Page 83 of Tangled Hearts

I wrapped my arms around him, holding onto him tightly as he fell to his knees, making me flinch. I didn’t know if it was because we were touching or so close to each other, but his heartache was my own.

“Max, I’m so sorry,” I whimpered, fighting against the need to cry hysterically.

“If I had done my job, this wouldn’t have happened,” he whispered. “I knew something was wrong and I didn’t trust my gut, leaving you vulnerable because I trusted the wrong person.”

“Max, this isn’t your fault,” I said, running my hand through his hair.

“It is, Sol.” He pulled away from me. “I should have pushed harder to make people see Taylin for what he was. I should have fought harder for you, instead of….”

He looked up, not finishing his sentence.

“Hey, it's no one’s fault except Taylin and Laima; they are the ones who orchestrated this entire thing. You are not to blame,” I said, cupping his face so he would look at me. “You did everything you could have done. We will always have doubts and question whether we did things right, but don’t let the past consume you, Max. Stay in the present with me, let’s figure out how we can stop it now.”

“I miss my family,” he said, exhaling harshly. “I’m sorry.”

“There is no need to apologize, Max, and I’m sorry you never got to say goodbye or have closure,” I said, crying again because while I didn’t remember my family, a small part of me missed them, and I felt cheated too.

“All we can do is live in their memory and make things right,” Ryder said, throwing his arms around us along with the twins, surrounding us in a big hug.

“We have a chance to bring them some vengeance, they will pay for this,” Soren said, anger lacing his voice.

“You have a second chance, and you have us to make it right, Max,” Gray said. “This time we won’t fail, we will bring them to their knees.”

Max took a deep breath. I felt the small flicker of hope growing and that’s all we needed. They took everything from us, and it was time to do the same to them.

24

SOREN

It killed me that nothing was here for them. When we walked here, Max was growing more and more tense. I knew we weren’t going to find anything, no matter how hard any of us wished for it.

Max and Oria had lost their family and a chance to figure out what happened after they had been captured. They had lost out on closure, but worst of all, they had lost their hope. When Max punched the column over and over again, his emotions felt like my own and all I wanted to do was break everything with him and for him.

When Ryder, Gray and I held onto Max and Oria, I realized this bond wasn’t just with Oria, but this bond had tied all of us together. While I didn’t have romantic love for Max, I knew I cared for him and would fight for him as much as I would for Oria.

I rested my head against Max’s, with Ryder on his other side, trying to offer him comfort for the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. No one said anything as we held onto each other, but night had fallen, and I didn’t like being out in the open like this. Even if we couldn’t see anyone, that didn’t mean no one was here.

“I don’t want to break up this moment, but I think we should move this inside a building or make our way back,” I said, looking around, the open space making me uncomfortable.

“He’s right, we could have been followed or they might be here already,” Ryder said, letting go first.

“This is just one city, but I don’t think it's worth going further than this,” Max said, pulling away. “We have to be smart and if it’s a dead end, we can’t waste any more time.”

“I agree,” Gray said, moving away from us to look around.

“Are you up for the walk back?” Ryder asked us.

“I’m tired, but I can do it,” Oria said looking depleted.

“I’ll carry you, Sunshine,” Gray said, bringing Oria close to him so he could kiss her on her forehead.

“I think it's best if we leave now,” Max said, also on alert, the sadness still etched on his face.

“Ok, lets?—”

“Thank you,” Max interrupted Ryder. “I know you said it wasn’t worth coming, but?—”

“No need to thank us,” I said, clapping him on his shoulder.

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