Page 117 of Not Her Day to Die

“Hi.” I am suddenly shy, unsure of how to respond. “It’s good to see you.”

And then she jumps forward, hugging me to her, thanking me over and over again. And when she releases me, there’s more faces that I recognize.

The ones who were trapped in there with us. That Luna and I worked to release.

For all intents and purposes, no one should know I was down there; Luna swore the other prisoners to secrecy for my sake. To ensure my crime couldn’t catch up to me.

But these survivors? The ones who nearly died? The ones who were forced into countless horrors?

They knew I was there. And here they are now. Thanking me, hugging me, wrapping me in their arms.

It is tangible proof that all the sacrifices were not made in vain. Even if my own guilt still envelopes my heart.

It doesn’t take long for me to turn into an emotional mess, for the brothers to recognize that I need to escape.

Grayson steps forward first, he offers gentle smiles to the crowd that has formed around me. “Thank you all. We’re going to take Sunday for a bit, but we’ll return her later.Promise.”

And then Axel is taking my hand and tugging me further into the cathedral. I think he is going to go to Veronica, but he beelines to an empty space on the other side.

“Can we leave soon please?” Axel grunts, his hand squeezing mine tightly.

“You need to register for classes.” Darius rests his chin on the top of my head.

Grayson cuts his eyes to us. “You both do.”

“But I don’t want to be away from you and Axel,” I argue, leaning back against Darius. He wraps his bulky arms around my waist, his thumbs finding my hip bones, stroking them hypnotically.

“You’re going to school,” Axel states. “Besides, it will only be a few days a week and I am more than happy to camp out front the entire time.”

Grayson knocks a fist into his shoulder. “You will not, we agreed she needs this freedom.”

“No,” Axel grumbles. “You two outvoted me. I said she should just drop out of school and let us pamper her for the rest of her life. Hell, Darius is about to inherit a fortune once the legal system unfreezes the untaintedfunds. Even if he doesn’t want to take the blood money, I have no problem doing so. It was earned through our own sacrifices. Plus we can donate most of it towards the victims.”

“They should get all of it!” Grayson snaps back.

“Well since we are victims too, it sounds like we are in agreement,” Axel snarks.

Grayson rubs his eyes in annoyance.

The two bicker back and forth, but Darius remains silent and lets them hash it out.

“Are you ready for our future?” he asks softly. “For years of this? Of them driving each other crazy. Of the chaos that comes with being with all of us.”

I twist in his arms, standing up on my tip toes. Finding his eyes, I kiss him on the nose. “Yes, and I know it won’t always be perfect. But we have each other.”

He laughs, but then his face turns solemn. “For so long I believed we were star-crossed, destined for doom, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore.” Darius shifts his attention to his two brothers before pivoting it around the room, taking in the atmosphere.

“Maybe we were.” I lean my head on his chest, listening to his heart beating. “But at some point we managed to change our fate.”

And I believe it.

I think, in many ways, I was destined to die. I was destined to continue on the vicious cycle and become a victim of this town.

It was only luck and some cosmic irony that I escaped it.

That I was able to live my life.

And so I would.

I would live each day as if it were my last. My first. And my favorite.

For however many more years this world granted me.