Years of pent-up anger and rage surge to the surface and I’m done pandering to this jerkface. Even now, when we are here to help him, he still stubbornly refuses to cooperate.
Loud clapping echoes in the cavernous space as Dante slams his palms together in a predictable scornful show. “Always so perfect, aren’t you, Logan.”
“Stars, Dante. When are you ever going to grow up? When will you stop making this about me? This man standing here is one of the greatest men I’ve ever known, and he’s your father, and he cares about you, and still you stand up there and mock him and those who would help you? What the hell is wrong with you?!” I roar that last part, all semblance of patience gone.
King Coryn places a cautionary hand on my arm as he looks up at Dante. “Son, lis—”
“Don’t call me that!” Dante hisses. “You lost that right when you abandoned me!” Puissant rage glimmers in his eyes as he nods at his guards.
“Stop!” Navda beseeches his son. “Please, Dante. Let’s talk about his. No more violence, I’m begging you.”
“I’ve never been much of a talker,” Dante snarls, flicking his hand in the air.
Absolute pandemonium breaks out instantaneously. The Saven guards open fire indiscriminately, and we all dart for cover. Officer Vero trains his weapon on King Coryn as I yell out a warning. Win is the closest to Navda, and he dives in front of him as I raise my weapon and fire. My shot pins Officer Vero directly in the heart but not before he releases a volley from his own weapon. I watch as the light dies in his eyes and his body pitches over the railing, falling lifelessly to the ground below. Haydn is dragging me off to the side when I spot Dante and Advisor Mellor running toward a chute in the corner of the room. Rylan is trading shots with one of the traitor Saven guards, the whole time hollering at him to surrender.
Dali screams, diverting my attention.
She’s on her knees, crouched over Win, tears streaming out of her eyes. I race to her side, dropping down alongside her. Win lifts his head. “I’m okay, Dali.” His voice sounds brittle, but his eyes are clear and sharp. Blood pools under his injured thigh, but it doesn’t seem life-threatening. My eyes flick up, alerted by movement on the stairs. Navda is in pursuit of Dante and Advisor Mellor, and I can’t let him go after them alone.
“Rylan!” I call out, climbing to my feet as he delivers the kill shot to the last remaining Saven guard. Hanging his head, he walks toward me like he’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I can empathize. “You had no choice. He would’ve killed you.” I grip his shoulders firmly, and he nods. “Stay here. Help Dali get Win to the surface. I’m going after the others.”
Haydn runs alongside me without request. We reach the emergency chute just as it rockets upward. “Dammit!” I scrape my fingers through my hair as I pace the floor. Haydn presses the button repeatedly, re-summoning the chute. We throw ourselves into the narrow tube the second it opens. Prickles lift on my skin as we hurtle toward the surface.
We step out on shaky limbs, holding our weapons aloft. Searing heat blasts my face, and a layer of sweat instantly forms on my brow. The sound of raised voices from the far side of the ship reaches my ears. I clasp Haydn’s elbow, gesturing sideways with a nod of my head. We tiptoe quietly and slowly across the hard ground, creeping around the back end of the ship. Advisor Mellor is lying inert on the sterile ground, his dull eyes unblinking as they stare at the flaming-red-colored suns in the sky. Dante is pointing his weapon at Navda’s chest, while the king is pleading with him to see reason.
Haydn and I move together, stepping into their line of sight, both our weapons targeting Dante. “Don’t do it,” I tell him, “or it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Fuck you, Logan. You don’t get to tell me what to do.” Dante’s snarl is familiar, and it barely registers at this stage. It’s a minor blip in a lifetime of insults.
“Dante, please.” Navda approaches him with his hands in the air. Dante takes a step back and another. “You’re my son. Mine and Tayla’s. You are the most precious thing to me in the world. I’m risking everything for you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Please, come with me.” He extends his hand, as Dante continues to back away, inching dangerously close to the cliff edge. “Let me be a father to you. Let me love you.”
