Page 122 of Bound in Ashes

“And what, Uncle Levi?” I said.

“And if he has to hurt you to keep you alive, he’ll make the trade,” he said.

“You say that like it’s a good thing,” I said.

“Baby girl, that’s for you to decide.”

TWENTY-TWO

Jack

Don’t you?

The words reverberated through my brain like a gunshot.

She thought I was dangerous.

She was afraid of me.

It made sense.

She’d seen me kill without a second thought, let alone remorse.

But…

I stumbled, then looked around at the land I’d come to know every inch of.

The place I was sure was just a fucking fantasy.

The place—the woman—I’d forsaken my brother for.

And all for nothing.

Because she was afraid of me.

Because she didn’t know that every fucking thing I’d done since the lights went out in that elevator was for her.

Every life I’d taken.

Every breath I’d breathed.

All for her.

You never told me that, Jackson.

I heard her voice in my head now.

And worse, she was right.

That was what it had come to.

Fucking disgusting.

And no, I hadn’t told her.

But I had shown her.

Every moment of every day.