Page 68 of Not Your Hero

I throw the small thing in the trash as fresh tears run down her cheeks. I help her off the counter and lead her to the shower, where I turn it on warm and lead her in.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispers.

“You don’t want my baby inside of you?” I growl.

“You kidnapped me, Gannix!”

“And you’re here now, Emerson. And you’re not going anywhere.”

“That doesn’t mean we need kids. Don’t you see how fucked up the two of us are? What kind of parents do you think we’ll be?” I run my hand through my hair as I listen to her talk.

“We’re so fucked up, Gannix! Can you imagine us bringing a child into this world the way we are?” she cries harder.

“You don’t want kids,” I say softly.

“I’ve never wanted kids. For a man who claims he knows me so well, why didn’t you know that? Huh?”

“It’s because of her?”

“It’s because of me, Gannix! It’s because of you. Look at us. What kind of monsters would we be?”

“We wouldn’t be, Em. We’d be good parents.”

“Would we? Would we really? Because I am woman enough to say I know I wouldn’t be.” She’s right. What the hell am I going to teach a child? How to hunt? The way I was? I step back away from Emerson and scrub both my hands over my face. I fucked up. I shouldn’t have done that.

“You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. You’re a murderer, and I’m just some whore who caught your eye.”

“No. No, you’re more than that!”

“Am I? Look at me, Gannix!” she screams. I stand back and look at her. I take her in, from the tears to the sad look in her eyes. She hates herself for what she’s become. And I hate myself for what they made me.

“I … I’ll get the doctor to put in a new one.” With that, I step out of the shower and leave her alone in there as heartbreaking sobs rip from her chest.

Chapter 34

Emerson

I’ve never cried until my chest hurt the way I cried the other night. Gannix left me in the bathroom with tears streaming down my cheeks. It hurt. Reality hurt. Realizing what I am almost shredded me.

I’m outside in the maze, losing myself the way Gannix does. I’ve wandered around and around until I hear his voice.

“I don’t know why he likes this shit.” I stop dead in my tracks, my heart hammering in my chest. I slowly turn and come face to face with the man who wants me dead, not knowing how he got here.

“A fucking maze of all things,” he mumbles as he looks around. I turn about to run when he stops me.

“You run, I kill him.” I suck air through my nose as I try to gain some sense of control before turning back to face him.

“What do you want?”

“You, of course. You are supposed to be dead, after all.”

“He won’t let you do this,” I tell him before he begins to laugh.

“Come on, Emerson. He’s my brother. He’s my blood. Why wouldn’t he do it?”

“He cares about me,” I tell him, and he laughs harder.

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