Page 58 of Unmasked Prophecy

“Never once would I have allowed that to happen. Never once did I tell them they could hurt you. I would have found a way, I would have told you before it ever got to that. I never planned on anyone dying. I would have given them information, just enough to get her out, then I would have told the club.”

“Bullshit.”

I’m done with him refusing to listen. I lose it to the point I feel my entire body shaking with rage. “They have Lily, and they were going to kill her. I had no choice, Talon. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I only wanted to get her out. She is a child, a fucking little girl, does that mean nothing to you?”

He doesn’t answer, just turns away, his silence more cutting than any words he could say. It’s too much, and it boils over, my heart pounding and my mind a tangled mess of desperation and anger. I shove his back, my hands flat against the rigid muscles as his body jerks forward, then he pauses, his entire body going rigid. He turns to face me again, his face stony.

I can’t take it anymore.

I slap him hard across the face, so hard my hand stings. “Say something. Anything. Stop acting like I don’t exist. Stop making out like you don’t give a fuck about me.”

His eyes blaze as he grinds out, “You don’t fuckin’ want me to say anything.”

“I do. I need to know what this is. I need to know why you’re torturing me like this.”

“You’re the one who’s torturin’ yourself, Nia. You and your fuckin’ choices.”

“God, you’re so heartless! You don’t care about anyone but yourself. Not me, not her. Nobody.”

He’s a breath away from me, his face a mask of rage. “You have no idea what I care about, and you have no fuckin’ right to put words in my mouth. You made this choice. Do you fuckin’ hear me? You did.”

I shove him, hard, my hands on his chest. “I thought you cared about me. I thought we had something, Talon. Was that fake, too?”

He grabs my arms, and before I know it, I’m pinned against a tree, his body pressing into mine, his arm a tight band across mythroat. The breath rushes out of me, and I feel the hard bite of the bark against my back. His face is inches from mine, his eyes pure fury, his voice a low, deadly growl. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ touch me again.”

I choke on a sob, the tears hot and angry in my eyes. “I cared about you, Talon. I made a mistake, I was desperate and I was scared, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t fucking care about you.”

“Whatever you thought we had, it’s gone. Do you hear me? Gone.”

His words are like a punch to the gut, and he releases me, stepping back. My legs give out, and I slide down the tree, my body crumpling to the ground. I watch as he turns and walks away, not speaking another word, not looking back.

The silence is thick and suffocating, and I feel the weight of everything crashing down. The hurt, the betrayal, the loss. I’m alone, truly alone, and the realization is a hollow, echoing ache that I can’t escape.

I stay there, shaking and breathless, until the night grows colder, until the numbness sets in. I don’t know how I’ll get through this, how I’ll survive it, but I know one thing—

I’m not done fighting.

Not yet.

THE SOUND OF A TRUCKengine cuts through the silence, and I know that means we’re close. I push myself to my feet, my entire body trembling with emotion, and follow him, my head aching with every step. He stood by and waited while I broke down beside that tree earlier, then we were on the move again, not a single word spoken.

We break through the trees, and I see the truck parked on the side of the road. Talon gets in the driver’s seat, not waiting for me, not looking at me. The man who was driving the truck gets into another car, leaving without so much as a word. I guess that’s it then, I have no choice but to get in.

I could run, but where would I go?

Exhaling, I climb in, slamming the door, my breath coming in short, sharp pants.

He drives, his hands tight on the wheel, his eyes fixed ahead. The silence is unbearable, but I don’t break it. I don’t give him the satisfaction. The road stretches out in front of us, endless and dark, the tension in the truck so thick it’s choking. We drive for what feels like hours, the landscape barren and unfamiliar, until we finally pull up to a large warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

Talon cuts the engine and gets out, leaving me to follow.

I do, trailing behind him as he leads me inside, the cold air biting at my skin. The warehouse is empty, vast and echoing, and I feel so small, so goddamn insignificant. He stops at a small room off to the side, pushing the door open and gesturing for me to go in. I pause, waiting for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t.

“What am I supposed to do, just sit here and wait?”

He nods, not speaking.

“Goddammit, Talon, can’t you at least tell me what the hell is going to happen to me, to my child?”

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