Page 90 of To Hunt A Wolf
I stop and turn to face him. “Levi, you can’t.” My voice nearly breaks on the words.
“Why? Because Jadick said so?”
He’s angry, but I know it’s meant for Jadick and not me.
“I don’t know everything that’s happened between you two,” I start.
“And you don’t need to. All you need to know is that I agree with you about answering Thiago’s demand.”
“Jadick wants to wait,” I remind him.
“Jadick is a coward,” he snarls. I blink at the vehemence in his words. He straightens and calms. “But we don’t need him.”
“What are you going to do?” I ask, finally realizing what he means by joining me.
“I’m not doing anything,” he says. “Youare going to hand me over to Thiago, get Kari back, and then tell the others what I’ve done so they can come and get me out of there, hopefully before Thiago cuts me into tiny pieces.”
“You’re counting on Jadick to rescue you? I don’t know if that’s such a safe bet.”
“No, Mac.” He takes my hand, squeezing it and sending a zing of pleasure through me at the simple touch. “I’m counting on you.”
I shake my head, ready to refuse his insane plan. “It’s impossible,” I say. “We haven’t had time to plan it or think through all the ways it could go wrong—”
“Oh? And what was your plan?” he asks.
I don’t answer.
“Run back there alone? Beg him to let Kari go out of the kindness of his heart? You have no leverage without me, Mac.”
“I have myself,” I say quietly.
He looks stricken, and I know he’s realized what I meant to do.
“You were going to die,” he says, his voice hoarse.
“I was going to save Kari,” I say. “And end the standoff. Buy you all more time to do … whatever it is you’re going to do.”
He stares at me like I’ve just slapped him. Finally, he shakes his head, snapping out of it. “Thiago would never go for it. He’ll throw you out on your ass. Or maybe kill you for fun, but it wouldn’t help Kari.”
“It would if I made it public,” I say. “Confess,” I shove the word out, and he goes pale. “Tell everyone I killed Crigger.”
“Make it impossible for him to do anything but execute you,” he says, his voice rough with anger. “You really are insane, you know that?”
“If it were you in that cell, I would do the same,” I say quietly.
“If it were me in that cell, you would leave me and never look back,” he says. “Because that’s what I would want for you. To be safe. Happy.”
“That’s the problem, Levi.” I stop walking and face him, “Don’t you see? I could never be happy without you.”
His gaze softens.
He steps closer, pressing his warm palm to my flushed cheek. I lean into his touch, closing my eyes and trying to block out the horror of what has brought us together again. For just a moment, I want to pretend it’s just us, finding our way back.
When I open my eyes again, the reality of what lies ahead is too harsh to pretend away. A single tear slips down my cheek, and he brushes it away with his thumb.
“I’m going to make this right,” he says. “You have to let me do this. For you. For what I did—before.”
“You were protecting me,” I mumble.
