Page 97 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

Iopen the door to find an agitated Kai frowning right at me.

“Tell me the truth?” his deep voice demands.

My stomach drops, thinking he somehow found out about the switch. But how could he possibly know?

“What are you talking about?”

Kai pushes past me, making his way into the centre of the small room, his frown deepening the more he looks around. “This deal you have with your contact. How trustworthy are they?”

A glimmer of relief passes through me. He doesn’t know.

Closing the door, I turn to him. “If you're worried about Luna—”

“I’m worried about you!” His voice raises as he steps toward me, the intensity in his tone surprising me. His eyes are filled with an affection and worry I’m not used to.

“You don’t need to be, I’ll be fine.” Famous last words, but they should hold on long enough until they all leave, then my mind can acknowledge the truth.

I’m not fine and haven’t been in a long time.

“You’ve been keeping something from us. We can all see it.” Kai fists his hands, his frustration reaching a boiling point.

Yes, but it’s to keep you all safe.

I wish to tell him those words, but know his stubbornness, similar to my own, would disagree.

“I—” I swallow the hard lump in my throat, threatening to choke me.

“It’s something to do with King, isn’t it?”

King is forever my tormentor but telling him would only ruin what was left of the plan. Luna and Alana deserve their freedom.

“I don’t know what you want me to say?” I try to change the subject; the emotion is thick in the room. I need to escape, to be free from this new pain tightening around my heart.

“All you have to do is open up to us. Let us at least try to make up for leaving you here.”

I give him a sad smile. There is nothing he can do, nor does he own the guilt he feels is his.

“There’s nothing you need to make up for.” I tell him the truth, at least with this.

His chuckle is hollow and cold. “We thought it was you who left us, but it wasn’t. It was us who left you.”

“No—” I shake my head, vehemently disagreeing. We were only kids. Of course, they assumed I left them. I might have jumped to the same conclusion if roles were reversed. But he doesn’t hear me, continuing on.

“We abandoned you when you needed us the most. We left you to that monster and many like him, and we never once questioned why you would leave. We thought you betrayed us, but it’s us who betrayed you—”

“I never felt you betrayed me, any of you,” I say with as much certainty as I could, needing him to know the truth in those words.

It was never their fault.

Kai looks to me with so much guilt I could taste it on my tongue. I couldn’t let him leave, thinking any of this was his fault.

“Kai…” I start, taking a step forward, but stop, not knowing what to say.

If I involve any of them in this, King will hunt them down and kill each of them. An icy hand wraps around my throat at the thought.

I convince myself they are better off not knowing and that staying out of it is for their own good.

“Maybe… maybe this is how it was always meant to be.”

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