“You sound as fucking delusional as that idiot!” He thrusts his weapon in my direction. “You think you can save me? You think love can save me?” He barks out a laugh, brandishing his weapon through the air. “I was never meant to have love in my life. Perhaps my brother is right for once. I chose my path. I’m here because my journey led me here. And you know what? I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
His lips curl into a sneer as he throws back his head and laughs. I think he may have finally flipped. “Irony is a bitch.” Navda takes another step toward him, and Dante eases back, swaying precariously as his foot reaches the farthest point of the cliff. Sounds of shuffling behind us confirm the others have breached the surface. Haydn and I inch forward, a bit at a time.
“Maybe you’re right, Logan,” Dante yells, flinging his gun over the edge. “I’ve penned my own story.”
Navda extends his hand in offering, his eyes pleading with his son to meet him halfway.
“Now, I’m writing the ending.” Dante’s face contorts into a multitude of differing emotions, but it’s the resigned look on his face as he locks eyes with me that’ll haunt me forever.
With that one look, I know instantly what he’s about to do. “No!” My feet start pounding the ground as I race toward him. It all happens fast, but it’s as if I’m watching it unfold in slow motion.
Dante thrusts his arms out as he takes one final step, throwing his body back off the cliff. Navda reaches for him as a scream rips from my throat. I push my limbs harder, with Haydn chasing at my heels.
But we aren’t fast enough.
Navda flings himself at Dante, wrapping his arms around him at the last second, and all we can do is watch in horror as they disappear over the side of the cliff.
CHAPTER 8
Sadie
Ax stares at me open-mouthed, while I grapple to come to terms with this latest revelation: I was injected with Ax’s DNA; we share similar genetics.
I can’t decide if I’m grossed out or comforted or whether it really matters in the overall scheme of things.
Intense pain whittles through me from left field, and I curl into a fetal position on the chair, clutching my stomach as I rock back and forth. Suffocating pain and grief—similar to how I felt when my sister and Neve died—attack me on all fronts, and I can’t stop the sobs that break free of my body.
In a split second, I figure it out.
Ax cradles me to his chest, lifting me up and striding purposefully out of the room. Let him think it’s because of what we’ve just discovered and not that I’m feeling Logan’s heartache as acutely as if it was my own.
Shaking my hair over my face, I hide in Ax’s neck as I reach out to my one true love. “What’s wrong, Logan? What’s happened?”
“Sadie.” That one word contains so much pain, and I hate that I’m not there with him to comfort him. “Oh, Sadie.” Tears stream out of my eyes as I wallow in the depths of despair with him. Unable to articulate himself, he shows me instead. Pain underscores his thoughts as he relives the moment King Coryn tried to save Dante. Images of Dali, a barely conscious Win, and a distraught Haydn and Rylan tear my insides to shreds. I wish I could be there for my friends. For my Eterno. To share in their pain and grief. To mourn the loss of another dear friend.
Logan’s thoughts continue to replay the scene.
A couple of Narik guards kneel beside the lifeless body of their king, sobbing unashamedly. King Coryn’s arms are wrapped around Dante, who, in death, seems finally at peace. Heaving sobs rip free of my chest, and Ax tightens his grip on me, kissing the top of my hair and whispering soothing words.
“I wish I hadn’t agreed to this, Sadie. I need you. I
need you so badly right now.” Logan’s anguish is like a dagger to the heart.
Guilt swamps me, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now.
“I’m sorry,” Logan adds a second later. “That was selfish of me, but they’re all gone. My entire family is lost. You are all I have, and if anything happens to you, I’ll die, Sadie. I mean it.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, and you haven’t lost everyone. You still have a brother, and he’s a big part of the reason why I need to see this through. I want to be with you. I miss you. God, I miss you, but things are far worse here than we realized.” Super-fast, I fill him in.
Anger replaces the grief as his thoughts swim through my mind. Ax takes the last turn toward our suite, and I know I’m running out of time. “I can’t believe he forced you to reclaim your memories!” Logan is seething.
