Total pages in book: 238
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1159(@200wpm)___ 927(@250wpm)___ 773(@300wpm)
“Where do you need us?” the guy asked.
I walked over and opened the door of his car, climbing in. “Follow us. When I wave you past, cut off the car I’m trailing.”
I started the engine, not wasting another moment. Damon, Micah, and Rory jumped in with me, and I sped off, out of the park, and turning left, toward Falcon’s Well and the shortcut to Evans Crist’s house. That was the only place I could think he’d go. If he wasn’t here tonight, then he didn’t know Evans had been caught.
I slammed the steering wheel with my fist. No one—and I mean, no one—was coming between us again.
Not ever again.
I pushed the pedal to the floor, hanging right as Damon grabbed the dash for support, and headed up into the cliffs, speeding down the lane.
If he’d gotten inside the Crist gates, I was going to crash right through and into the fucking house to get her, dammit.
Two more of Moreau’s SUVs trailed my ass like a convoy, and I rushed over dips in the highway, zooming past other cars and a truck full of kids out for Devil’s Night.
And then I spotted taillights ahead, recognizing one of Evans’s cars—a midnight blue Rover—racing down the road.
I smiled. Sticking my arm out the window, I waved the car behind me ahead and slowed just a little, so I didn’t have to slam on the brakes in a moment.
Moreau’s man sped past, raced ahead of the Rover, and jerked the wheel, screeching to a halt on the highway and blocking Taylor’s path.
Taylor swerved, and my heart skipped a beat as he slammed into the ditch, the car bobbing up and down as he sank into the ground, the tires spinning under the halted vehicle.
I slammed on my brakes, pulling over to the side of the road, the gravel grinding under the tires as I stopped. Jumping out of the car, I raced over to the driver’s side door, yanked it open, and pulled Taylor out, slamming a fist right across his face.
I watched him drop to the ground, knocked out. “Now it’s over,” I growled.
Ripping open the back door, I saw Emmy lying on the back seat, but trying to pull herself up as she rubbed her head.
“Ugh,” she groaned. “He knocked me in the head.”
She met my eyes, her own blinking and going wide when she saw me.
Alert, she jumped out of the car and threw her arms around me. “I saw you go over the Point,” she cried.
I squeezed her tight, the scent of her hair in my nose, and my arms wrapped around her small body.
“I’m okay,” I said.
She pulled back and gaped at me. “Okay?”
I almost laughed. She didn’t know about Pithom or the crash in the river—both times I’d almost drowned seeming like some sort of destiny I was putting off or some shit.
But tonight, I won.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Going over was kind of a good thing, actually, but I’ll explain later.”
She hugged me again, and finally, I breathed a sigh of relief, peace washing over me that it was finally over.
“And Martin?” she asked.
I swallowed, holding her tighter. “I’m sorry, babe.”
It was all I could say. I’d killed her brother. I wish hadn’t had to, but she wasn’t his and he wasn’t hers. We were her family now, and he was a threat.
It was him or me.
“I can’t lose you,” she said in my ear. “I need you.”
And I buried my face in her neck, feeling everything start. My life. Our life.
We won.
Emory
Present
The police and Search and Rescue Unit brought up Martin’s body, but as soon as they loaded him onto the gurney, I had to look away.
Broken, dead, and small. God, he looked so small.
I wasn’t sure what I was feeling, but I couldn’t see him like that. I knew it was him or us. I didn’t regret a thing, because he made his choices, and he forced me into a position where I had to choose, but after a lifetime of him, it wasn’t a hard decision.
There was no choice.
It still muddled my brain, though, and all I saw when I looked down at his body was my parents’ son. The brother I watched grow up.
I couldn’t believe he was gone.
Taylor was arrested, and Jack Munro was in contact with his family, probably arranging for Taylor to join Evans on the transport to “another undisclosed location” since Blackchurch had burned down.
Micah and Rory stayed behind to give the police a statement, but we assured them we’d be at the station in the morning to fill in any details.
I had a feeling, with Will’s grandfather present in town, we weren’t going to be grilled too hard.
Aydin jogged behind us as we raced out of the elevator and down the corridor, spotting everyone loitering outside a glass hospital door with the curtain inside drawn.