It took eleven years, but it’s finally over.
Just when I’m about to surrender to my fate, the door barges open.
32
Aurora
Jonathan is here.
The moment my eyes fall on him, a sudden urge to cry hits me out of nowhere.
I didn’t know how much I needed to see him in my final moments until now.
His tall frame nearly blocks the entrance as he breathes harshly, and just like when I was a kid, he looks exactly like a god. Only, I’m not scared of him now. Was I even scared of him back then?
A forgotten memory hits me straight in the chest.
My small hand tugs on Alicia’s full wedding dress. She smiles down at me, her dark eyes nearly closing with the motion. “You don’t have to hide from Jonathan, Claire. He’s family now.”
“Family?”
“Yes.”
“Cuz you’re marrying him?”
She nods.
I pull on her dress some more, which is our secret signal for her to come down to my level.
Alicia is so tall, and I can barely reach her thighs. She says I’ll grow up to be tall like her one day, but that’s obviously not happening.
She crouches and gives me her ear so I can whisper, “When I grow up, can I marry him, too?”
She laughs, the sound making Jonathan stare at us, and I hide behind Alicia again, my cheeks flaming.
My sister ruffles my hair and whispers back, “If I’m not here, you have my permission.”
I’m thrust back to the present with tears hanging on to my lashes. Oh, God. I can’t believe I asked Alicia that. Jonathan is right to call me a wild one.
My gaze follows him as he slowly approaches the scene, his attention set on the knife Tom is holding to my throat.
He might’ve shown up, but it’s too late. Margot and Tom have no care for the consequences of their actions. That’s what happens when you live only for revenge. It becomes your start and your end. Everything else is collateral — their own lives included.
They don’t care if they die at the end of this.
“Let her go.” Jonathan’s voice is clear, hard, and leaves no room for negotiation.
Margot stands in front of him. “This has nothing to do with you, Mr King. Leave and we won’t hurt you.”
Jonathan’s guards follow after him, their tall, broad frames filling the entrance. Some of them have guns, but they’ll make no difference to my fate, considering that Tom’s knife is already slicing through my throat. A hot liquid trails down my neck.
Jonathan’s face turns into granite as his stormy eyes fixate on Tom. “You’re going to die.”
“Not before her.” Tom’s voice is as expressionless as his face. It’s like he lost the ability to feel when he was young.
“Go,” I whisper in a barely audible voice at Jonathan. “Aiden and Levi need you.”
“Shut up, Aurora.”