I let loose a breath, my wrath free. The dark desires I’ve stuffed down lift to the surface and tangle with the rage, with the curse.
Moon madness is taking us down. If we happen to lose before the cure is finished, then I have things to settle before it happens.
I meet Colt’s eyes. “Help us drag him back to Ironwood territory,” I say.
“Are you sure?” Lacey stiffens.
Colt, for his part, lets none of his reservations show about being caught near a werewolf pack.
“I’m positive.”
Grayson stares at me with an unreadable gaze. A small smile curls his lips upward and instead of the warnings I anticipate, he dips his head, beads of sweat trailing down his temples.
“Then we finish it,” he murmurs.
The hunter balks, but refuses to speak. I’d hate the sound of his voice anyway. There’s something admirable about his resolve, his refusal to spill his secrets.
None of it will help him now.
The vampires help Grayson and I drag the hunter toward home, the only one I remember, having to slow their strides to keep pace with us. But I storm ahead of everyone in a fury-fueled haze.
My father agreed to this.
He’s the one who authorized the hunter.
Had he put this into motion the moment the wolves attacked and we bolted?
Does any of it matter?
Night creatures fall silent on our approach and a lone owl hoots and takes off in the opposite direction. I fill my lungs with the night and wrap my arms around my chest like it will pin my heart into place.
Quaint streets with adorable houses and their resting occupants disappear into thick woods, the boundary separating our community from the rest of the world. Hiding in plain sight. Expected to blend.
It’s a metaphor for my entire fucking life and I’m done.
Our footsteps are the only ones echoing through the trees. I let them sound, thudding along with my pulse, arms pumping.
I’m tired of letting other people or situations dictate who I am or who I have to be. Why can’t I just be the person I want to be? Why can’t I decide the trajectory of my life?
I glance over my shoulder at Grayson, doing his best to keep up with the curse poisoning him from the inside out.
He’s fought so hard for this life and to make something of himself, to be a person his parents are proud of.
He doesn’t deserve any of this either.
Resolve hardening my features, we make the trek until the trees thin and the compound gate stretches up to the midnight sky. Then our eyes lock and hold and my heart stutters like it’s dividing itself into two pieces. One to keep me going, and the other for him.
I don’t miss the fragment.
It’s been waiting for him, long before the day we met. I’m not sure how it’s possible.
Lacey and Colt have the hunter subdued between them and I trust them to keep him contained.
I have another foe to face.
My mouth dries, tongue tangling in a complicated knot because my father is already there waiting at the gate.
All I can do is stare as we approach, a wall of iron bars separating us.