go over.”

I wrap my arms around his waist and nod. Then I remember Ms. Huffman and move to get up. “She’s getting away.”

Levi shakes his head. “That’s not important right now.”

I didn't notice the cold before, but when I shiver, Levi immediately sits up and takes off his jacket, offering it to me. "Here.”

I sit up, accepting it with a grateful smile, huddling into the dark, soft wool. My smile widens when he pulls me closer, and I settle in his lap with my head resting against his chest.

“Ms. Huffman killed Aly,” I tell them quietly. “She killed a lot of omegas and her husband because he kept cheating on her. She didn’t say, but I think she tried to kill you in the sauna because she thought you were cops and you’d figured out what she’d been doing.”

“But she didn’t kill you.” Xavier’s eyes slowly sweep over me. “Did she hurt you?”

I scowl. “The bitch was trying to shove me off the roof. She slammed her gun on my knuckles to make me fall.”

Xavier takes both of my hands, examining and stroking them. I wince, and he looks up at my face. “They don’t feel broken. Do you need to go to the hospital?”

I shake my head. “They’re just sore.”

He presses a kiss on each knuckle, and I swear my heart flutters with each soft caress.

“What were you doing here?” he asks, releasing my hands.

“Setting fire to the school.”

His expression is utterly blank, but I know what he’s thinking. I know what they’re all thinking.

“Don’t look at me like that. No school means no more omegas bonded to alphas who will treat them like shit.” I pause. “Well, I guess there will be, just not here.”

Which reminds me. I reach into my bra and pull out the lighter that somehow survived me hanging over the edge of a building, and has been poking me relentlessly in the right boob.

Three alphas look at the lighter, then at me.

“ What ? I needed it.” I tuck it in Levi’s pocket for safekeeping.

Xavier makes a sound that is both a laugh and a growl, then pulls me into his lap and gives me a bruising kiss.

“Was that supposed to convince me to stop blowing things up?” I ask him, licking my lips. “Because I think it had the opposite effect.”

A gust of wind snakes under the jacket I have draped around my shoulders, and I shiver.

Vincent gets to his feet and picks me up, gathering me to his chest. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

He insists on carrying me down, even though I tell him I can walk. I don’t complain too much because a girl could easily get used to this protective alpha behavior.

We step out of the clock tower into an unfamiliar world filled with flashing lights, the thick smell of smoke in the air, and people sprinting toward the parking lot.

“What’s going on?” I frown.

I hadn’t noticed Cian standing under a tree near the ballroom until he walks over and stands beside us. Citrus and sweet licorice tickle my nose. He’s the quietest of Everleigh’s scent matches, usually silently observing the world through serious, dark green eyes.

He gives me a once-over, confirms I’m okay, and then turns to watch the people in ball gowns and suits running toward the parking lot.

“Someone called in a bomb threat. Someone else might have lit a firework in a storage cupboard, which led people to believe that it was a bomb about to explode.” He glances down at me, expression blank. “Of course, it could have been the same person, but I have no clue about that.”

I can’t be the only one staring at him, my mouth hanging open.

He stuffs his hands in his pockets and calmly observes the panicked crowds fleeing for their lives.

“You didn’t tell him to do this?” Levi asks me.

“No, I didn’t ask him to do this.” But it’s pretty fucking hard not to be happy that Cian has done the thing I came here to do.

No omega is being matched to an alpha tonight.

A slow smile stretches across my face, and I lightly punch Cian in the arm. “I think you just became my favorite.”

“Don’t be shy about saying that to Kylian. He knows he’s your favorite and loves nothing more than to rub it in all our faces.” Cian pauses. “ Repeatedly .”

Still grinning, I rest my head on Vincent’s shoulder with a happy sigh as I watch everyone sprint into the night. “Best day ever.”

Four alphas stare at me.

I clear my throat. “Um, after the part where I nearly died.”

“You nearly died ?” Cian asks, his face alarmingly blank.

Shit. He’s going to tell Everleigh, and my sister will sit on me to stop me from getting into any more trouble, probably for the rest of my life.

I smile at him. “Only a little.”

“Where’s Kylian?” I ask when he looks poised to ask me about my near death.

Cian flicks an unreadable glance at Levi. “He had an errand to run, but he’s fine.”

I glance at Levi and Cian, but they do too good of a job at silently communicating with each other.

Vincent kisses my forehead, distracting me, and when I note the sadness in his eyes, my stomach clenches. “ What ? What is it?”

“You need to go with Cian back to your sister’s house.”

“But I thought…” He just dove off a building to save me, and all of them held me, as if none of them wanted to let go. It felt like the start of forever. Now he’s ditching me?

Cian moves away, giving us privacy.

“It isn’t what you think,” Xavier says with a reassuring smile.

“Vincent started something, and it’s taking all his focus to finish,” Levi explains. “And I’ve been busy with something as well.”

“Too busy for me?” I hate myself for sounding so pathetic.

“Not too busy for you.” Vincent smiles slightly. “But this is important, and we want to do things right.”