Page 37 of Skyla

Skyla’s whole body shook, but she nodded. “Okay.”

“Get her out of here.”

I scooped Skyla up into my arms. Frankly, I wasn’t sure her legs would hold her right now. Up and out of the church we went, but she kept twisting to look over my shoulder at the church like she wanted to watch as much as she needed to get the hell away from that room.

Across the plaza, outside our building, I set her down on a bench. We mostly used it when we cleaned our bikes, but I was grateful it was here now.

“Am I a coward?” She asked.

“Why would you ask that?”

Still looking for the church, she said nothing.

I crouched in front of her. “You’re not a coward for not wanting to kill someone, Sky.”

“I do want to kill him,” she said quietly, finally looking at me, face still covered in Kramer’s blood. “That’s why I’m a coward. Because I wouldn’t stop. No matter how long it took. Until he was nothing but dust even the ground would not remember.”

Skyla stared back at the church, and I stepped away to get what she needed. I didn’t show her my smile. If there was any proof this woman was our mate, that was it. And I was already fucking in love with her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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SKYLA

THE HUMAN PERSONIFICATION OF A MELTING CANDLE

Violence and devastation sang in my veins.

Power.

I didn’t know I could feel so many opposing things at once. Emptiness so complete I didn’t fully understand it, making way for the urge to kill I’d never had before. What I said was true. If I allowed that impulse to thrive, I wouldn’t be stopped.

Maybe I was a coward for not wanting that to be who I was, but I didn’t want it. Everything about my life was different than I’d imagined, and I needed one thing to be the same. I needed not to be a killer.

The capacity was there inside me, and in it, I saw exactly what Kramer and everyone else did. An unbridled weapon able to sew unfathomable destruction. I couldn’t let it be true.

Grave returned and sat beside me, gently pressing another cup of coffee into my hands. I needed the warmth. It wasn’t cold outside, but I was shivering.

He turned me toward him and began cleaning my face with a damp cloth. Probably easier if I just showered it off, but I couldn’t move. I needed to see Silver and Wraith come out of the basement with their task complete.

I wasn’t a murderer, but I didn’t care that they were. A strange kind of pride rose in my chest that they would kill for me. They’d killed before, and it didn’t bother me that they enjoyed it. It was who they were. Now, more than ever, I wanted them to be who they were.

If nothing yesterday had happened, my birthday was in a week. Would I have seen it coming? My friends usually took me out for my birthday, and that included my friends from the club. Kramer could have told me he wanted to buy me a birthday coffee or ice cream, taken me, and shoved me into the back of a van. Gone before anyone had a chance to notice.

Club members came and went, staring at Grave and the blood he cleaned off my face. I didn’t know what to say or do. Everything felt… blank.

The gate opened across the plaza, and a van drove in, followed by a bike. It came up to our building. Comet drove the van up to the door of the building, parking and jumping out as soon as he saw us. “Skyla, beautiful. What happened?”

He was in front of me, and somehow I still felt like I couldn’t move. Trapped in my own head, processing everything.

“Took her to the basement,” Grave said.

“Shit. Everything?”

In the corner of my eye, Grave nodded.

Comet set my coffee aside and brought me to my feet, gathering me into his arms. “You’re okay, beautiful. We’ve got you no matter what, all right?”

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