Page 7 of Crimson Flames

“I love you too.”

After changing into dry clothes, we get back to the main area where the kids are huddled together on the living room floor.

“What’s going on?” I ask Havoc and Lev, who seem just as perplexed as we do.

“They don’t want to go to the rooms,” Lev says.

Dr. K comes in then and looks around, recognition softening her eyes. “They don’t feel safe here yet. Can we bring mattresses down here?”

“Forty of them?” Havoc asks.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Lev says, chiding him with a slap to his chest. “Some of the older ones are in a few rooms, but none of them wanted to be alone, so they chose the ones with bunk beds.”

“How many beds do we need to bring down here?” Adrian asks.

“Probably fifteen. The couches fold out and a few have said they want to stay together.”

Adrian and I nod as we make our way to the bedrooms and begin bringing down beds and blankets. Some of the bigger kidshelp while the little ones ride the mattresses down the stairs, their squeals of laughter ringing in our ears.

Seeing them smiling and playing seems to erase some of the bloody and violent memories it’s taken to get here.

“Any news on Ness?” I ask Damien once things begin to settle. His face falls as he glances at his phone.

“She’s still in surgery. Dr. K’s leaving soon to head over there.”

His frown sets me on edge. “Damien?”

He shakes his head. “How many times can we survive these things? How many battles can we fight and walk away unscathed before one of us has to pay the ultimate price?”

I rest a hand on his shoulder and squeeze.

“As many as it takes, and when we reach the end of the line, we keep fighting.”

The two little girls who’ve stolen my heart come running over to us wearing adorable pink and blue princess pajamas with Az right on their heels.

“Play?” they ask at the same time.

Just knowing they want to spend time with us has my heart feeling a little less heavy.

“This,” I whisper to Damien, gesturing to the once somber twins, “this is why we will fight until our very last breath.”

He smiles down at the girls as they bring us a box of toys.

“For them,” Adrian says as he sits down on the ground to work on a puzzle with Ani. Ami hands me a dinosaur and makes a growling sound that has me chuckling.

For them.

Chapter 2

My feet are off the ground, my body spinning in the air as Boris holds me tightly.

“We are really doing this?”

I beam down at him, his blue eyes shining as bright as my heart. “Together,” I confirm.

“Together,” he mimics as he places me back on my feet.

“Together,” Cillian agrees, coming up behind me to press a kiss on my neck.

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