Page 64 of Jericho

He blinks down at me, and I can see what he's not saying.

"Promise me," I demand. "Promise me."

"Peach," he whispers, his voice rough and full of gravel.

"Promise me," I cry, fresh tears flowing down my face.

His hand is warm on my face, and I fight the urge to swipe it away along with the tears showcasing my weakness.

"See you soon, Peach."

"If you could take Nyx with you," Casper says as Nolan and Hemlock walk toward the front door.

"We will," Hemlock says, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"That fucker scares the shit out of me," Casper whispers once the front door is pulled closed behind them.

Max chuckles, but he doesn't disagree.

"I can't guarantee what you'll see," Max says as he stands from the computer. "But you're more than welcome to sit on this side."

I debate taking the man up on his offer. I was terrified of the video and, when Damien put the gun to Eli's head, that I was going to witness my son's murder.

"I can't," I say, holding my hands up, and it makes me feel like a coward.

Eli is alone with a crazy man, and I'm not even brave enough to be with him in that way.

I also need a chance to follow through with my own plan. Not every weapon that was unloaded into the house was taken to the other location. I've had my eye on a handgun on the kitchen counter every time I've gone in there to get something to drink, and I know what I'll have to do if something terrible happens in that other house.

I take a seat back on the sofa because waiting is all any of us can do.

I know Nolan is right. Damien has mentioned him more than once as a means to hurt me in the past. He always told me that Nolan renounced his love for me right before he died. He claimed he swore he hated me and wished he'd never met me. He went so far once as to tell me that "Luke" confessed to using me the entire time as if I were a game to him.

There were days I let the things Damien told me sink inside. It was easier to be mad, to let myself think that the man who died because of me did so without any love in his heart for me. I considered it less of a sacrifice, less of a loss that way. It was one of the few ways I could convince myself that losing him wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to me.

But it never quite reached my heart. I never stopped loving Nolan. How could I when he gave me the best thing that has ever happened to me?

Losing Eli would be the end of me. There isn't a second I could survive knowing my son was gone, and if it comes to that, there won't be that much time, after, that would exist for me.

Chapter 33

Jericho

"Three in the front. Another two in the back and five souls inside," Jersey says when we join the other team two blocks from the address we were given through the IP address controlling the security system.

"There are seven bedrooms," Casper says through our mics. "From the heat sensors we have, it looks like there's one adult in the basement with a child."

My skin itches to get inside and tear that motherfucker limb from limb.

"You can't keep me outside," I say to Hemlock when he locks eyes on me.

"I know," he says with a gentle dip of his head that gives me permission to be a part of my son's rescue.

"Thank you," I tell him, knowing what a big deal this is.

"Entry is going to be hard," Lark says. "The house is situated on a hill, and I don't doubt that he's going to have his team take pot shots at everyone who gets close."

"We've put two sharpshooters in place," Hemlock says, placing a tablet on the hood of the SUV. "Here and here."

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