Page 139 of Through the Water

He tipped my face up, brushing his lips over mine like a whisper.

There and gone.

Hello and goodbye.

I instinctively leaned into Killian’s body with a soft moan, needing more, demanding an act of atonement. My broken and bloodied fingernails moved up to his neck, guiding him back to me.

Our mouths moved together in repentance, speaking all the words we couldn’t say, the whispers of the promises we’d been forced to break. I parted my lips, letting the liquor on his tongue burn away the hurt.

Sister Helene had tried convincing me it was nothing more than young love, but the past two days had aged me a hundred years. I didn’t care if it was wrong, I felt more alive in his arms than I ever had inside the church.

Killian was my oxygen.

The only thing that had kept me from drowning years ago.

“Ari,” he broke away with a pant, dropping his forehead to mine. “I love you. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to stop. So, let me fight for you the only way I can. Let me be your knight in slightly tarnished armor.”

I laughed through the tears because I’d never been looking for a knight, just a sword powerful enough to take down a monster.

“What I said before about you being fake—” His eyes welled up. “You are, without a doubt, the most genuine and caring person I’ve ever met.”

I pressed my fist to my lips to hold back my tears, making a sound of protest when I saw Dean approaching. “No. I’m not ready.”

“Ariana, we’ve got a car waiting,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Morgan’s already been taken to a safe location—”

“No,” I repeated, my voice raw. “I won’t leave him to face this alone.”

“We need to extract you tonight before the shit hits the fan.”

Dean said it so matter-of-factly, but every part of my body tensed with the realization that he hadn’t brought me here for a nighttime reunion.

He was forcing me to say goodbye.

“Baby,” Killian murmured, keeping one hand on my jaw. “He’s giving you a way out. Take it. Don’t worry about me. I’ve been through the wringer before. I can handle it as long as I know you’re safe—”

“You don’t understand—we’re not safe! Nobody knows Tristan like I do, and he’s not going to stop until he gets what he wants!”

“The case against Killian falls apart without you, Ariana,” Dean answered patiently. “It’s the only way to keep you from perjuring yourself if it makes it to trial.”

Hysterical laughter bubbled up in my throat, and I shook my head. “If I don’t go through with the press conference, they’ll have him killed.” I turned back to Killian. “It was me, or you and I chose—”

Pick up your shield and fight back.

The weight of the words nearly knocked me over, and I suddenly knew what to do.

“Oh, my God.” My eyes widened. “Me. I’m the only one who can stop him. Dean, Killian’s going to be taking my place.”

“Ari, no—”

I silenced his protest with my lips, before pulling away with a victorious smirk. “If I don’t make it out of this alive, make sure the world knows I died a hero.”

How do you destroy a monster when you have nothing?

By turning yourself into a weapon.

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