Page 94 of Crossed By the Stars
My eyes met hers. They were grim and determined, a look I recognized from myself. From my father. She was so much more like me than I’d ever acknowledged…except she’d been loyal to my father. And now, she’d do everything in her power to make sure his memory and his body were honored. She would die in order to make it happen, but I didn’t think she’d have to. TheKyodainawould do right by him if only to hide the treachery inside the syndicate itself.
Rana’s voice was grim as she took in the dark suits closing in, guns still on alert. “Dax. We need to leave. Now.”
Dax grabbed my hand, regardless of the blood that was sticking to it. My father’s blood. The blood that also flowed through me. Death and destruction following us.
He pulled me into the circle of people who’d brought him into the Matsudas’ garden, and we backed away, going down the path slowly. My bare feet scraped the stones and gravel. Dax seemed to register it more than I did, and he swung me into his arms with ease even though he was still favoring his hurt knee. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my head against his chest. It was padded and thick, and I suddenly realized he was wearing a bulletproof vest underneath his suit. It was a small relief, the knowledge that he’d worn some protection, but I still didn’t know if I should yell at him for rescuing me or thank him. I would never be worthy of his sacrifice.
We exited by the garden gate where the bulky guard who’d stood there earlier was on the ground with a dart to his neck, similar to the one that had taken down Mike at the cottage. An eye for an eye. It was so something my father would have done that it brought tears again. They flowed quietly. Silently. Not the loud sobs of Ichika or Kaida.
We were hustled into a set of SUVs that were parked askew in the middle of the quiet street. Cillian hit the gas, and we sped away from the darkness toward a sunset that was turning the sky purple and orange.
I was still in Dax’s arms, sitting on his lap rather than in a seat, the heat of him seeping into me, bringing me comfort by just being there.
I looked to the front seat where my old bodyguard sat, and my chest squeezed once more. “What are you doing here?” I demanded, voice cracking in a way that I hated.
Rana grimaced. “Protecting you.”
“It isn’t your job anymore. You left.”
She didn’t disagree.
“She’s the reason we knew what we were facing,” Cillian said. “We were lucky she found us.”
It wasn’t an answer. There was more that I needed to know, but I couldn’t seem to focus on it. My eyes kept filling with a white shirt covered in blood and my father’s last words.
Dax’s arms tightened around me.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, voice tender with worry laced through it.
I shook my head, the ringing reminding me that I was still hurt. My wounds that had not had a chance to heal had been broken back open. But worse than the physical marks to my body were the emotional ones that had scarred me today. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever recover from those.
Dax
WHAT IF THIS IS ALL THE LOVE YOU EVER GET
“I'm in the ruins too
I know the wreckage so well.”
Performed by Snow Patrol
Written by Lee / Lightbody / McDaid / Quinn / Connolly / Wilson
She had blood all over herhandsand new scratches that were marring her arms and legs. She’d barely started to heal and was now covered in new cuts. My heart twisted and fell in my chest.
“What happened?” I asked.
She shook her head, and more tears sprang from her eyes.
“He saved my life,” she whispered, and the shock of her words spread through me. The father who’d abandoned her, threatened her, and kidnapped her…had saved her? It made no sense.
“It was Akari Matsuda and my cousin, Isamu. She wanted revenge for her brother, and he wanted to take over from my father. Killing me, or having me kill myself, would have just been the start.”
The realization of how close Jada had come to dying sent chills up my arms.
“Mon Dieu, we shouldn’t have left Ito-san there…” I said, trailing off.
A small sob escaped her. “I think she’ll be okay for today. They need her to take the body. But after… I don’t know what will happen to her then.”
