Page 50 of V for Vindictive

I hardly cared at all when the sight of four familiar figures surrounded by a group of terrified scientists came into view. A tear escaped my eye, and I struggled for a second to figure out how and why they’d come.

I dropped the sword I held, and Phillip came rushing forward. His eyes fell to his favorite weapon, suddenly perplexed. “You wielded Blood Slayer?!”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat, unable to figure out what to say first. “Oh, like it’s hard? No, wait…what the fuck do you mean by asking about the sword first, you jerk?!”

His gentle smile was full of unspoken affection and his light eyes beamed with ill-repressed pride, but the Austrian didn’t come any closer.

For good reason.

Because the second I finished chastising the man, a woman whose smell haunted my very dreams took me into her arms and didn’t let go. “I missed you, Vivienne. I’m so proud of all you’ve done, and I knew if anyone could do it, it’d be you who’d find a way out.”

“Grams…” I barely smothered the audible cries of relief, enveloped in her familiar scent and pressed against her frail but somehow strong body. “I missed you so damn much, you wily old fox.”

Her arms tightened around me, holding me impossibly close, smooshing my face into silver hair that smelled like cake and cookies. “You did good, kid. You did good.”

Fuck, I could never hate this woman. I love her so much.

I barely contained the pure joy and relief streaming from my eyes as I embraced the weapon-heavy woman back, holding her bodyso tight I was worried I’d break her. It made me smile just to see her carrying her favorite spiked bat. I nearly laughed out loud when I saw it strapped to her back.

And as if no time had passed, Grams simply ran her fingers through my hair the same way she always did when she wanted to comfort me. “I have a lot to say sorry for, but I’m just so glad I got to see you at all.”

Pulling away, I caught her hand and pressed a kiss to it, shutting my eyes and desperately hoping this wasn’t some drug-induced dream. “Water under the bridge, Grams. I love you, and I’m just glad you’re alive.”

The time etched into her face was more visible today than it had ever been. She looked world-weary and a ghost of her usual self. I’d never seen the woman look anything but confident, but the way she looked today spoke volumes about how what transpired between us had weighed on her mind during the months we were apart.

Someone cleared their throat, and I looked up to find another set of familiar light blue eyes. “I hate to put a pause on the reunion, but we need to get everyone to safety and ensure their families are taken care of. We don’t have time, sadly. I assume you have somewhere they can go, Rose?”

Sloan’s striking smile eased the tension in my chest and my lips lifted in return, not aware how much it relieved me to see him safe and unharmed. Donna was beside the Brit, her wounded arm already wrapped in bandages, and I breathed a small, thankful breath.

Kissing my cheek, Grams whispered, “Don’t be afraid to live and love, sweetheart. Love is the greatest thing you could ever do in this godforsaken existence. If it’s the last thing I ever get to say to you, I want you to chase what you want and be who you are without apologies.”

I closed my eyes, another tear burning down my face.

“Don’t regret not chasing the things you want because you’re afraid of how it might turn out. You’d be surprised by what you can accomplish when you’re fighting for someone…or many someones,” she said, kissing my other cheek.

Someones?

When my grandmother pulled away, her eyes beamed intensely with unspoken support. She was cheering me on, telling me to live, to love, to be unafraid to do everything I wanted.

Naturally, my eyes glided over to Phillip, who kept a respectable distance, but his entire body was taut and his eyes were blazing with an emotion I hadn’t seen since the night he told me he loved me.

A look that hit me right in the feels.

Then I glanced at Sloan, whose smile wavered in a way it never had. The narrow stare the gorgeous Brit directed at me made it clear he wanted nothing more than to come over. But as if he was frozen to the spot, his eyes shifted from me to Phillip and his mouth thinned, the light in his artic-blues dimming. He shut his eyes, looking away. The tension in his body was visible through his clothes, and it was the first time I’d seen Sloan look apprehensive. Resigned, even.

But why?

I opened my mouth, but Sloan turned on his heels, sinking a hand into his dark hair, and then ushered Donna and the others to an awaiting helicopter. My grandmother’s soft hand touched my face. She nodded her goodbye before heading over to the military-issued helicopter. She, Kris, and Sloan helped the escaped scientists into it before I was left alone with Phillip.

“How did you manage to find me?” I finally asked, breathing out some of the tension from an impossible escape.

Phillip’s eyes dropped to the sword, and his lips tilted in their usual sexy way. “Well, had I known Sloan gave you a ring we could track, I wouldn’t have left my precious Blood Slayer here in this shithole.”

There it was—the spiteful, sarcastic asshole we all knew and loved.

The look the Austrian offered Sloan’s gift was all jealousy. He didn’t even bother to hide it this time. It was the same way he stared when Sloan smiled at me or I touched Sloan in plain view. Even with the ring being one of the main reasons they could find me, Phillip clearly didn’t celebrate its existence. And the way Phil spoke about the ring I wore dripped with bitter regret.

It was such a silly little thing that elicited such a strong reaction from the usually unaffected Hunter, and it intrigued me.

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