Page 67 of Unholy Nights

"You want to know the difference between you and me?" Emerald keeps moving forward until the barrel touches her chest. "I know what real love feels like. What it means to belong to someone completely. To give yourself willingly instead of being forced."

"Shut up!" Madeline screams, but her hand trembles harder, sweat dripping down her arm.

"I'm going to have his baby." Emerald's voice rises above the roar of flames, steady despite the smoke burning her lungs. Sparks rain down around her like deadly fireflies, catching in her ash-streaked hair. "I'm going to know what it means to truly love a child. To protect them. To let them be exactly who they're meant to be." Her eyes lock with mine through the smoky haze, the green nearly glowing in the firelight. "I'm going to have everything you never could. Because I know how to love. And you only know how to destroy."

The gun drops a fraction of an inch as Madeline chokes on the toxic air—and that's all I need.

I move at the same moment Cole and Lucas do, the scorching marble burning through my tux as I tackle Madeline to the ground. The gun goes off, the sound deafening in the enclosed space, but Emerald is already diving to the side, rolling across the superheated floor. The gun skids away through puddles of melted ice as Madeline thrashes beneath me, her screams mixing with the crackle of flames and the groan of failing support beams. My skin blisters from the heat of the floor, but I don't let go, even as burning debris rains down around us.

"No!" she shrieks as Lucas and Cole drag her up, her designer dress smoking at the edges. "You can't—I won't let you—she's mine—"

But her words dissolve into broken sobs as a blast of cold winter air rushes in, making the flames dance wildly as uniformed officers and firefighters surge through the entrance. The sudden temperature change sends more crystals shattering from what remains of the chandeliers.

I don't care about any of it. My entire world narrows to Emerald as I pull her into my arms, my hands running over her body checking for injuries. The heat radiates off her skin, her pulse racing under my fingers where they press against her throat.

"I'm okay," she whispers against my chest, her voice raw from the smoke. "We're okay. All of us."

My hand slides to her stomach as I breathe her in, ignoring the sting in my lungs. Her ivory dress is ruined, scorched and stained with soot, but she's never looked more beautiful. "Don't ever do that to me again."

She looks up at me, those green eyes bright despite the ash smudged across her cheek where I'd kissed her earlier. Her skinburns hot against my palm. "I knew you'd catch me. You always catch me."

"Always." I kiss her forehead, tasting salt and smoke on her skin, not caring who sees. Not anymore. "Until the stars burn out, remember?"

Around us, the scene unfolds like a choreographed dance. Officers lead Madeline away in handcuffs while she screams about betrayal and revenge. The old money families of Emerald Hills watch with a mix of horror and satisfaction as their tormentor is finally brought down. The Savage Six stand off to the side like the rulers they are, watching as emergency crews begin assessing the damage.

But none of it matters. Nothing exists except the woman in my arms and the child she carries. My entire universe contained in her body, in the life we created, in this victory written in ash and blood.

"Take me home," Emerald whispers against my skin.

I tuck her closer as we walk through the destruction Madeline left behind. "Home" stopped being about places the moment she gave herself to me in that chapel.

Home is wherever we are together.

Just us. Just this. Forever.

"You can makeit whatever you want it to be."

I watch Emerald's face as she takes in the empty rooms of the house I bought us, her hand resting on her stomach. It’s been sitting empty for almost two years, waiting for this moment.

The space is nothing like the mansion she grew up in. It’s warmer somehow even though it’s empty, with huge windows that let in natural light and exposed wooden beams that give it character without the ostentatious display of wealth her mother insisted on.

"It's amazing," she whispers, moving to one of the windows that overlooks Crescent Lake. From here, you can see the water through the trees, the snow-covered mountains beyond. "But isn't it far from your office?"

"It's closer to where it matters." I wrap my arms around her from behind, spreading my palm over where my baby’s growing. "The Savage Six all live close. You'll never be alone here."

She leans back against my chest and lets out a happy sigh. I breathe in the sweet scent of her skin. Every day since the fire has been about rebuilding—not just our lives, but her sense of security. Her trust in having choices.

"I can really do whatever I want with it?"

"Anything you want." I press a kiss to her neck. "Paint the walls neon pink. Turn the dining room into an art studio. Build a fortress of pillows in the living room. It's yours to create."

She turns in my arms, her bottomless green eyes glassy. "We’ll do it together.”

"If that’s what you want." I capture her lips with mine, still amazed that I get to have this. Her. Our child. A future I never thought I deserved.

A knock echoes through the empty house, and Emerald tenses before relaxing when she recognizes Tristen’s voice as he calls out from the front door. After everything, sudden noises startle her sometimes. But she’ll heal. She’s already doing better and it’s only been a few days.

"In here," I call back, keeping one arm around her waist. She’s still too thin. She's barely eaten today, too excited about seeing the house, and I make a mental note to feed her soon.

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