Page 171 of Revenge Saints
My breath catches, and I swallow hard. But he shakes his head; his eyes already glassy.
“I love you, Ryker,” I say, steady this time. “You made me laugh when everything hurt. You were the one I trusted first when things started to shift with Ethan and Bryn; it was you I ran to. You listened.”
He takes a sharp breath, his shoulders trembling. “Aspen…”
“I love you too.” The words fall from him like they’ve been trapped too long.
I turn to Max. He doesn’t wait.
“I know, sweetheart,” he says, nodding once. “And I love you too.”
“You kept Knox from killing me. Twice,” I say, half-laughing through tears.
Sean looks up from where he’s working on Knox, brow furrowed.
Max just shrugs, smirking. “Long story,” I say, choking on a small sob-laugh.
Then look at Dante. “And you…” He steps in, and I flinch when the needle slides into my skin, warmth blooming as I watch my blood flow into Knox’s arm.
“You showed me who I really was. You saw past everything I pretended to be. You fought to bring me back when I didn’t even know I was gone. You gave yourself up to save me.” My hand slides to his jaw, thumb grazing the edge of his cheekbone. “I love you, Grit.”
It’s the first time I’ve said his codename out loud. The effect is instant. His lips crash into mine, rough and breathless and so Dante, and I sink into him as my blood tries to keep Knox alive.
When we finally break apart, I glance sideways, and Max is already there.
“I love you, Grave.” I smile, tears still falling.
He steps in, tilts my chin, and kisses me too.
We don’t rush it. No one speaks. We just breathe each other in.
Knox still lies next to us, but he’s alive.
And I am finally whole.
It’s been a little over a day. The guys took all the bodies out tothe woods, and the fire still burns, controlled but relentless.
It was hard to see Bryn in there. So I asked Dante and Max to burn her body separately.
Bryn wasn’t evil… I don’t think so; maybe the world twisted her, or maybe I’m just trying to excuse someone I once loved like a sister. Someone who looked me in the eyes and lied.
There’s still blood to clean. Dante and Max made a fucking mess.
“Aspen!” Max calls from upstairs. “Come eat!”
I drop the bucket and the bloody cloth. I swear I just wiped someone’s brain off the wall.
Disgusting.
I head upstairs. The table is full of meat, and the guys are already sitting. Sean looks up at me.
“That’s a lot of meat. Oh my God,” I mutter, sitting down.
Max grins, proud as hell. He went hunting this morning.
“You need protein. Keep your iron up,” Sean says, slicing into a piece. “With how much blood you’ve been giving Knox, you’re a few steps from anemic.”
Dante casually dumps half the meat onto my plate.
