Page 216 of Endgame
The power that pushes my shoulders back and my chin up. That, too, has been a long time coming.
But, this, their demise, isn’t my endgame after all.
Aurora is.
She was supposed to be one more casualty in this bitter war that’s already taken everything from me.
She was supposed to be the enemy. A target to take down.
In retrospect, I see how wrong I was.
Even if she weren’t Lotus’s daughter, Aurora was always meant to be mine.
I think I knew it from the start. I know it now, looking down at her. Watching over her as the police raid unfolds inside the Clarkes’ mansion.
Aurora is glued to my side, tucked under my arm, where she belongs.
She’s shivering and restless, her gaze is frantic as she scans the main floor, searching for her father.
He isn’t here. The coward isn’t stupid enough to try to escape through the front door.
That would only end up with him getting shot, and like every textbook narcissist, Winston loves himself way too much to allow that to happen.
I’m not worried. They’ll get to him soon enough.
After Aurora and I are done with them.
Which, if it were up to me, that would’ve happened minutes ago.
Except I’m here for Aurora. She asked me to stay a bit longer. For her heart to settle before she learns the details of the awful truth.
I get that.
I respect that. Her fears and concerns.
Unfortunately, I don’t think waiting helps her.
Everyclickof handcuffs that echoes around us earns me another one of her gasps. Instead of being filled with a sense of victory, she’s more terrified by the minute.
That’s not right. That’s fucking unacceptable.
No one will scare or terrorize her. No one.
“You have the right to remain silent.” A blonde police officer drags one staff member past us. She’s leading him out the front door while reading him his Miranda rights. “Anything you say?—”
“I’m just the chef here!” His outrage is nothing but a whisper at my back.
Just the chefwho witnessed the abuse of a minor since the day he started working here. Though I don’t recognize him, I know he did.
Aurora told me about all of them.
“—can and will be used against you in a court of law,” the officer continues.
Their footsteps fade in the background.
“Everett,” Aurora rasps. “We can go now.”
“You sure?” I brush a lock of her hair behind her ear.
