Page 97 of Shattered Jewel

We hit the main road, the SUV eating up the miles. Trees blur past, a green smear against the lightening sky.

As the journey stretches on, I realize that this is the first time I’ve been alone with Wilder since...well, since he threatened to jump off a cliff if I dared him to. I study him out of the corner of my eye, his expression focused despite the seemingly reckless driving as he navigates the twisting roads leading out of Titan Falls.

I ask, my voice barely audible over the thrumming engine, “Why are you really coming with me?”

He doesn’t respond immediately. His grip tightens on the steering wheel momentarily before he rumbles with subdued laughter. It sounds hollow. Haunted, almost.

“Someone has to keep an eye on you,” he replies eventually, but his smirk isn’t as dimpled and confident as it normally is.

I roll my eyes at his response, an action more to keep myself from analyzing the turmoil behind his features than for mocking him.

But instead of dipping into silence again, he surprises me by speaking up.

“Four years ago,” he says, his voice barely floating over the sound of tires on asphalt, “I had a girlfriend. Teagan.”

His revelation stiffens my shoulders in my already tense body. “The friend you mentioned when we were at the cliffs. The one who…”

For whatever reason, I can’t say the word: Died.

Or that she was his girlfriend.

He nods, understanding what I mean. “Tea was different. Bright. Alive. She had this ability to see the good in everything, even when there was none to be found. Kinda like someone sitting beside me right now.”

He tries to inject humor, but sorrow bleeds into the edges of his voice.

“She’s dead because of me,” he murmurs, keeping his eyes on the road.

“You never explained why you believe that,” I prompt quietly.

Strain ripples from his face to his hands, leaving his knuckles pale against the dark wheel. “She was innocent, unaware of the Court’s existence. I was an initiate who’d just had the ceremony in front of the Sovereigns to make me a member.”

His eyes glance at me before returning to the road, and there’s a distress in them that makes my heart clench.

“I’ve never been good at following orders, doing what I’ve been told without question. The Sovereigns knew that. They used Teagan as leverage, claimed they had her hostage and would kill her if I didn’t comply.” Beneath the dark scruff of his chin, a battle of restraint plays out in taut muscles. “I didn’t believe them... until they sent me proof. A picture of her, bound and blindfolded with terror in her eyes.”

“Oh my god,” I whisper.

I’m fully aware of the Sovereigns’ depravity at this point, yet they still manage to shock me with their callousness.

“They dared me to try and save her. Said that if I found any information about the ruby Heart, she’d be freed. They left out the part where they’d already sold her.”

Wilder’s voice breaks, an agonizing sound that rips through the car’s interior. I reach out, placing my hand on his arm, conscious that comfort will never be enough.

“It was easy enough to track her down. I had Kasp, Cav, and Axe on my side, using their talents to dig up where they’d put her. But when I got there…” He lets out a breath that sounds more like a sigh of defeat. “There were other girls there, too. Sold to some mafia perv named Marco Bianchi who was excited to spread them around to his friends. Knowing that, I lost my shit. There was no way I was going to interrogate any of those fuckers for a stupid piece of jewelry, so I grabbed Tea, who they’d stripped and drugged, and got out of there.”

Raw anguish carves itself into the planes of his face, and in that unguarded moment, the facade of smirks, flirtation, and ill-timed jokes crumbles away. For the first time, I glimpse the man beneath the armor—vulnerable, scarred, and achingly human.

“How did she...? You mentioned before…” I start, but my voice trails off as I grapple with my words.

“She died in my arms,” Wilder finishes for me. “I wasn’t fast enough. Kaspian and Cav covered me, Axe was in the car down the street waiting for us, but it wasn’t enough. They shot her down like some kind of target practice.”

His truth slams into me, an invisible force that empties my lungs and stills my heart.

“I carried her body out of there. Cradled her in my arms as her blood soaked through my clothes. And all I could think was that it was my fault. I brought her into this world because I thought she was pretty and cute, and I stupidly thought I could have her and the Court at the same time. I couldn’t protect her from it.” Wilder clears his throat, the sound harsh in the stillness, and I realize Wilder’s eased off the gas. “I failed her. I couldn’t protect her from the Sovereigns. And now, with you...” He shakes his head. “I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“I’m so sorry.” My voice cracks. “What happened to Teagan wasn’t your fault. The Sovereigns, they’re the ones who?—”

“Don’t.” He slices through my words, that one syllable jagged with emotion. “Just ... don’t.”

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