Page 554 of Rage

“In that case, O’Connell. Welcome to the family. And if you hurt my sister…”

“You’ll kill me. I know the deal.”

“No, you idiot. If you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down and drag you back to her, where she can exact whatever vengeance she’s due. And trust me, what you saw tonight is just a taste of the violence hidden in Cecelia Rodriguez.”

A smile twitches at the corner of my mouth as Doc finishes up, freeing Xander to pin Cece against the back windshield of the old Honda Accord. The newly risen sun coating them in shades of pink and orange as they toy with each other. This leg had better heal fast. Because I want in on that shit. “Understood. It’d be one hell of a way to go, you’ve got to admit.”

Eddie snorts. “If you say so, man.”

He honks the horn, and Cece and Xander both throw up their middle fingers in response. He rolls down the window, something between exasperation and contentment on his face. “Knock it off, you two. You’re acting like teenagers. And your third little lover needs to get to a hospital. So, unless you want O’Connell to lose a leg, get your asses in gear so we can get the hell out of here.”

This gets their attention, but before they slide into the back, Cece throws open the passenger door, one hand on the swell of her hip as she looks down at me. Then she’s wrapping her hands around my neck, directing my mouth to hers. This kiss is better suited for the cover of night, but Eddie’s mortification gets drowned out by the feel of her thighs under my fingers and the taste of her against my tongue.

“I didn’t want you to feel left out. Because I choose you, too,” she whispers as she draws back. But for just a second, I hold on too tight, and she sighs, relaxing against me.

“Same,” I rasp, words tough to gather as peace and hope, so unfamiliar I hardly recognize them, flood through me with her claiming.

Once we’re on the way, driving toward the sunrise and hospital, away from the lingering night beyond the graveyard, it’s obvious that this is my chance to start again. A new life for my battered old soul.

One that centers around a tiny, lethal woman and a world that needs to be changed. If it takes a bit of blood to get there, well, I’m more than familiar with the stuff.

Maybe this time,I’llget to saveher.

Although, somehow, I have a feeling it will always be the other way around for us.

It’s a future I could look forward to, as strange as the realization is. The stroke of her fingers against the back of my neck as she and Eddie bicker, Xander taking her side with a smirk, is more perfect than a fuck-up like me deserves.

If it takes being less of a fuck-up to keep it? Then I better get my head on straight. Because if I’m going to spend my life standing beside the amazing woman currently running her nails over my scalp, I’ve got to be the best.

I catch Xander’s eye, and I see the same steel that’s just cooled in my spine reflected at me. His clenched fist and the tickin his jaw greet my silent question. We’ll be her armor, freeing her to fight the battles she needs to without the worry of taking damage.

We’re hers.

Forever.

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