Page 127 of Unveil

“No!” he roars as I turn my back on him to face the matriarch. My voice is steady as my heart breaks.

“I’ll do it.”

My voice is hoarse from screaming. My head’s on fire from every blow these bastards behind me landed. My ribs grind like broken glass every time I breathe.

But nothing compares to the agony of watching the woman I love say vows that were meant for me. She’s marrying my enemy, holding his hands when he’ll use them to hurt her the first chance he gets… and it’s all to saveme.

I’m not worth it.

Bossie had it all planned out too. She brought vows, the guests, hell, even a white veil. Somehow she knew she’d get us here one way or another, and now Luna trembles beside Bart on a dais that feels as high as a mountain from where I’m bound.

He’s clutching her hands tightly enough to bruise, and the veil mocks me, hiding tears I know she’s trying to hold back for my sake. I see them anyway, shimmering at its gauzy edge, firelight mirrored on the drops as they trail down her chest with every silent, hitched breath. She’s trying to be strong, trying not to let me see her heart break, trying to keep me from drowning in guilt over ruining her life. It isn’t working.

“Please, baby,” I rasp for the millionth time. “You don’t have to do this. Please, Luna, I’d rather die.”

And goddamn, do I mean that.

I twist my glare on Bossie, rage tightening my jaw. “You better think real hard about letting me go. The second I’m out of these restraints, I’m coming for every single fu?—”

“Too little. Too late, don’t you think?” Sol sneers nearby, his voice slicing through me as sure as any blade. “You were supposed to protect her, Fury. Short of a miracle bursting in and saving the day, we have to sit here and watch my daughter sacrifice herself. Foryou.”

His scowl sears my skin, his unscarred side giving me a pointed look. If he didn’t hate me so much, I’d think there might be a message beneath his words. But even if there was, my mind is too fucked up to figure it out.

All I can think is… he’s right.

I failed to stop a woman I love from falling to the Wildes.

Again.

Don’t give up.

Protect her. Protect her. Protect her.

I blink hard and summon all the will I have left to focus and search for any way to get her out of this.

A Wilde digs my own crossbow bolt into my shoulder, mocking me, and Sol and Nox are disarmed now too. Nox paces like a caged animal inside a ring of five guards, and Sol stands stock-still with fists at his side, the only tell he has that he’s on the verge of exploding.

Two more guard the chapel entrance, while the ones on me might as well be posted up on a pissed-off rock for all the damage I can do trussed up like this. Another pair stand by Bossie, who’s back to her bullshit Sunday school teacher act as she prattles off the vows.

My throat seizes when she reaches the final question.

“And do you, Bartholomew Wilde, take Luna Bordeaux, to have and to hold, from this day forward, till death do you part?”

His grin stretches wide. My stomach churns at his lecherous gaze sliding up and down my girl like she’s a slab of meat.

“I do.”

Lightning cracks. Thunder booms immediately after, shaking the chapel’s ancient bones.

Bossie turns to Luna, her expression suddenly unforgiving. “And do you, Luna Bordeaux, take Bartholomew Wilde, to have and to hold, from this day forward, till death do you part?”

“No!” The word tears my throat raw, bursting a metallic tang on my tongue. Another punch slams into my skull, lurching my jaw to the side.

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt him!” Luna’s voice clears the fog threatening to take me under. I fight to focus on her, to hold on. She’s lifted the veil to see me, and I suck in a breath.

Even now, eyes glittering with fear and pain, face crumpled with defeat, she’s breathtaking on a stage. My chest aches to kiss her tears dry.

“Don’t pay him no mind, boys. I already skipped the ‘who objects’ line,” Bossie laughs dryly, all mirth gone as her eyes cut to me. “I didn’t gag you because we’ve got some things to discuss. Don’t make me change my mind.” Then she clasps her hands over the crook of her cane and fixes that glare on Luna. “Now. I believe I asked you a question, honey.”