Page 69 of Cruel Love

I know what’s going through her head right now and it ain’t good.

Dante’s been right about that so far. Lilah clearly isn’t in the best headspace. Her judgment is weak but not entirely illogical. She’s driven by vengeance, pure and simple, but Dante and I have been able to keep her centered together so far. When one of us blinks, the other steps in.

But if we split up…

“Archer, let’s move!”

We both look over my shoulder as Lilah waves an impatient arm at me.

Keep my baby sister alive and I’ll never question you again.

One tall order, coming right up.

Chapter 20

Dani

Fox runs his fingers down my arm, being careful to avoid the bruises still lingering around the gunshot wound on my shoulder. We lie together on his bed with nothing but a cotton sheet draped along our waistlines. I tingle on the edge of sleep, still reeling from our last climax. He rests on his side behind me, his touch never leaving my warm skin. His arm curls around me as he kisses the back of my neck. I grab his hand, entwining our fingers together.

“It’s so quiet,” I whisper in the dark.

“That’s why I like it,” he says.

“Me, too.”

I should have stayed.

I furrow my brow, confused by the thought. Should have stayed? Did I leave?

Why would I ever leave this comfort? This safety.

This paradise.

As I turn to face him, I realize my shoulder doesn’t hurt. I look at it. My skin is clear. There’s no gunshot wound at all. No bruises. No pain.

I look at Fox lying beside me. The scar on his cheek is gone. All of his scars are gone.

Even his cobra tattoo is missing.

Did we win?

I smile, succumbing to thoughts and imagines of a different life. No more running. No more looking over our shoulders.

Just me and Fox in our cabin, kissing beneath a star-filled sky.

But then, blood.

So much blood.

Bang. Bang.

Two bullets. I can’t tell where they came from, but crimson red tears fall from Fox’s eyes.

I scream for him, but I can’t hear it over his cold laughter behind me.

I look over my shoulder, coming face-to-face with Mercer’s icy blue stare and the barrel of his gun.

Bang. Bang.

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