Nightfall (Devil's Night 4)

“Forced to make a choice, he won’t choose you,” he told her. “You’ll have to look out for yourself. Get used to it.”

“There’s nothing I’m more used to,” she said in a quiet but firm tone.

He winked at her, signaling his approval of her response.

I stared at them. What the hell was he doing? Were they fucking bonding or some shit?

He dropped his arms and looked down at her feet, seeing the bag of food on the floor. He met her eyes for a moment before grabbing the black coat off the stand by the door and draping it around her.

“Taylor?” he said.

The other guy stepped up a couple more feet. “Yeah?”

“Hold Will,” Aydin told him.

I tensed. What?

Before I could spin around, Taylor grabbed me, sliding his arms around mine from behind and locking his hold against my chest.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I yelled.

Aydin opened the front door, looking at Emory before he dipped down, picked up her bag of food, and handed it to her.

She paused, her gaze shifting between him and me as I struggled. “You’re letting me leave?” she asked. “After all of this?”

I threw Taylor off, shoving him and hearing him tumble against the candelabras.

I shot forward.

“I wish you wouldn’t,” Aydin told her. “But you can.”

She looked over at me, and I stopped, gauging my choices. If she ran, Alex was right. We’d just be delayed, trying to find her and make sure she didn’t wind up dead, and I wasn’t even sure why I cared anymore.

Goddamn them. Michael and Kai and Damon and all of them. If they weren’t coming, I wouldn’t be so pressed for time right now. I wasn’t ready to leave yet.

Of course, they just needed to swoop in and save me.

Emmy stared at me—maybe waiting to see if I stopped her, or hoping I would—and I didn’t want this confrontation with Aydin. Not yet.

Because she wasn’t leaving, even if I had to fight them all and suffer every bone in my body breaking.

Something crossed her eyes, and she looked like she did that morning in the movie theater so long ago. Like she wanted to melt into my arms.

Like she didn’t really want to go, because she wanted to stay with me.

But before I could take her hand, slam the door, and figure out how I was going to fight Aydin and Taylor for both of these women, he leaned into her ear and appeared to whisper something as she held my eyes.

She listened as his jaw moved, and three seconds stretched into ten, and then finally…she dropped her gaze as if processing and nodded to him.

He closed the door, removed her jacket, hanging it up, and took the food bag from her before flashing me a look bearing the ghost of a smile.

I straightened.

Walking past me, he left the room, Taylor following, and I stood there glaring as Emory remained silent.

She was running from me. She fought Alex in order to leave.

And now she was staying?