Page 62 of Reaper Flame

“None of them will,” I said. “Wewill make them suffer. All of them.”

Zander took my hand and kissed it. “That’s a fucking promise.”

Q cleared his throat behind us, making me jump and pull my hand away.

“There’s someone on the radio asking for you, Zander,” Q said, shuffling awkwardly on his feet. “Something about bad weather causing delays.”

Zander nodded and stormed through to accept the call.

Q lingered and nudged his head at Zander’s retreating figure. “So, you took my advice, kid?”

“That’s none of your business.” I scowled. “And I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking out for you,” he said, ruffling my hair playfully. “I’m happy for you, though. All of you. When you find something good, don’t let it go.”

I smiled sweetly. “If you touch my hair again, I’ll cut your hand off.”

Q chuckled and headed back to steer the yacht. It was so fancy it had cruise control, but he still liked to manually steer.

“Q?” I called after him, my voice softening. “Thanks for… you know.”

I was a fiercely independent woman who didn’t need to take advice from anyone but her gut, but Q’s advice helped. If it hadn’t been for him talking about Crystal and second chances, I don’t know whether all of the Sevens would still be alive to return to Port Valentine.

Q grinned back. “Anytime, kid.”

Even though being a Seven again was a temporary arrangement, it went against everything Hiram taught me. But, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t ignore the magnetism drawing us together. It was unavoidable. My heart was caught in the surf with nowhere to go but under. Would I come up for air or drown?

* * *

We stood in silence and watched as the shoreline came into focus. Frizzy hair from the spraying water was the least of my concerns. Two small boats cut across the choppy waves in our direction. I assumed we’d be pulling into a harbor, but it looked like these would be our escorts back to land.

I turned to Q and frowned. “You’re not coming with us?”

We’d already put him in enough danger, but I’d grown used to his presence. He was basically an honorary member of the Sevens, and I enjoyed his company — not that I’d ever tell him that.

“It’ll be easier if I stay out of town for a while. I can work from here,” Q said. “I’ll be back when I can.”

“Take care of yourself, Cupid,” Rocky said, slapping him on the back. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

As I watched the others say their farewells, I realized they believed this could be the last time they saw each other. I couldn’t let that happen, not on my fucking watch. Hiram had already taken years of my life. He would not take anything else from me, especially people I’d grown to care about.

I was last to say goodbye.

“I’m not going to say goodbye,” I said, meeting his eyes with fierce determination and hoping he felt it. “We’ll see you again soon.”

“You bet you will,” Q said, pulling me into a hug before I could stop him. He whispered in my ear, “If anyone can take him down, you can. Do it for Crystal.”

I squeezed him tightly and blinked back tears. “I will.”

He pulled away with shiny eyes and nodded. “Safe travels.”

Leaving the yacht and traveling back to land on the small boats felt like we were leaving a dream world behind — even the clouds seemed to grow darker. Being on the sea may have no rules, but where we were heading was its own version of the Wild fucking West.

“I’ll miss him,” Mieko said wistfully, watching the ‘Crystal’ take off in the opposite direction.

“We all will,” I replied. “But he’s gotta do what he has to do.”

Just like we did.

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