Page 1 of Firefly (Redemption 2)

A crippling acceptance washed over me in the split second that seemed to last forever and pass within a beat of my heart.

Because I knew it would end this way, and I’d been foolish to think it wouldn’t.

But given the chance, I’d do it all over again.

I woke with a grave sense that something was wrong. My mind and ears were alert, but I kept my eyes closed and my body as relaxed as possible. I focused on each breath that filled and fled from my lungs, but as the seconds went on, my breaths turned shallow and started coming faster.

Someone was in my room.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

It was dark behind my eyelids, too dark for anyone to try to wake me.

Kieran.

The name floated through my mind for merely a second before it was shoved aside by that overwhelming sense of wrongness.

Kieran was silent as the night.

If I’d woken to him, I knew my heart would have been beating wildly in my chest, calling out to the guy who had stolen it at some point in my life. It wouldn’t have been slowing, as if even my heart knew it needed to be silent in those moments.

If it had been Kieran, his dark, complicated presence would’ve filled the room, pressing against me in a way I’d spent years recognizing. Instead, electricity danced across my skin in warning, as if I was standing in the path where lightning was about to strike.

Whoever was in the room with me was attempting to quiet their steps . . . and failing.

The warm summer air blew strands of hair across my face, tickling my lips and nose, but still I didn’t move. Fear flooded my veins as that ominous feeling grew stronger and stronger, my breaths halting when I realized I hadn’t opened the large windows in my room.

“One of the other rooms?” a harsh, masculine voice asked from across my room, the hushed whisper floating over to me on the breeze.

“No,” another deep voice responded. “He said it was in here somewhere.”

My body shook as I fought with myself over what to do. Before I could decide on screaming for someone or remaining silent, a third intruder made my decision for me . . .

Rough, thick fingers trailed from my cheek to jaw, and a raw scream burst from my lungs as my eyes flew open.

The same hand that had gently caressed a split second before promptly slammed down over my mouth, muffling my scream and allowing me to hear the curses and demands now flying from the strangers.

“Shut up!”

“You fucking idiot—”

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