Page 90 of Unlocking Ruin

He turns to the others. “Tell Alister I want to talk.”

Anders shakes his head; a feral smile curls his lips. “If you so much as look at her after I give her to Alister, I will pluck out your eyes. In ten seconds I’m going to bury my ax in Torben’s spine.”

The huge man surges forward, grabs Anders’s wrist, and pushes the ax down to Anders’s side. His voice slices through the uproar. “Let’s all calm down. I’m Cillian.” He moves closer, eyes fixed on me. Steffen’s gun never wavers from Anders, finger tight on the trigger.

“It’s gonna be fine. We’re bringing you to your father, Rylan,” Cillian tells me, then he looks at Steffen. “A deal is a deal. Once emotions settle, you can come to me, Steffen, and we can talk, if Rylan wants that.”

Sweat trickles down my spine as the sniper’s red beam cuts through the trees. I force my eyes to Cillian, the lone voice of reason.

“And what about Steffen?” I call out, my voice barely more than a whisper.

“Oh, look, she cares about you,” Anders mocks, his voice singing with a cruel delight.

Maybe I care because I want revenge.

Anders’s ruthless eyes slide to Steffen. “He gets his revenge,” he sneers, “Although I’m not sure we should grant it. Now I want revenge for you pointing a gun at me.”

“I’ll work off his debt,” the skinny man tells Anders.

“Look at that.” Anders arches a brow, amused. “You got a second chance, Steffen. Don’t fuck it up.”

Numbness shatters within me, replaced by a tidal wave of fury and heartbreak. The only person I trusted was a liar. Steffen never loved me. He hunted me out of need, just like everyone else.

I am nothing but a pawn, cornered and discarded.

Curse my heart for aching for Steffen, for the terror that grips me when I see the gun trained on him, for the dread that tightens its hold every moment I imagine letting him go.

I look at Cillian. “You won’t hurt him?”

“If he were anyone else? Yes,” Cillian replies coldly, shifting his gaze to Steffen. “But love makes us do stupid things. This is your last chance.”

I lean forward into Steffen’s arm, trying to step away. He doesn’t budge. “Let me go, let me run,” I tell him, hoping he hears my desperate plea.

“You know I’ll chase you, right?”

I nod. I’m counting on it.

Oxygen flows through my lungs as he lowers his gun.

“Why?” I ask as I take a step forward. I turn and face him and watch with relief as the red dot fades. “This is what you planned. To trade me. Why hold back now?”

“I thought I wanted revenge. That’s why I made the deal. But I realized what I want doesn’t matter; it’s what I need.” He licks his lips, still swollen from our night together.

His eyes drop to mine, but there will be no kiss. Just a sudden departure, frayed edges, and bleeding hearts.

“And what do you need?” I ask in a bitter tone. I hear the men behind us closing in. My heart begins to panic.

“You.”

“You should have thought about that before you traded me.”

His lip twitches as he suppresses a sad smile. “I did. That’s why I made sure you could never be traded again.” A small but proud smirk spreads over his lips.

“What’s that mean?”

“Will you do me a favor?” he asks, refusing to answer. “Once I’m gone, ask yourself if you can survive.”

“Survive what?”