Page 69 of The Hunted

What will that do to him?

“If something happens, if I don’t make it out, Ace will take care of you. You’ll never have to worry about a thing again.”

I look to him. Those warm amber eyes have seen so much pain and death, it breaks my heart. His face displays his sadness, but he’s resigned to his fate. This man to some is a monster, a killer, death, but to me, he’s my warrior, my hero, my friend, my lover. He’s come to mean so much to me in such a short time.

“I don’t need Ace to take care of me. I need you, alive.”

“I will be. Stay here. If it gets out of hand, leave with these men. They’ll take you away from here. I’ll find you.”

His lips find mine and a gentle kiss becomes more as I pull him to me.

“So beautiful, my Little Bird.”

His sweet whispered compliment across my lips causes my heart to thump wildly in my chest. This man, is everything I could want. How could I possibly lose him now? We’ve just found each other.

“Raven!”

I turn to find Scarlett barreling toward me. A sob breaks loose as I run to my sister, crashing into a hug.

“Oh, my God, Scarlett! I thought I’d lost you.”

“Never.”

It’s just a whisper, but to hear her sweet voice is music to my ears. I pull back and take in her appearance, clasping her shoulders in my hands. The varying shades of bruises on her exposed skin tell the story.

“Are you okay?” As soon as I ask it, I wish I hadn’t. Of course, she isn’t okay after what she’s been through.

“No, but I hope to be.”

Tears fill her eyes and mine. My poor, sweet sister. I hug her to me, and she begins to sob quietly. Knox squeezes my shoulder and moves toward Ace who stands to our side, watching Scarlett intently.

“Can we get out of here now? I just want as far away from all of this as I can get.” Her words are cried into my chest.

“Yes, very soon. We’ll go home.”

“I don’t want to go home, Raven. I can’t. I just can’t stand the thought of Mom and Dad seeing me like this.”

“Honey, they’ve missed you so much and are worried to death about you. You can’t just run off. They will want to help you.”

“I can’t go back there. Not yet. I’m not the same daughter they know anymore. I need some time.”

“Okay. We’ll figure it out, together.”

Our parents will be heart broken. They’ve done everything they can to find her. I can understand her reluctance to go home, though. I think she needs some time to adjust, and she probably needs therapy, too. Our parents are loving people, so they will hate not seeing her right away, but they will respect her wishes. She needs time to process.

I release her and wipe the tears from her face as I kiss her gently on her cheek.

“I love you, so much.”

“I love you too, Raven.”

She hugs me once more, then she heads back to Ace. He pulls her, tucking her into his side. He whispers softly to her as her sobs begin to fade. I have no doubt he’ll keep her safe.

“I have to go, baby.” Knox comes up and wraps his arms around me, engulfing me in a hug.

“I’m so scared, Knox.” I whisper the words into the skin of his arm as I inhale his scent, trying to commit it to memory.

“It will be over before you know it. I’m going in, getting this done and coming out, then we will leave and never have to see him again.”

“Come back to me, okay?

Knox squeezes me tighter.

“I promise.”

He places a lingering kiss to my lips before turning to go back inside the manor, to slay his demon.

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