“He isn’t himself. I don’t like that he made me do that either, but when he realizes that it changes nothing, he’ll finally see sense.”
His concern wafts through the line. “Or he’ll completely lose the plot. Stars, I don’t like this, Sadie.”
The doors to our suite open. “I have to go now, but I’m going to get through to him. I have to. There’s too much at stake for me to fail. And there is one positive to memory restoration—I now have a wealth of memories, of words and promises, to remind him of. Tons of things I can use to appeal to him.”
Logan’s unhappiness feeds through our connection, and I hate that I’m heaping more hurt on the pile. “I love you, babe.”
“I love you, too. Hurry back to me, Angel. Stay safe.”
I cut the Eterno connection as Ax carefully lowers me to the bed. Pulling the covers up over me, he lies down alongside me, on top of the comforter. I slide my hands underneath my head and twist on my side to face him. Slowly, he smooths my hair back off my forehead. “Talk to me, baby. What’s going through that beautiful head of yours?
Stars, where to start?
“You didn’t know about the DNA?”
He shakes his head. “No. And I’d no idea she has known all along.” He sighs unhappily.
“You know you can’t trust her, Ax. She lies continually. It’s all she knows how to do.”
He drags his lip between his teeth. “She’s all I had left, and I was desperate. I needed you to know. To remember it all. To know how much I love you, and how much you love me too.” Moisture glistens in his eyes, and my stomach lurches unpleasantly. How am I going to tell him this?
Tears trickle out of my eyes as the pain becomes unbearable. The strongest memory of all returns to taunt me, and a hacking sob lets loose from my chest. Ever so softly, he wipes under my eyes with his thumb. “You tried to save me from my fate.” I look up at him through blurry eyes. “I remember it all. Your arrangement with King Coryn”—my sobs escalate as I choke out his name—“and Blade’s uncle’s betrayal, and, oh, God …” I break down uncontrollably as the horrific vision of Blade’s death and Izzy’s agonizing screams ricochet through my mind.
“Blade.” His name is a whisper on my tongue. “I remember him, and poor Izzy, she still suffers so much.”
Ax pulls me into his arms, and I rest my head on his chest. “Shista, Sadie. I thought I’d lost you forever. Now do you understand? I’m sorry I forced you into it, but you’ve got to trust that I know what’s best for you. I’ve always looked after you. You remember that now, right?”
Composing myself, I ease out of his embrace, swiping my sleeves under my eyes. I attempt to get my erroneous feelings under control. “Ax, I remember it all. Everything. We loved each other so completely, and I would never have survived without you. I will forever be in your debt because of that. There is so much love in my heart for you.”
Without warning, his mouth collides with mine. His kiss is urgent and eager and full of hope and joy.
Pushing him away is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
His forehead puckers as he stares at me in confusion.
“But it changes nothing,” I whisper, forcing myself to maintain eye contact. “I still love Logan.” I hate having to say these next words, but there can be no doubt. “He’s my one true love.”
His face goes deathly white as his grin disappears. He looks away, his body visibly heaving as I hold my breath, waiting for his response. Friction is ripe in the air, and I’m almost afraid to breathe. Slowly, he turns around, and a thunderous look of fury shines from his eyes, startling me with the intensity. “What did you say?” The cold, harsh look in his eyes is unnerving.
I pull myself upright in the bed, cradling my arms around my bent legs, trying to ward off the spine-chilling tingle I feel all over. “I will always love you, Ax, but I still want to be with Logan. I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want, but you deserve to hear the truth, to find someone who can reciprocate your love, and that’s not me anymore.”
I know I’m going off script, but I refuse to lie to him any longer.
His jaw clenches as he looks off into space.
I gulp as nervous adrenaline floods my system. I clear my throat. “But I still want you with me. Leave here with me.” Gingerly, I touch his arm. “Come to Saven. Get to know your brother. You are all each other has in the world, and I know you two can sor—”
“Shut your mouth,” he snaps, shoving my hand away. “I don’t want to hear any more.”
