Page 162 of Empire of Ache & Ruin

“The police will be here any minute.” I step toward him. “Leave now.”

“Stop stalling.” Hunter points the gun at me.

When he does, Mom loses it. “Leave my son alone. For the love of God, please don’t hurt him. I can take you to Paloma. She’s staying with us.”

“Mom.” I reach for her.

In that moment, my whole world stops. One minute, I have her hand in mine, the next she’s falling to the floor. Her eyes go big in shock as her body contorts awkwardly. Then, there’s blood everywhere. I catch her before she hits the marble tile and slowly ease her down so she’s lying on my lap.

Somewhere to my right, Fisher is talking but I can’t make out his words. When I glance up, he has Hunter by the neck. Hunter still has a tight grip on my gun, but he’s now pointing it at himself. The loud bang echoes in my ears. In the next beat, Hunter collapses at Fisher’s feet. He’s unconscious, possibly dead.

“Tristan?” Mom squeezes her eyes shut.

“Don’t move. Help is coming. You’re going to be okay.” I put pressure on her side. The asshole shot her in the back the same way he did with me.

“It’s over Freya. Tristan is safe.” Fisher kneels next to her and takes her hand in his. “I should’ve listened to you and killed this asshole years ago.”

“Mom. I never should’ve come here. This is my fault.” I hug her to me.

“I’m glad you did. Because now you’re safe. That’s all I ever wanted for you, Tristan.” She smiles at me, pressing her forehead to my cheek. “My beautiful boy.”

I’m ten again. Mom is holding me in her arms while trying to walk on her broken leg. I want to tell her that I’m not hurt, but the tears give me away. The burn on my back stings, and I have a vague sense that I can possibly die from the pain alone. Mom weeps along with me because there’s something that hurts even more. We left Dad behind to die alone.

I never thought I would feel that level of pain again—the kind that rips your heart in two and leaves you bleeding. We’re back to square one. I can’t stand the idea that Mom might die this time around. And it’s all my fault. I brought all of us here to face the monster under the bed.

The monster won.

While Mom lies in my arms, gasping for air, the Senator is getting medical help.

The room is chaos when I finally come back to reality. Next to me, a paramedic is talking to me, but I can’t make out the words until Fisher steps in and takes Mom from me. “There’s nothing you can do for her now. Let the paramedics do their job.”

I nod, stepping back, looking at the fucking mess I caused. “This is all my fault. I brought her here.” I shake my head.

“Don’t do that. We all had a say in this.” Fisher grips my shoulder. “She’ll pull through. She’s the strongest woman I know.”

“She has to.” I brace my hands on my knees and heave.

She has to live. Because if she doesn’t, I don’t know how I’ll move on. How can I go on carrying this guilt? Knowing Mom is dead because of me? Because I couldn’t fucking let it go.

CHAPTER40

TRISTAN IS GONE

Paloma

I wake up with a startle, heart beating fast. Tristan is gone, and I can’t help but feel empty inside. As if last night had only been a dream. But it can’t be. I’m in his bed again. As impossible as it all feels, I’m really here. But something feels off. Why is he gone if he promised to stay with me?

The clock over the mantle says it’s past one in the morning, which means I only slept a couple of hours. I pad to the bathroom to find some clothes. I don a pair of jeans, silky top, and sneakers. I need to find him and make sure that the hole I feel in my chest means nothing. Tristan is alive. He loves me. He wants to be with me always. A smile pulls at my lips as I open the door to the bedroom and head downstairs.

In the living room, I find Gardenia and Jacob arguing. “What’s going on?” I ask.

“Well, that answers your question.” Gardenia cocks an eyebrow at Jacob. “She’s coming with us.”

“Fine.” Jacob turns to me. “We…” he hesitates.

“We’re going after Tristan.” Gardenia cuts him off. “He might be in trouble.”

“What? Why? What happened?” I step toward them.

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