Page 129 of Silent Vendetta (Vendetta Duet)

“I looked up to you,” I continued, each word a painful knife twisting in my gut. “I loved you like a father. You were my hero.”

The chilling echo of my words hung between us.

“But you took him from me,” I said, my voice dropping to a bare whisper.

There was silence, a deadly calm that seemed to suspend time itself. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, the facade slipping just a fraction.

“I won’t allow you to take her, too.”

“I won’t stop until I do,” he vowed.

The words lingered in the air, a profound proclamation of the heartbreaking path I was forced to tread.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” I whispered. It was the final goodbye, a farewell to the uncle I once knew and the father figure I’d lost twice.

And with that, I plunged the knife into his heart.

And then I collapsed.

CHAPTER66

Luna

“Hunter!” Through my dizziness, a fresh avalanche of adrenaline helped me crawl over to him, terrified to see how ghostly white he’d become.

At least I had a tourniquet on my leg, but there was no way to cut off the blood loss seeping from his deep laceration.

“Hold on!” I peeled the shirt off my body, wadded its fabric into a ball, and pressed it against the warm, slick wound on his back.

He let out a raspy groan—a good sign that he could still feel pain. But his eyelids began drooping as I patted down his pockets and tugged his cell phone out.

Horrified to see it had shattered in the struggle. It wouldn’t even turn on.

“Shit!” I leaned down and cupped his cheek.

“Stay with me, Hunter. I need you. I can’t live in a world where you don’t exist. Do you hear me?”

Hunter’s eyes dimmed, but he offered a slight nod and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

My throat clenched.What if this is the last time I ever see him?And after all he’d been through, having to kill his uncle, too?

“You saved me.”

His eyes shimmered with tears as I planted a gentle kiss on his soft lips, which were colder than they should have been.

Reminding me I needed to hurry.

“Hold on,” I said.

With immense effort, I got to my feet. I held on to the wall of the underground passage as I stumbled down it as fast as I could, then held on to both cold banisters as I clanked up the metal staircase. Sharp, searing pain radiated from my thigh, sending nauseating waves up my stomach. The world began to blur, and I worried I’d pass out, but I managed to get the door at the top of the steps open. I pushed through it, navigated the secret closet, and emerged into Hunter’s bedroom.

Where I ran smack into the chest of Grayson.

Thank God it was him; I trusted him most with what I needed to do.

He gripped my upper arms, steadying me as I wobbled, his hold firm—ensuring I stayed upright as he scanned my body, head to toe.

I could only imagine what I looked like.

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