Undeterred, I reach out for him. “Ax, I—”
“I. Said. Shut. Your. Mouth.” It’d be less frightening if he’d yelled at me, but his voice is eerily quiet and controlled, and that’s scaring me way worse.
I knot my hands in my lap as I urge the swarm of butterflies freaking out in my chest to settle down.
The tension is palpable as the minutes tick by. I’m terrified to move or speak, so I sit there hoping and praying that he’s working it all through in his mind.
Abruptly, he stands up, ripping the shirt up over his head. I’m not even slightly distracted by his well-stacked chest. Fear has me locked in a vice grip.
Fisting tufts of his hair, he starts pacing the room. Back and forth. Up and down. The movements grow more frantic. More desperate. He tilts his chin up, spearing me with a look full of hurt and pain. Tears well in my eyes, and his anguish transforms to anger. Letting loose a guttural roar that sounds like it’s coming from deep in his soul, he lifts up a chair and hurls it at the wall. It implodes on contact, sending shredded material raining down on the room.
Ax goes berserk, picking up any freestanding item he can find and flinging it across the room. Articles smash against the wall, splintering on contact, and the noise is deafening, but I can scarcely hear over the pounding of my heart and the roaring in my ears. I pull my knees tighter into my chest, shaking all over. My incendio gift starts reacting to the surge of terrified adrenaline sweeping through my body.
Screaming, like an animal in pain, Ax continues his path of destruction, ripping pictures off the walls and tearing up chunks of the floor. Broken bits of furniture are tossed around the room, and he pummels his fist into the wall, repeatedly, leaving a gaping hole.
Where the hell are the soldiers? Why is no one intervening?
He drops to his knees as huge sobs wrack his body. Hunched over, with his hair hanging loose and his shoulders slumped, he looks like a shell of himself. Tentatively, I stretch out my legs and swing them over the side of the bed.
His picks up his head, and he stops my progress with one lethal look. Slowly—without shifting his eyes from me—he climbs to his feet, his eyes narrowing as he stalks toward me with a chilling, determined expression on his face.
I scoot back up to the headboard, gripping the covers tightly under my chin. When he starts unbuckling his belt, nausea swims up my throat, and panic cages my heart in a vice grip causing it to constrict painfully in my chest. Kicking off his pants and his shoes, he advances toward the bed like a predator on a hunt. His darkened eyes are fueled with a mix of rage and lust that twists my stomach into knots.
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Instinctively, I slide sideways in the bed, moving farther and farther away from him as he crawls toward me. “What are you doing?” My voice cracks as he grabs my wrists tight together, hauling me back to him.
“I thought the memories would do the trick, but it seems you need a more physical reminder.”
Puke rests at the base of my throat as all the blood drains from my face. “No.”
“Remove your clothes.” His face is mere centimeters from mine, and his eyes latch on my chest, which is visibly inflating along with my terror.
“Please, Ax. Don’t do this. I don’t want to do this.”
He rolls his head to the side. “Take off your clothes or I’ll do it for you.”
My lip wobbles as I shake my head. “No. Don’t make me do this.”
His gaze flits to my pants, and in one rapid-fire movement, he yanks them down my legs, tossing them aside. His eyes blaze hungrily as he straddles me. He lowers his head, and his mouth sweeps across my collarbone as his tongue darts out to taste my skin.
I start quietly crying, and my body is trembling in fear. His palms snake over my body, tracing my curves, and something inherent dies inside me. He pushes the bottom of my shirt up, and his fingers make swirling circles on my stomach as he continues to kiss my neck. My incendio gift roars to life, begging an outlet, and I’m barely keeping it caged. At the same time, Logan’s rage and concern filters through the line. My emotions are skittering all over the place, and I’ve lost all control. I couldn’t block Logan even if I wanted to.
I clamp my hand over Ax’s fingers as they reach the band of my panties. “Stop! Please stop!” I shriek, my escalating panic evident in my tone.
Logan’s pain charges at me, almost leveling me. “I’m coming to get you. Fight him off until I arrive.”
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