Page 229 of Under an Endless Moon

But she was alive, and she looked at me with those inky eyes. Dragging me down into the depths. To her love and her belief. To her strength and her vulnerability.

To every complex, beautiful, perfect thing that she was.

I hoped mine conveyed everything that I felt inside.

That I’d live for her. Die for her. Shout for her. That I loved her with every fiber of my being. That she was the light that called me from the darkness, and I was ready to bask in it.

But I couldn’t relish in it since that bitch Sienna screamed as she jumped off the couch, and Gideon yanked Raven up from a chair. The ropes that had bound her had already been cut and fell to the ground, fucker likely doing it when he heard us coming and thought he was actually gonna drag her away.

Now, he hauled her back against his chest and pressed a knife to her throat.

Sienna hovered just off to the side, antsy as fuck as she looked between me and Gideon.

Trepidation had my insides quaking, but I refused to let it show as I ground out, “Drop the knife.”

A crazed smile pulled across Gideon’s face. “Yeah, that’s not goin’ to happen.”

“She doesn’t have anything to do with this. This is between us, so drop the knife and you and I will hash this shit out.”

Derision rocked from him, and he yanked Raven harder against his chest. “This bitch killed my brother, and she’s not going anywhere until she gets what’s coming to her.”

It was my turn to be unprepared. The stake of questions that arrowed through me and pinned me to the spot.

What the fuck was he talking about?

I didn’t have time to contemplate it before the roar of a motorcycle revving from outside rang in the atmosphere.

It was the second cue. The one that had the front door busting open with Cash and Theo banging through, at the exact same time as Kane burst through the back door.

My whole crew piled in, guns drawn, hostility vibrating from their beings. Theo went for Sienna, pushing her down onto her knees before he turned his attention to Gideon and River.

“Now!” I shouted, praying to God Raven would get that single word was meant for her.

Since the woman knew me better than anyone else, she did.

She angled an elbow into his gut and took all the weight from her feet at the same time, using one of the techniques we’d taught her when she was a teen, tearing herself free of his vicious hold and dropping to the ground onto her knees.

It left him exposed.

He shouted, “You fuckin’ bitch.”

Last word barely got out of him before I squeezed the trigger, letting the single bullet fly.

My whole family would have been firing if it wasn’t for the fact that Raven was in a ball with her hands over her head in front of him.

I was aiming for his heart, but was too far to the left, and I hit him up closer to his shoulder. Roaring, he stumbled back a step, and the knife slipped from his hand.

That was all it took to send me running, raging across the room, throwing myself on top of him to keep him from coming back for Raven. I hit him with a thud, and the two of us toppled to the ground. We scrambled around, trying to get on top of the other.

A grunt heaved out of me when he got a punch in low at my ribs, bastard thinking he was gonna get the upper hand when he tossed me just to the side. Only I threw a fist at the same time, clocking him in the jaw. In a flash, I was right back on top of him, pinning him down while I pressed the barrel of a gun to his temple.

Teeth gritted, I pulled the trigger.

And somehow, I recognized it didn’t have a thing to do with thehate. No bearing on the thirst for retribution that had consumed me for so long.

It was for Raven. For the simple fact that I’d give anything to keep her safe.

He went limp below me, and I was washed in a vat of relief.

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