Page 119 of Shadows of Obsession

"I'm not killing a person, Aidan. I'm killing my nightmare," she tells him in a low tone, almost a whisper, and then my hand covers hers and we both push the knife.

The shock on Aidan's face is evident, but his eyes roll back in moments. He's not dead. Not yet. But he will be.

"I want to go home," Luna whispers to me after letting go of the knife.

I kiss the top of her head and hold her in my arms.

"Whatever you want, my love."

Chapter 37

?

Luna

Roman tries to make sure I'm okay, but despite my shock, I am. I expected guilt to hit me, but all that hit me was a feeling of complete peace. He won't text me anymore. I won't be followed. I won't have to bail him out of any more trouble.

It's over.

"Luna, talk to me," I hear Roman say from my left.

"Am I a horrible person if I enjoyed watching the life drain from him?" I ask. I don't regret what I did, but I worry this might change me.

"Luna, you put an end to a situation that's been eating at you for years. He deserved much worse than he got. He deserved to live months, years in fear like you did," he declares, and I can feel the anger emanating from him.

I'm glad he's coming home with me. I don't want to lose another second not being with him because of Aidan.

"All I could think about was Roxy and those three men standing over her. They would have raped and hurt her. I thought about everything I felt when he told me the explosion was at the house where you were. I felt my heart breaking, and I put all that helplessness into my hand when I pushed that knife," I tell him as a sort of confession.

Maybe I could have forgiven him if everything had stopped with me. Maybe I could have moved on, even with him still in this world, if he hadn't involved Roman and Roxy. Or maybe I should have been stronger long ago, and it wouldn't have come to this.

But I can't change the past. And my actions put the only people who've always been there for me in danger.

"Your wheels are turning again, and judging by your face, they're not turning well," Roman tells me because, obviously, he's figured out what I'm thinking. "Luna, he deserved to die just for making you afraid of your own shadow. For each panic attack, he deserved another knife in a different part of his body. You showed him sympathy in the way you chose to end him," he says, and every word is said with such confidence that I can't help but believe him.

"Okay," is all I can answer.

I know I'm not the strongest, and maybe I'll never jump out of a car with a machine gun like Julia does, but I've realized I'm okay with the idea of hurting someone who caused suffering to someone I love. And I'm okay even if that person has to die, as long as the people I love are safe.

If I had let Aidan leave alive, I know inevitably I would have found him back in my life. Maybe not right away. Not in a month. But he would have returned, and who knows if I would have been as lucky then as I was now.

Chapter 38

?

Luna

One week later

In the last week, we've had many things to resolve.

Roman and Niko told Victoria about Maksim's existence. Victoria's shock was evident, but her look of adoration when her eyes met Maksim's was priceless.

I know it's not obvious to them, but all the brothers adore Vi.

Anuska confessed her secret to everyone, and although I couldn't do much, I sat beside her and held her hand throughout the discussion.

Roman broke a vase against the nearest wall. I've never seen him so angry, and it shows how affected he was by his family's secrets. Niko tried to be the mediator in this whole situation, although it was clear the secret hurt him too.

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