Page 138 of Steel

Dimitri slumps to the ground, and I plant three more rounds in his chest just to make a point.

The last shot echoes and then there’s just silence.

“Jameson.” Tempe’s hand lands on my shoulder, and I turn to face her.

She’s looking down at Dimitri, and I wait for something to register.Fear. Anger. But her face is blank as she stares down at his body.

“Look at me, wildfire.” I tuck my gun away, gripping her chin soshe’ll face me.

Tears swell in her eyes. “Austin…”

“I’ve got him. He’s back at the van with Ghost.”

“You came for us.”

“Of course I did.” I brush a tear from her cheek. “I’ll always come for you. Come here.”

I pick her up, and she winces at my touch. I don’t know the full extent of what Dimitri did to her yet, but it makes me wish I could kill him all over again.

“I can walk.”

“Just let me take care of you.”

For once, she doesn’t fight as I hold her to my chest. She simply stares up at me—my spark in the wind. My wildfire that’s always ripping through the brush, carving her own path because she doesn’t trust anyone else to do it.

Except right now, she hands herself to me. We’re no longer alone, and she finally allows me to just be here.

Tempe curls against my chest, and I kiss the top of her head. Her hand weaves around the back of my neck, and warmth returns to my bones.

“Thank you, Jameson.”

“Nothing to thank me for, wildfire. I’ll always find you. Remember what I said? To my grave.” I kiss her again. “I love you.”

She looks up at me with a smile cracking her face. “I love you too.”

We walk back over to the house, and it’s crawling with Twisted Kings now. If the Iron Sinners were going to send more men, they would have already.

Soul and a few other men are carrying bodies through the front door, and I angle Tempe away because even if I know she can handle it, she shouldn’t have to.

Walking around the vans, I stop where Ghost and Austin are sitting inside one of them, watching something on Ghost’s phone.

“Tempe.” Austin smiles when he sees her, and I set her down inside the van so she can hug him.

Austin clings to her, resting his head on her shoulder and reaching a hand out to pull me to them.

“I knew it. That is a cape.” Austin curls against us, squeezing before looking up at me. “You are a superhero.”

Before tonight I might have argued that I’m just a bad man who does bad things and uses good excuses to justify them. But with my family in my arms, Tempe looking up into my eyes, I let myself believe it.

What is a superhero anyway?

Someone willing to sacrifice themselves for the people they care about? Because I’d do anything to hold onto this forever.

Epilogue

Tempe

Three Weeks Later