“I killed you, but I also brought you back to life.”
She pants heavily just out of reach. Her strength has returned, and her blood pumps with adrenaline.
Even in the dark of the night, I can see her emerald eyes shine with resolution.
“Why would you do that? So you can have the pleasure of watching me die again?”
Her eyes scorch mine as she waits for me to answer.
I take a deep breath. “I don’t know why.”
She shakes her head, and laughs gently.
Her laugh, even though it is meant to be unnerving, is beautiful and light—like her.
The waves calm as do her arms, and she begins floating more than wading, letting the sea hold her up. She belongs here, in the water.
I can’t kill such a beauty.
Not because I love her or even care for her. I just can’t. Something has been holding me back from the moment I met her.
My father lied to me. There is a reason he wants her dead. She’s not an innocent, naive girl. She has a secret, one I haven’t discovered yet.
I can’t kill her.
And that makes me weak, a coward, a fool.
Killing Kai doesn’t make sense. I won’t kill her, screw the consequences.
“I think you’ve earned the power to choose your own fate.”
“Why?”
“You’re asking the wrong question. I don’t know why, only that I think you deserve more than to be killed at my hand.” I brush against the bruises I caused on her neck.
She straightens with a stoic expression.
“How do I get to choose my fate?”
“Because I have a choice other than death. I can kill you here and now. I could drown you easily in the ocean you love dearly. It would take but a minute or two. Or, you can live, but not in Miami. You will leave and never return.”
“You’ll le
t me live?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
“My father. I can’t leave—”
“Yes, you can.” I sigh. She continues to think of that bastard she calls a father over herself. She doesn’t understand she’s a million times more deserving of life than he is.
“I can’t just—”
“The choice is yours, but don’t worry about your father. He has a good job, and I’ll ensure his debt is taken care of.” I don’t know her father, but I suspect he works for my father, just as I know she does. She just doesn’t realize it.
Kai doesn’t speak, for a long time. The moon shines down upon us, lighting up the sky and the sea.
“Choose Kai, will you run away and live, or stay and die?”