Page 122 of Exile and Embrace

Though every scrape and bruise in my body is screaming at me to put her down, I’m never letting her go again.

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Finn carries me from the car to the house, his arms wrapped around me as tight as he can.

Zoe trails behind him, her eyebrows knit together.

I inhale the scent of his cologne, trying to ignore the metallic tang of the blood soaking his shirt.

All I want to do is go to bed and try to forget that all of this happened.

Although, I doubt sleep is going to be possible with the way my body is aching.

Between being tied up and the abuse at the hands of Declan and Seamus, I don’t think I’m going to be able to shut my eyes again. Even if I do, I know that nightmares will haunt me.

Declan and Seamus might be dead, but their memories are still alive to torment me.

I sigh as Zoe darts forward, opening the front door for Finn. “Zoe, really, we’d have been fine in a hotel.”

Zoe’s eyes narrow. “No. You wouldn’t. Look at what they did to you. I never should’ve left the airport before you were in the air. I should’ve known something was up.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing that she would stop feeling guilty. On the drive home, I told her it wasn’t her fault, but she still doesn’t believe me.

I don’t know if she’s ever going to stop beating herself up about it.

There was nothing she could have done, though.

If Declan hadn’t taken me in the airport, he would have found another way to get to me.

As much as my heart hurts for Finn and the way he had to kill his family to protect me, I can’t bring myself to regret it.

We’re better off without those monsters in our lives.

Finn sets me down on the couch.

Christian leads him into the other room for a first aid kit.

Their voices fade down the hall, leaving me and Zoe alone.

The couch dips as Zoe perches herself beside me. Her eyes water as she takes in the cuts and bruises. “I can’t believe this happened.”

I roll my eyes and shuffle back against the cushion, trying to get comfortable even though everything hurts. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I stabbed his father.”

Her eyes nearly bulge out of her head. “Excuse me?”

My chest tightens. “I stabbed him. I didn’t think that I was going to be able to do it but then he was reaching for a gun, and I thought he was going to kill Finn.”

Zoe’s laughter eases some of the tension running through me. “I can’t believe it. You spend your life putting people back together, and here you are, stabbing someone.”

Finn grins as he comes back into the room.

His split lip is only the start of the injuries on his body. “I knew you had it in you. I’m sorry that you had to do it, though. I should’ve come out here with you. If I had, you wouldn’t have been alone.”

“You’re not upset at me for stabbing your dad?” I shift my weight slightly. The ache in my side only gets worse.

I ignore his guilt about not being there for me.

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