Page 112 of This Blood That Binds Us

“We have to get out of here.” I struggled to get back on my feet. My own blood loss was still apparent.

“Don’t worry about me. I don’t think I’m going anywhere anytime soon.”

“What? No. I’m not leaving you here. Now, get up.” I grabbed his arm, trying to pull him up and onto my shoulder. He winced with each pull.

“Kim, you gotta get out of here before he comes back.” Aaron groaned.

His defeated eyes only ignited the fire under my feet.

“Don’t get all noble on me now. There’s no way I’m leaving you here.” Pure determination fueled my muscles to try to pull Aaron up again. He was dead weight. I groaned in frustration. “Why are you so heavy?”

“Kim—”

“No.” I dropped to my knees beside him. “Iwon’tleave you.”

I sucked in a breath and put Aaron’s hand in mine. I wanted to warm the cold slowly overtaking his skin. His light, usually glaringly bright, felt dim.

Aaron’s voice was soft. “Why?”

It made sense to me why he would ask me that. For the majority of our relationship, it had been about me. He had done everything he possibly could to right his wrongs and constantly put my wants ahead of his. But something had changed. I had changed.

“Because, if this is the end...at least we won’t be alone. I won’t leave you here alone to die. No way.”

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I squeezed his hand.

He squeezed mine back. “I’m sorry...for everything. I really screwed your life up.”

I smiled, wiping a few tears. “No. You didn’t. I’d do it all again. All of the good. The bad. To meet you.”

He chuckled. “You’re delusional. You lost too much blood.”

Every minute that passed, I knew it might be our last. But I was at peace. I looked at Aaron, soaking in his features.

I could say one thing that could describe the way it felt to be in Aaron’s wake. The warmth. The laughter. The undeniable happiness. It felt like love. Love that showed in the way that he cared for his brothers and that they cared for him. And I was there, in the wake. Engulfed and enamored with it. I didn’t want it to ever leave me, and I wanted to hold his hand forever.

The door clicked, shifting our focus.

Aaron’s eyes glued to its frame. “Get behind me.”

I looked at Aaron’s utterly defenseless posture. “Oh, hush.”

“Oh, you’re up? That’s a surprise.”

William wasn’t the only one to file into the room. Two others followed. One was female, the other male, all wearing fitted black cloaks that touched the floor with white shrouds covering their shoulders.

I didn’t recognize their faces.

“Leave her alone.” Aaron tried moving again with no luck. “Fuck!”

William didn’t say anything else, and they encircled us.

“Aaron, it’s okay.” I kept my voice steady. My hands shook slightly, but I clenched my fists.

“Don’t touch her.” Aaron strained again as he desperately tried to stand.

A cloaked figure came up behind him and wrapped fingers over his mouth. In the blink of an eye, I, too, was met with the same fate.

A set of stone hands clamped my mouth. Another set of hands grabbed my waist to keep me from moving.