Page 31 of Born Free

There are three strong personalities in this room. My request shouldn’t work. But silence is the answer I get from the both of them.

Sebastian slides down the wall next to one of the dead men. He sits with his forearms braced on his knees, and he stares at the ground, deep in thought.

Roman walks to the window, scanning the surroundings. He is still in security mode, even though he’s halfway across the world from his job.

So, I walk back to the rug on the floor. I’m not physically tired. After dying and being knocked out for so many hours over the last few days, I should be well rested.

But I’m exhausted. I lay with my back facing the cottage, tucked up against the wall. And the rest of the night passes in perfect silence.

CHAPTERSEVEN

I’mnervous as we wait an entire hour after the sun comes up on a perfectly sunny day, but not as nervous as Roman and Sebastian are. I can hear both of their hearts hammering. I see the nerves in the tension of their shoulders, the thin line of their lips. They’re both ready for anything.

But as the sun blazes in the sky, each of us don a set of sunshades, Roman and Sebastian both having brought a pair for me. On perfectly silent feet, we aim for the mountain, completely avoiding any structures.

If I were human, there’s no way I could make this climb in the three hours it takes us. It’s steep, like, the only things climbing this mountain are goats. The way is rocky and treed and there isn’t a clear path the entire time. My feet get cut every ten minutes, but thanks to my vampire abilities, I heal in a constant cycle.

I look like I just walked out of a war zone by the time we drop down into the next valley over. My hair is insane, my dress is nearly shreds, and I’m dirtier than I might have ever been in my life.

But we don’t see a single person as we travel down the valley until we get to a town. It’s beautiful, clearly a tourist destination with the number of hotels and cafes. It’s not hard to see why people travel from all over to visit. Do any of them have any idea that just an hour farther drive, they’ll arrive at a town that is completely inhabited by vampires? A town ruled over by a millennia-old king?

I stay out of view when we step into the first hotel we come across, and Roman pays for one night. No one needs to see me in this state. The desk clerk tries to make a fuss about it only being noon, too early to check in, but when Sebastian slides her three hundred euros, she stops her whining and hands over a room key.

“I’ll be back in thirty minutes,” Sebastian says as all three of us walk down the empty hall. “You need something to wear. If anyone sees you like this, they’ll call the cops for sure.”

No doubt. I look like I’ve been the victim of some serious abuse and then thrown into the back of a livestock transport trailer. “K, I need a size small shirt and pants. My shoes are—”

“You’re a seven and a half,” Sebastian cuts me off. “I know what size you are, Juliet.”

I blush at that, and a low growl rumbles in the back of Roman’s throat, but Sebastian just walks back out into the brilliantly sunny day.

“Why didn’t you just rip his head off the second you saw him again?” I ask Roman as he swipes the key card and pushes the door open to a tiny but clean room.

“Because even though you hate him, I’m pretty sure you’d never forgive me for executing the bloody end he deserves,” he says as we walk inside. Roman’s eyes sweep the room, and he ducks into the bathroom for just a moment, sweeping the area.

I don’t have anything snappy to say to that. Would I be upset if Roman tore Sebastian apart? Everything he did was awful. But does he really deserve that? Do I really hate him to that extent?

“See,” Roman says, arching an eyebrow just slightly. “If youreallywanted him dead, you wouldn’t be hesitating.”

A curse slips out of my lips, and my fingers rise to tangle into my hair. “This is all so complicated. Why can’t this just be simple, and clean cut? Roman,” I turn to face him, my heart doing spasmatic gymnastics in my chest. “How can you deal with this? With me? I’m a mess. My heart has led me down some misguided paths that have had serious consequences. Why would you want—”

But I’m cut off by Roman wrapping a hand behind my neck and pulling my lips to his. His kiss is fierce, solid, sure. All the tension in my body relaxes. And my hands come to rest on his chest, my fingers slowly gripping the front of his shirt.

“I’m not threatened by Sebastian,” he says against my lips. “Not for even a second. And you want to talk about complicated? I’m a damn Royal with amnesia who doesn’t have an ounce of interest in going back to Spain with the brother who is a threat to everyone in our city. If anyone can handle me, it’s you, Juliet. And if anyone can handle you, be damn sure I can.”

And something that’s been broken in me, something that fractured the first time I got in trouble as a toddler, doesn’t feel broken anymore.

I always thought Sebastian and I were two sides of the same coin. We understood each other’s darkness. We both dealt with horrific trauma.

But so much of our relationship was stuck in that darkness. It wrapped its fingers around every aspect of our relationship.

But Roman? We’re both damaged, in different ways. But he’s lifted me up, pushed me without resenting the person I am, shaped by my past.

And I feel it again as I pull Roman back to my lips. He tastes like the future and everything I never thought I’d find in a person.

I breathe out, resting my forehead on his. “Things are going to get messy. Just… don’t give up on me.”

“Never,” Roman says, stealing one last kiss. “Go, shower. We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”

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