My hands find her throat, the slender column easy to grip as I pull her closer, our faces inches apart. “Let me make one thing clear,” I hiss in her face, ignoring the shouts, the punches, and even the crack of bones I hear in the background. Right now, it’s just me and her.
Hunter is close by. I can feel the tension radiating from him.
“This is the end,” I promise her, tugging on my hip blade and plunging it into her stomach. Twisting the metal instrument, I ensure I’m drenched in blood. The violence that courses through my veins burns like a bright fucking light, and I smile when I see her eyes widen with shock, fury, and rage.
“Y-y-you f-f-f-ucking b-b-btich,” she simpers as blood dribbles from her mouth, over her lips, and falls on my face.
“When they drag you into Hell, remember my face,” I tell her, pulling the weapon from her torso, and sliding it along the flesh of her chest. She screams, but the sound is gurgled as crimson bubbles fill her mouth, and I’m soaked in the metallic liquid.
Her body slumps on mine, and even though I wanted her to suffer, being bathed in the lifeforce of my enemy is something I can now bask in. Suddenly, I’m dragged to my feet. Rebekah’s body falls with a thud to the floor beside me.
“What the fuck?”
“Look at me, sweetheart.” Archer’s voice cuts through the rage flowing through me, and I’m met with those eyes. His eyes. “Look at me.” His order is repeated, and I’m here, beside him. The men who were trying to kill us earlier are now standing to attention.
Archer is staring at me, but my attention is on them. “What’s going on?”
“They believe I’m their leader now. It’s how I have to keep things until we can remove the chips. I’ve turned off the system, but they’re still under the spell somehow.”
“What if we can’t save them?” I question, looking up at him once more.
“We will. Hunter is taking the innocents out to the vans that have pulled up, and Mikaela is going with him. I need them free before we attempt to take down all the soldiers.”
Nodding, I want to believe this will be easy, but nothing about these years of revenge have been easy. We’ve spent our lives broken, cursed with the darkness that was inflicted on us, and now I’m unsure of what to do or say. My vision turns blurry, and when I blink, I feel the salty emotion trickle its way down my cheeks.
It’s over.
“Is this it?” I ask, my voice croaky, and I glance down at Rebekah’s lifeless form on the floor at my feet as she bleeds out over the plush carpet. She’s not moving. Her slim frame is nothing more than a shell of a woman, a monster.
“This is it,” Archer assures me. His arms wrap around me, pulling me into his solid frame, and I allow myself to cry. Two soldiers make their way closer to us, but when Archer waves his hand, they offer a nod. “Take the bodies out. Clean up in here.”
His order is swift, and the two young men obey without question. They move around us as Archer walks us to the sofas in the corner, sets me down on the cushions, and settles beside me.
“Mara.” His voice causes me to snap my eyes to his. “I love you. The girl I was meant to train, Reagan, she was merely a toy in Rebekah’s game. I kept her safe,” he tells me, and I see no lie in his gaze.
“A-and she’s . . .”
“She’s nineteen, an innocent brought it to please the soldiers. She would’ve been what you were, or would’ve been if I didn’t offer my life for yours.” His confession stills me, and I realize he did everything he could to save me. I wanted to hurt him for what he did to me, but he was just as broken as I was.
“I never want to be without you, Archer,” I tell him. “I can’t give you a family, but—”
“That doesn’t matter to me. You’ve heard of adoption, right?” he offers with a kind smile. “There are other ways. All I truly want, though, is you.” The conviction in his tone settles around my heart like a balm, soothing and healing me in ways I never knew I needed.
And I offer the only response I can. “Then take me home.”
Chapter 32
Archer
I want nothing more than to take Mara home, but I don’t know where that is at the moment. My life has pivoted on an axis so strongly I’m not sure what is up and down. As I lead her out of the blood-soaked room, my leg throbs from where I was shot. It’s just a graze but still stings like a bitch. We keep walking until the fresh air of the outside is welcomed into my lungs.