Page 11 of Not Her Day to Die (Star-Crossed #2)

T he trip back to their house was a muted affair. At least from the two brothers.

However, as soon as I tried to leave the hospital, reporters ambushed us. And not just local ones, there were channels from all over the country. Shoving their microphones into my face, their cameras focused on me, asking questions I wanted to answer.

Part of me wanted to scream how evil this town is, shout it until my face turned red, but then what would happen to Darius?

Instead, I remained silent until the hospital security was able to successfully escort us to their vehicle.

To Darius’s truck.

But even once we were settled inside, the brothers didn’t speak. The statement I made left a cloud of thick tension in the cab. Stuck between the two brothers, it was easy to see their anger. In the clenching of Axel’s jaw, the wrinkle etched between Grayson’s brows.

I want to regret telling them my plans, but I don’t. Uneasiness is a snake that coils tightly in my gut, but I ignore it.

I have to convince them. For Darius’s sake.

And now we sit in the garage. Grayson’s knuckles white from gripping the wheel .

“They can’t hurt him now. Not now that they publicly showed he is a Thorne. They’ll keep him safe,” Grayson mutters. The words are what breaks our endless quiet.

“But that doesn’t mean they can’t hurt him,” I argue.

Wedged between the men, I try to make myself as small as I can, I don’t want to accidentally touch either of them.

I don’t want to set Axel off anymore than I already have.

“We need to make a different plan. We need to stop this. Once and for all.”

“Shut. Up,” Axel growls, his face whipping to me, he stares down his nose at me.

“Do you know what they would do to you, Sunday? If we use you as bait, if they catch you. They won’t just kill you, they will torture you, rape you.

They will take all that they can from your flesh and when you wish for more than anything to die, they’ll keep you alive even longer. ”

Axel’s words have the opposite effect than he intends. “So that’s what they’ve been doing to all the missing girls?”

“Convince her!” Axel opens the truck door, slamming it shut behind him as he stomps into the house.

“He’s right,” Grayson says. “You can’t be the bait, Sunday. You will be hurt.”

“I mean, I’ve died ninety-nine times. Why does it matter if I’m hurt again .” I flex my fingers out on my lap, wiping the sweat on my shorts, and attempt to steal my nerves. “The FBI opened a case, the woman isn’t going to stop until she finds her daughter.”

“Then they can use someone else for bait. They can figure it out. You aren’t an agent, a detective, or anything else. You are a teenage girl.”

“Am I though?” I ask. “Or am I nearly thirty at this point? Do we not count all of the lives I’ve lived only when it is convenient?”

“You’re stubborn,” Grayson groans. “And purposefully so. Completely and intentionally bullheaded. ”

I reach up to him, prying his fingers from the steering wheel, I twist until I am facing him as best I can and stare him in the eyes.

“Grayson, I know you just want to keep me safe. But Darius doesn’t have anyone else.

He is inside the monster’s lair, and we need to get him out.

The FBI isn’t going to care about him. The Thornes would sooner use him as a decoy than let him go.

Do you see any scenario where he leaves their home alive and free? ”

Grayson reaches up tucking my hair behind my ears, one side at a time, but then his fingers linger on my face.

He grips my chin with two fingers, forcing me to continue to watch him.

“But what about you, Sunday? What if we went through all of this and then you die . How can you expect any of us to survive that?” His voice is husky, broken .

“And do you think Darius would want this? He made us promise to keep you protected, no matter what.”

He is asking impossible questions that I have no way of answering.

I want to look away, to gather my thoughts, my mind, but he’s still holding me in place.

“Grayson. I love you. All of you.” I press the shame down, that this isn’t right.

I shouldn’t feel this way about the three of them.

My dead boyfriend’s brothers. Three men.

But I do. “I am in love with all of you. Even if I don’t remember everything you all have gone through, I can feel it. ” I rub my hand against my chest.

He drops his hold on me, his breath coming out raggedly. “Sunday.” My name is a warning.

“Grayson.” I let go of all the air in my lungs. “I don’t want to lie to you all anymore. It didn’t get me anywhere before and it still won’t now. But here’s the truth of it. I need to do this. To rescue Darius.”

“But what if it’s that thread of fate? What if it is pulling you to another death?” Grayson is scrutinizing me, as if he can see all the lines of fate that wrap around us.

He might not be able to, but I can .

