Page 77 of Rebel

I saw Renegade pick up the fallen gun.He didn’t interfere, just stood ready, waiting for my signal.

“Throw it,” I gasped.

He understood immediately, but instead of throwing it, he slid the gun across the floor toward me.

Denton’s head turned at the sound, giving me the opening I needed.I bucked hard, throwing him off balance, then lunged for the weapon.

My fingers closed around the grip.I aimed and fired in one fluid motion.

The bullet caught Denton between the eyes, just like Ellis.His expression of rage froze, then slackened as his body collapsed beside me.

I lay there, gun still raised, staring at the ceiling.The pristine white was now splattered with red.Like everything Denton touched, it was ruined.

Then something broke inside me.A dam bursting after holding back too much for too long.I curled onto my side, still clutching the gun, and began to sob -- harsh, ugly sounds that tore from my throat like they were being ripped out.

“Rio.”Rebel’s voice, gentler than I’d ever heard it.He knelt beside me, carefully prying the gun from my fingers.“You did good.It’s over.”

I couldn’t stop shaking.Couldn’t stop the tears.Months of pain and rage and fear poured out of me as I lay in a pool of my enemy’s blood.

Renegade crouched on my other side, his hand warm on my shoulder.He didn’t speak, just offered his silent strength as I fell apart.He stood after a moment and moved around the apartment, pulling blinds, checking outside.“We’re clear.No one’s called in a disturbance or found Ellis’s body.If they had, Shade would have alerted us.But we need to move soon.”

I tried to sit up, but my body wouldn’t cooperate.Everything hurt -- inside and out.

“I can’t,” I whispered.“I can’t move.”

“You don’t have to,” Rebel said.“We’ve got you.”

He lifted me easily, cradling me against his chest like I weighed nothing.I buried my face in his shoulder, breathing in his familiar scent.

“It’s over,” he murmured in my ear.“You got them both.No one will ever hurt you like that again.”

Renegade gathered my knife, wiping it clean on Denton’s shirt.“I’ll sweep for prints and call in a cleaning crew,” he said.“You get her to the car.If we run out of time, maybe we can make it look like they killed each other.Rivals.Bad blood.Or maybe they pissed off the same person.Just not Rio.”

I could tell this was a scenario they’d dealt with before.Probably many times.Cleaning crew?I had a feeling if the police weren’t notified anytime soon, Shade or someone else would find a way to make this whole issue disappear… or at least keep it from involving any of us.

Rebel nodded, carrying me toward the door.“We’ll be waiting downstairs.”

As we left Denton’s apartment, I felt strangely hollow.The rage that had sustained me through both killings was gone, leaving only exhaustion in its wake.

“Did it help?”Rebel asked as he took the stairs down.“Killing them?”

I thought about it, about the momentary satisfaction when they realized they weren’t getting away with what they’d done.About the emptiness that followed.

“No,” I admitted.“But it needed to be done.”

He kissed the top of my head.“That’s why we did it together.Some burdens are too heavy to carry alone.”

Outside, the night air was cool against my tear-streaked face.Rebel set me gently in the backseat of the waiting SUV, then slid in beside me, pulling me against him.

“Rest,” he said.“By the time you wake up, this will all be behind us.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of what I’d done settling into my bones.Ellis and Denton were gone.They couldn’t hurt anyone else.But the memories remained.

“It wasn’t just about revenge,” I whispered, needing him to understand.

“I know,” Rebel said.“Sleep now.Tomorrow, we start our lives together without this dark cloud over our heads.”

As the car pulled away from the curb, I let exhaustion claim me, knowing that when I awoke, my family -- my real family -- would still be there, standing guard against the darkness that had almost consumed me.

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