Page 37 of Revenge Saints (BloodHawks Duet #2)

Dante shakes his head. “It’s Reaper’s kill,” he says. “We keep him alive. Long enough for Knox to finish it.”

No one argues.

They just nod.

Sean rises, already checking his blood-soaked gloves, his eyes scanning Knox’s limp form. “We need to move him. Somewhere cleaner. I need to flush the wound and give him more blood.”

“Does anyone know his blood type?” he asks, already digging through his bag.

“A+,” Dante answers immediately. “We all know each other’s blood types. It was protocol… back when things made sense.”

My heart lurches. “Wait,” I blink through fresh tears, turning to Knox’s face. “We have the same blood type.”

Sean’s head jerks up. “You’re A+ too?”

I nod fast .

“Good.” Sean’s already working. “He’ll need more than I could ever give him. You’ll help keep him alive.”

“Yes,” I whisper, and then louder. “Yes. Anything.”

I kneel beside Knox again and pick up his discarded gun. The torn, bloody remains of his shirt. My hands are steady now. My heart is not.

I won’t let him die.

Not now.

Not after everything.

“What about her?” I spit, the words low and bitter. “What do we do with her?”

Max grunts, stepping forward and spitting on the ground near her feet. His jaw clenched. “We burn her. In the clearing. With the rest of the fuckers.”

He looks down at her body like it still offends him. Like betrayal stains deeper than blood.

“We’ll burn them all.”

They move him like he’s made of glass.

Sean stabilizes him the best he can with tight bandages and painkillers from his bag, a short nod before we go. Then Ryker kneels and slips his arms under Knox’s shoulders. Max takes his legs.

“Careful,” Sean warns.

“Don’t fucking breathe wrong,” I whisper.

Knox groans once, head lolling, but he doesn’t wake. His blood is still on all of us.

I hold Sean’s bag and walk next to them, step for step, my eyes locked on the rise and fall of Knox’s chest. He’s breathing. That’s all that matters. He’s still here.

We make it back to the base, and Dante kicks the door open.

The others clear the room. Max and Ryker lower Knox onto the floor with excruciating care, laying him down on the makeshift bed of folded blankets. His head rolls to the side, lips parted.

I look around; bodies lie everywhere.

Sean drops to his knees beside him instantly.

I sink down next to them, brushing blood from his cheek again. He doesn’t flinch.

“I’ve got the transfusion line ready,” Sean says. “Pressure’s better, but he’s still losing blood. We’ll hook you up.”

“Anything,” I breathe. “Whatever he needs.”

Dante stands guard at the door just in case someone might still show up, gun ready, body rigid. Max paces behind the couch like a caged animal. Ryker crouches beside Knox’s feet, hands clasped tight between his knees, head bowed.

I look at them, all of them.

God, I could’ve lost them.

I open my mouth, and for the first time, I let it spill.

“I know I’m a mess,” I say quietly. “I know I’ve been reckless. I lied. I ran. I kept pieces of myself locked up because I thought, If you knew everything,”

They look at me.

“I thought love like this didn’t survive in places like this. After the world ended. I thought it was a luxury people like us didn’t get. ”

I look down at Knox, his pulse fluttering beneath Sean’s fingers.

“But it wasn’t a luxury. It was survival. You’re my survival.”

Max stops pacing.

“I love you,” I say to Knox, my hand brushing over his tattooed chest. “Not because you’re strong, or scary, or saved me more times than I can count. But because you see all the worst in me and still call me pet . Still touch me like I’m not broken.”

He doesn’t stir, but his lips twitch once.

I glance over at Ryker, and my throat tightens.

“You were the last to look at me like the others,” I whisper. “I know you cared about Bryn. And I’m sorry… for everything that happened with her.”

My breath catches, and I swallow hard. But he shakes his head; his eyes already glassy.

“I love you, Ryker,” I say, steady this time. “You made me laugh when everything hurt. You were the one I trusted first when things started to shift with Ethan and Bryn; it was you I ran to. You listened.”

He takes a sharp breath, his shoulders trembling. “Aspen…”

“I love you too.” The words fall from him like they’ve been trapped too long.

I turn to Max. He doesn’t wait.

“I know, sweetheart,” he says, nodding once. “And I love you too.”

“You kept Knox from killing me. Twice,” I say, half-laughing through tears .

Sean looks up from where he’s working on Knox, brow furrowed.

Max just shrugs, smirking. “Long story,” I say, choking on a small sob-laugh.

Then look at Dante. “And you…” He steps in, and I flinch when the needle slides into my skin, warmth blooming as I watch my blood flow into Knox’s arm.

“You showed me who I really was. You saw past everything I pretended to be. You fought to bring me back when I didn’t even know I was gone. You gave yourself up to save me.” My hand slides to his jaw, thumb grazing the edge of his cheekbone. “I love you, Grit.”

It’s the first time I’ve said his codename out loud. The effect is instant. His lips crash into mine, rough and breathless and so Dante, and I sink into him as my blood tries to keep Knox alive.

When we finally break apart, I glance sideways, and Max is already there.