Ever since the phone, I am seeing more and more of them. Different colors, different levels of brightness, different directions. There’s one right now connecting him and I. It is purple and pulsating. The longer this conversation goes, the brighter it becomes.

Averting my attention from it, I return my gaze to him.

“This is different, but you’re right. Fate is tugging me towards Darius, to the phone.

And it feels familiar, similar to how it was when I chased after Julia.

But now I know that, doesn’t that mean we can change it?

Doesn’t that mean we can rescue Darius? Doesn’t that mean we at least have to try? ”

“But why do you have to be the bait, Sunday?”

Because my gut is telling me that I have to be.

Because I owe it to all of you. Because even though loving all three of you is insane, I still do.

Because it’s my fault Darius is in this mess.

Because I can’t exist without Darius by our side.

Because it hurts to breathe and each second away from Darius is like another piece of time is being stolen from us.

Because I deserve whatever happens to me.

But I don’t answer him with my words, instead I shift to my knees and throw myself at Grayson. My lips find his, and I can feel him freeze at first, but then he is kissing me back, his strong arms wrapping around us, tugging us even closer together.

He smells like salt, the ocean, and diesel. A marina. I love it. I crave it. I need more of him and it. I want Grayson to finally cross this unspoken line that we have, and I am now doing my best to shove him past it. But then my head hits the glass of the truck and we break apart.

Falling back on my knees, I rub the spot I bumped and look up at him through my lashes.

“You okay?” Grayson quirks his lips, he’s trying not to laugh.

“Is it weird?” I ask instead of answering.

He cocks his head .

“Isn’t it weird that I want to be with you all? That whatever this is between us…what if…what if one of you decides it’s too much?” Insecurity has decided to gnash its ugly teeth into me. After all, even with the trauma, the depression, the endless loops, Grayson is right. I am a teenage girl.

Even if I forget that myself.

Grayson laughs. I don’t expect it and my face heats in embarrassment.

“Sunday, that is the least ‘weird’ thing in our lives. It is honestly what makes the most sense. Even if it did take awhile for us to listen to Axel.”

“Axel?” My memory snaps back to the roof with him. To him explaining his plans. “Of course it would be him.”

“But I get your point on being the bait .” The word hisses out between his teeth.

“I don’t agree with it. I don’t think it’s right.

But I understand that you are stubborn and even if we say no and try to stop you, you’re still going to do it .

Just promise me, promise me that we can be with you every step of the way.

And please remember, that woman, that agent.

She’s a mother first and FBI second. She will cross any lines she can if it means reuniting with her daughter.

” Grayson reaches down, squeezing my hand.

“And I may be agreeing to this, but that doesn’t mean Axel will.

In fact…I’m going to head to the restaurant for a bit and try to see if anything is needed. ”

The restaurant. “Is it okay? How have you been running it?” From what I gathered when I woke up, he had barely left my side in over a month.

“It’s fine, I was able to hire some help and a few of our veteran cooks stepped up to manage. With everything that happened, well to be honest…it’s been more busy than ever because of what Darius did. There are people from all over the country coming out to support us.”

My stomach rolls. I can’t exactly describe the feeling of knowing that when I was at my worst, when I was bleeding out on the ground, that millions saw it, but I also know that if Darius hadn’t done what he did, I would have died, and we probably would be right back in a new cycle.

And we would have to go through all of this again.

Grateful , but embarrassed.

“Go inside, check on Axel. See if you can convince him. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Grayson reaches out, gifting me a comforting hug. “And Sunday? I understand that this is ‘weird,’ but I accept that my brothers share your heart too.”

On that parting note, I smile at him before sliding across the seat and exiting the truck. The purple strand between Grayson and me pulses just as strongly as before.

But there are two more.

One leads inside the house.

But the other?

Grayson backs out of the garage, shutting it behind him, but as he does I can see the third purple strand sprawling outside the garage, past the truck, all the way to the woods. It is iridescent in the setting sun’s glow.

It is in the direction I know the Thorne’s house to be, and I want more than anything to chase it down. I know with certainty Darius is at the end.

But first, I need to talk to Axel.

To convince him to let me do the opposite of what he wants.

To let me run face first into danger, if only for his brother’s sake.

I owe it to Darius. To Grayson and Axel. To Tripp. To Auggie. To all of the victims of this town.

My heart pounds painfully in my chest as my vision blurs. Wiping the tears from my eyes and trampling down the crippling depression that threatens to consume me, I make my way into the house.