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There was a humph before he glanced at Helene and took a step backwards. “You need more men, Principal, if you’re planning on surviving.” He gave a shrug, his gaze fixed on the woman I loved. “Either way, know she will be protected.”
Helene went deathly still. Hunter, on the other hand, stepped in front of her, blocking the Son’s view.
“Give us Hale’s location.” I stepped toward him. “Give it to us now!”
Lightning flickered outside, the neon flash shining through the open door to the alley. Movement shifted in the corner, drawing my focus for barely a fucking heartbeat. But by the time I looked back, the Son was gone.
“What the fuck?” I stepped forwards. “Where did he go?”
He was gone. Like nowhere to be seen gone.
I raced to the steel door that led to the alley, yanked it wide, and rushed out. Even the car parked behind the Hummer had disappeared like it hadn’t been there at all. Like none of them had been.
“Fuck!” I roared as rain fell into my eyes. Thunder snarled overhead, unleashing my frustration into the sky. I spun around, finding Hunter in the doorway. “They’re gone.” I headed back toward them. “They’re all fucking gone.”
“So what now?”
I shook my head as my cell vibrated, giving a beep. I didn’t even have to look at it to know who it was. Heavy breaths consumed me as I waited for that savage hunger to ease. “We leave.”
I headed back out into the pouring rain, feeling like a goddamn failure. I didn’t do failure. Not like this.
“Riven!” Helene called my name. I winced and kept walking. But she was so goddamn stubborn. Her boots smacked on the pavement as she ran. Boom…boom…boom.
“Hey!” She grabbed my arm, yanking me around.
“What?” I barked. “What the fuck do you want, Helene?”
She stopped, her eyes widening. Her throat muscles worked hard as she tried to swallow her pain. But she couldn’t. It shone in her goddamn eyes. I looked away. Her perfect, fucking eyes. I racked my hands through my sodden hair as rivulets of water ran down my temples and stuck my shirt to my body.
She was affected by these Sons in a way I couldn’t understand. Did she fucking want them, was that it? Was she somehow genetically modified to want them over…over someone like me?
That nagging thought just wouldn’t leave me alone. It wasn’t about Hale in that moment, or the fucking goddamn war we were staring down the barrel at, it was about her. It was always about her.
I spun around and my hand instantly moved to her throat as I pushed her against the side of the Hummer. But there was no strength in my grip. My thumb stroked the base of her throat. “Do you want him…him. Do you want him over me?” I asked carefully.
But inside I was bellowing the words DO YOU WANT THEM OVER ME?
Raindrops smacked against her cheek before they raced to her jaw and fell away. Still, she didn’t answer. Just stared at me with those dark-colored eyes. The small shake of her head was a lie. I knew that.
“I…I don’t know,” she said carefully. “I don’t want to, but I feel drawn to them somehow. Like I’m supposed to want them.”
“Do you?” I searched for the truth. “Do you want them?”
If she said yes, what then? My pulse was thundering.
“No,” she said, that stare fixed on mine. “I want you. I want you and Hunter and Kane and Thomas. That’s who I want…”
My knees shook, causing me to fall forward and collapse against the car. I dropped my head to her shoulder, pressing against the warmth of her body.
“It’s going to be okay,” she murmured, her fingers sliding through my wet hair as she held me.
My voice was a croak. “I don’t need your sympathy.”
“It’s not sympathy, Riven. It’s love.”
I froze, then slowly lifted my gaze.
“It’s love, you stubborn fool.” She wrapped her arms around me, pressing her cheek to my chest.
