Page 154 of Marks of Rebellion
"Aren't they?" she asks.
"No. Their day is coming," I vow. I don't know how but the Global Leaders aren't going to win. "I promise you."
She kisses me, and no kiss has ever meant more.
"When did you rescue me?"
"Two days ago. I tried to get to you before, but I couldn't. For the first month, I didn't know for sure you were there. Then I had to wait for an opportunity. He had so many guards. I'm so sorry." I turn and blink, hard.
"Shhh. It's not your fault."
I can't speak, or I'm going to fall apart, so I kiss her again.
"I-I've been asleep for two days?"
I stroke her hair. "Yeah. You needed rest. You still need rest."
She glances around. "Where are we?"
"On a cruise ship."
She scrunches her face. "I don't understand."
"It's our transportation to Bermuda."
I give her some time to grasp our situation, but she suddenly trembles. "You didn't tell me. Am I married to him?"
"No."
"Where is he? Will he find me again?"
"No. Never again. He's dead."
"You killed him?"
"Yes. He was carrying you up the church steps when I shot him. You didn't even enter the building."
"No?"
"No. You don't have to worry about him ever again."
More tears fall. "He's really dead?"
"Yes. I promise."
"Did…" She swallows hard. "Did anyone see you shoot him? The Global Leaders—"
I put my finger over her trembling lips. "No one saw. I had some help. You're safe."
She nods and leans into my chest. Then slides her engagement diamond off her finger and clasps my palm around it. "Please get rid of this. I never want to see it again."
"Okay." I wrap my arms around her. "You're shaking, Flower. What can I do to help?"
She says it so quietly, I barely hear her. "I... I had to kiss him. I betrayed you."
I don't know what he made her do, and every day, the thought of him touching her and having to watch him force her to kiss him made my blood boil. The notion that he was making her do other things with him makes my gut flip, but I know it's not her fault. "You did no such thing."
"He...he tried to have sex with me, and I threw up on him."
