Page 80 of Bound By Thorns

EPILOGUE

Kaylan

“Dylan, hey!” I called out, my voice wavering slightly as he passed by after lunch.

He stopped, glancing at me with a neutral expression, one that carried the weight of the distance between us. Ever since I’d returned, we hadn’t really talked. At first, it was my recovery keeping me isolated, then Operation Tantalus consumed all of our time. But that wasn’t the whole story, was it?

I’d been avoiding him, unsure of how to breach the fragile silence that had grown between us. But today, I couldn’t push it off any longer. Things had been relatively stable for some time and Logan was recovering from his surgery. There was something Dylan needed to know, and even if it meant ripping open wounds that hadn’t fully healed, I had to tell him.

“Can we talk?” I asked softly.

His eyes flicked to mine, and I saw something there—a flicker of hesitation, maybe pain. But he nodded, following me to a quieter corner.

“I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.” His voice was cautious, reserved.

I gave him a small smile. “You might not. But I have been wanting to talk to you for a while now.”

His brows furrowed as he nodded contemplatively.

“Riley and I… we used to talk about you,” I began, my hands twisting together as I tried to find the right words. “So I know what you meant to her. And there’s something she said, something you should know.”

He swallowed thickly. Even as I spoke of that day, the memories were relentless. Riley’s screams echoed in my mind, sharp and guttural.

???

“Squad Two, is it? That what you call yourselves?” Garret’s voice slithered into the rank-smelling basement like poison.

We had been there for days, chained to the wall, the stench of filth and despair clinging to us like a second skin. They hadn’t interacted with us much—just left us to rot in the dark. I’d tried to find corners, spots where I could fucking defecate without feeling like an animal, but even that small dignity had been stripped away.

Garret’s boots scraped against the grimy floor as he stepped closer, his voice cutting through the suffocating silence.

“Kyle ‘Dagger’ Deniese,” he drawled, his tone mocking. “Navy SEAL, technology expert, single father to a three-year-old.”

Kyle didn’t flinch, but I could see his jaw tighten. He’d been carrying the blame for what happened in Florida, and I knew that same weight was keeping him silent now.

“Riley ‘Bird’ Hayden,” Garret continued, a cruel smirk spreading across his face as he turned to her. “CIA, profiler, alone in this world except for…”

“Fuck you!” Riley spat.

Garret chuckled darkly, the sound curling around us like smoke. “And finally,” he said, his gaze landing on me, “Kaylan ‘Healer’ Bennett. Combat medic, daughter to her amazing, proud parents.”

His words cut through me like a blade, my whole body vibrating with the force of my fury. I couldn’t take this anymore. We needed to get out. We needed to survive.

Then Kyle, in his desperate need to regain some sense of control, spoke up.

“You don’t wanna mess with Bridgewood, you fucker. Let us go, and we won’t come after you!”

The words hung in the air like a challenge, reckless and raw.

Garret’s laughter shifted, low and sinister. He studied Kyle for a moment, as if considering something, before sighing dramatically. “Oh, son. I didn’t want to make a point so soon.”

The sound of the gunshot was deafening, shattering the fragile quiet of the chamber.

I froze, the metallic tang of blood filling the air as Kyle slumped forward, his body still as stone. A gaping hole marred his forehead, and his lifeless eyes stared blankly into the void.

Riley’s scream tore through the darkness, raw and heart-wrenching. It wasn’t just a sound; it was the kind of agony that ripped through your soul, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake.

And I—God, I didn’t scream. I couldn’t. I just stared, numb and paralyzed, as the horror unfolded before me.

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