“I love you, Grave.” I smile, tears still falling.

He steps in, tilts my chin, and kisses me too.

We don’t rush it. No one speaks. We just breathe each other in.

Knox still lies next to us, but he’s alive.

And I am finally whole.

It’s been a little over a day. The guys took all the bodies out to the woods, and the fire still burns, controlled but relentless.

It was hard to see Bryn in there. So I asked Dante and Max to burn her body separately.

Bryn wasn’t evil… I don’t think so; maybe the world twisted her, or maybe I’m just trying to excuse someone I once loved like a sister. Someone who looked me in the eyes and lied.

There’s still blood to clean. Dante and Max made a fucking mess.

“Aspen!” Max calls from upstairs. “Come eat!”

I drop the bucket and the bloody cloth. I swear I just wiped someone’s brain off the wall.

Disgusting.

I head upstairs. The table is full of meat, and the guys are already sitting. Sean looks up at me.

“That’s a lot of meat. Oh my God,” I mutter, sitting down.

Max grins, proud as hell. He went hunting this morning.

“You need protein. Keep your iron up,” Sean says, slicing into a piece. “With how much blood you’ve been giving Knox, you’re a few steps from anemic.”

Dante casually dumps half the meat onto my plate.

“I’m not eating all of this,” I laugh.

“You will,” he growls. “Or I’ll feed it to you myself, like we used to.” His eyes darken, and I roll mine.

“That happened once,”

They laugh, and so do I.

Sean starts talking about his wife and his son. How Knox and Dante reminded him of the boy he lost. How hope is a hell of a drug .

My eyes drift toward the stairwell.

We moved Knox to his room, gave him clean sheets, fresh water, warm light. I washed the blood off his body myself. Shaved him. Ran my fingers through his hair until he looked like him again.

“He’ll wake up soon,” Sean says gently.

“I know,” I whisper. But the weight’s still there, in my chest.

“The bodies are all gone,” Ryker adds between bites.

I wrinkle my nose. “Can we not talk about burned corpses during lunch?”

They laugh again. And for a second, things feel… almost normal.

Then, crash .

Something shatters downstairs, and I’m already moving before anyone else stands.

We run down the stairs; my heart is a drum inside my ribs.

Knox is sitting up, blankets twisted, glass shattered beside him.

“Knox!” I cry, lunging toward him, but I stop, frozen.

His eyes meet mine, pale blue and foggy with pain, but finally open.

“No hugs, pet?” His voice is hoarse, broken at the edges.

I drop beside him and gently lay my head on his chest, over the place where his heart beats strong and slow. “Sorry. I was reaching for the glass,” he whispers.

I glance at the broken cup beside him.

“Fuck, Knox.” Ryker steps forward, breath catching. I stand and give him space. He kneels and wraps his arms around Knox’s shoulders, pulling him close .

Knox whispers. “It wasn’t just Aspen keeping me here, brother. I heard you.”

Ryker swallows hard and lets out a shaky breath. His eyes are red, but he doesn’t cry.

He steps back. Max takes his place, dropping to his knees and pressing their foreheads together.

“You scared us, mate,” Max mutters, and Knox nods silently.

Dante stands a little farther back, still stiff.

Knox looks up. “You do anything not to lead, don’t you?”

Dante’s mouth twitches. “You know me,” he mutters. “Not into the whole leader shit.”

But the words come out fractured, and his body stutters forward. He leans in and hugs Knox like he’s afraid he’ll vanish again.

“I’m sorry, brother,” Knox whispers.

And I can’t take it. I step out of the room, cover my mouth with both hands. The sobs come hard. I don’t want them to hear; I want them to have this.

They’re brothers. And this… this is theirs.

“We saved something for you,” Dante says inside. He sounds like he’s shaking but proud.

“What?” Knox asks.

“You’ll see,” Max chuckles.

Silence falls. I lean against the wall, trying to muffle my sobs; panic urges to come out.

“Aspen,” I hear Knox call, and I freeze.

“Knox, don’t.” Max murmurs .

I glance back. Knox is standing, barely, gripping the doorframe. Dante’s holding him up.

His eyes find mine.

“Pet?”

I don’t answer. I try to cover my face again. I don’t want him to see me like this.

“Don’t hide from me,” he murmurs, dragging himself toward me.

His hand closes over mine, pulling it down, and his thumb tilts my chin.

“There they are,” he whispers. “Those beautiful emerald eyes that kept me grounded.”

“I’m breaking, Knox,” I choke. “I’m finally breaking.”

He pulls me to him and groans in pain, but he doesn’t let go.

“I fucking love you,” he says. “So much I would burn the fucking world down and everyone in it if anything happened to you.”

My body collapses into his.

“You’re not breaking,” he murmurs. “You’re fighting; you are the strongest person I’ve ever met.” I look up at him; his beautiful, icy blue eyes look happy.

“Now fucking kiss me . ”

And I do.

I crash my lips to his. His arms lock around me, his body still trembling, but he kisses me like fire.

I let him devour me.

And I finally feel it, deep in my soul, that my Reaper is back.