Page 41 of Revenant

I want her fire.

I want her quiet, rebellious spirit.

I refuse to believe I broke her beautiful soul with my stupidity.

“Why did you even come for me?” she murmurs, ignoring my plea. The next buckle releases faster, and when she moves to my feet, I barely resist the urge to snatch her to my chest and force her to listen. Instead, I grab the IV in my arm and yank it out, then dutifully work on releasing my other arm.

“I might be an idiot, but I’m not stupid. It didn’t take me long to realize how badly I fucked up.” Defeat slumps my shoulders,and I wish I could travel back in time to kick my own ass. I won’t ever stop trying to convince her that I never meant to hurt her. “I thought I was helping you. I thought I was?—”

“I know exactly what you thought.” She huffs in annoyance, still avoiding my gaze, and I feel lower than a piece of shit on the bottom of her shoe. “You thought I was crazy. You thought I was a danger to your family. I canalmostunderstand your actions.”

I don’t even pretend that I’m not watching her, my battered heart thumping heavily in my chest as I wait for her to strike the killing blow to a relationship I didn’t know I wanted until it was too late. When she finally glances at me, her soul is laid bare, no hint of subterfuge or artifice darkening her bright teal eyes. I was too stupid to see the truth until now.

“I would have understood if you came to me with your concerns. Instead, you set out to humiliate me.” She shakes her head and turns away to work on the bindings around Gunner. I’m frozen solid as I wait for her to say the words that will seal my fate, desperately battling the urge to hold her hostage until she forgives me.

Worst of all, she has every right to want me out of her life.

“I might not know much about family, but I do know they don’t treat each other that way.” She releases the strap across the big man’s chest, then turns her back toward me to work on the bindings around his wrists.

Maybe I should respect her decision and leave her alone, but I refuse to let her go that easily, not when it matters so much. I slip off the table, grimacing when she stiffens at my nearness. I curl my hands into fists to stop from slipping my arm around her waist and tugging her against my chest. My arms ache to hold her close, where she belongs. I bow my head, breathing deeply of her scent, the smell of smoke and flowers easing the tightness in my chest for the first time since she went missing.

“You’re right,” I admit gruffly, then force myself to step around her and work on Ellis’ restraints. “I’m used to being around my brothers and their thick skulls. The only way the stubborn assholes will listen is by cracking their heads together. My brothers are stubborn fuckers. They are so in love with you that I didn’t think they would listen. It didn’t dawn on me that I could be wrong until it was much too late.

“I thought I was protecting you.” Shame burns my skin like I was doused in acid, and I focus on the restraints, unable to look her in the eye. “I was wrong.”

“I will forgive you if you do me one favor,” Rue murmurs, her voice so soft that I think it’s a figment of my imagination. “No matter what happens, I want you to get the guys out of here.”

My head snaps up to find her looking at me, her eyes hard and determined. A growl rumbles in my chest, and I stalk toward her, not stopping until we’re only inches apart. Bending down, I invade her space until I’m right in her face, my every nerve ending lighting up at her nearness. “Never. I won’t make the same mistake twice. I won’t abandon you again.”

Chapter Sixteen

RUE

Fierce determination burns in his green eyes until they look like they’re lit from within by the sheer force of his will alone, and my breath catches at his bold declaration. It’s almost like he cares, but I would be a fool to trust him again. Right?

He’s too near, his spicy cologne mixed with his masculine scent is intoxicating, and the sheer force of his personality is befuddling my brain. Focusing on my task allows me a bit of breathing room, but being near all five of the guys again is overwhelming.

How can they appear even bigger and stronger than in my memories? They look leaner, their bodies meaner, the angles of their faces sharper, like they were shorn down to their most primal selves—beasts on the prowl and searching for a fight.

I thought I built them up in my mind.

If anything, I didn’t do them justice.

The boys I remember are now savage men, and damn if my hands don’t twitch with the need to touch them. The chillthat has infected me since I was taken thaws slightly at their nearness, and my mouth waters with a near irresistible craving to taste them.

Claim them.

A visceral part of me wants to mark them so everyone will know that they’re mine, and I’m a little taken aback by the violent emotion. Sure, I’ve lived with violence my whole life. I don’t fear pain or blood, mine or others. I don’t even flinch at the sound of bones breaking, even if they are my own.

And yet, something about seeing the guys hurt threatens my sanity far more than any ghosts.

I mentally battle to keep focused on removing the cursed bindings holding them prisoner, not touching them to make sure they are real and not a figment of my imagination. I hate to admit it, but after months of being drugged, months of being denied even the simplest kindness, denied any touch that doesn’t bring pain, I’m struggling to tell what is real and what isn’t.

Once finished with Gunner, I hurry toward Jaceson, reaching for the strap across his chest when Hicks speaks again. I startle so badly that I jump like a cat, my feet clearing a few inches off the floor when I whirl.

The temperature in the room drops so drastically that darkness bleeds along the corners. Shards of frost appear across the floor like lightning strikes, the speed they’re moving too fast to track.

Hicks lifts his hands in surrender, but he doesn’t flinch or look away from me. Though his breath fogs the air, he remains calm. I want to call him a fool for not treating me as a threat, and I begin to wonder if he wasn’t right to try and force me out of their lives.

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