Page 63 of Not Her Day to Die (Star-Crossed #2)

T he sun beats down on my bare shoulders, the humidity pressing me firmly into the plastic chair I am perched on.

An umbrella pops open above me.

“Axel.” I elbow him. “I’m fine. Put it away. It’s rude.”

Axel doesn’t move, but Grayson reaches out from behind us, plucking the umbrella from Axel. I expect him to listen to my request, but he doesn’t.

Grumbling, I lean into Darius on my other side. “Can we go home now, please? ” I ask the youngest O’Brien.

“You wanted to come, it won’t be too much longer now.”

We’re at the same place they held Tripp and Auggie’s memorial. On the same day, but one year apart.

I thought it would be okay, that it wouldn’t hurt as much as it does, but the déjà vu hasn’t let up since I sat down.

Made worse by every passing moment, by every familiar face I see.

But this isn’t Tripp and Auggie’s memorial.

It’s Carrie’s. William’s. Julia’s. The countless others who were found buried on the Thorne’s estate.

We are near the back, but there are people surrounding us on every side. The family and friends of all the deceased. It’s nearly the entire town that fills up the crowd. The victims had touched so many lives .

Julia’s parents are sobbing in the front row. I had tried to tell them how sorry I was, to apologize, but her mother had fallen apart.

I didn’t blame her. They were on a forced vacation while their daughter was being abused and murdered.

My parents are notably absent. They had asked if I wanted their company, but I declined. Our relationship is still rocky, but we are healing.

“ Is there anyone else who wishes to speak? ” the priest asks. He’s the same one as before.

It is with shock that I see Luna jump to her feet. She was buried in the crowd and I hadn’t seen her prior. She marches to the front, elbows the priest out of the way, and hardens her shoulders.

Even from this distance, I can see the glassiness in her eyes.

“Fuck, I loved you William. You did the best you fucking could.” She clenches her jaw, wipes away her tears, stares down her nose at the crowd, surveying them.

“He helped as much as this town would let him. He was young and did more than half of you were willing to do. So let this be a fucking lesson. Open your Goddamn eyes. Don’t be complicit, because in my mind, it makes you just as guilty as the disgusting Thornes and their lackeys.

” Luna spits on the ground before marching away.

She passes us and finds my gaze. She inclines her head in greeting, her lips quirking before continuing her path to the parking lot.

There is a resounding silence followed by Julia’s mom’s intensifying sobs.

“Alright, let’s go inside.” Darius squeezes me, helping me up and out of my chair. Grayson and Axel closely follow us.

The men wrap around me, my protection, my strength. Time has passed and our relationship has grown, shifted . It took time for us to settle into it, to not always be waiting for the next shoe to drop, but now that we have?

It’s peaceful. Serene. A warm bath after a very long, arduous journey .

“Wildflower, what’s on your mind?” Darius’s voice caresses against my ear as we walk inside the cathedral.

“I miss them,” I say. “All of them. I wish–”

Axel cuts me off, sealing his lips to mine. “No more wishes,” he warns humorlessly, breaking free and tugging me towards Veronica.

She’s huddled with her mother in a corner.

Her father’s sentencing is quickly approaching. Along with hundreds of others.

Our little town had made national news and the government was forced to step in. To smooth out the kinks left in its wake. Even still victims were being found and recovered throughout the country.

Complicit.

This town was complicit for too long, but now there is a noticeable change in the air. It almost feels lighter. The restaurant has been livelier. The crowd friendlier and jovial.

But there is also still a heavy shroud of pain.

Making my way through the people in the cathedral, Tiffany steps into my line of view. “Sunday.” It’s the first time I’ve seen her since the underground prison.

“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 untainted funds. 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.