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One scrambles up the staircase for me, where I remain on the landing, but as Titus steps beside me, and Atticus stands on the other side, it halts and backs itself down the stairs, hissing.

Below us, Jack screams, as the Ragers close in on him. The sound seems to excite the Ragers, who growl louder. Only his legs stick out from their huddled bodies, twitching as the infected eats him alive.

I should be relieved to know my father’s killer is no more, but the world feels heavy all of a sudden, and it’s then I realize, for the first time, my whole family is gone. All of them, lost to this man’s violence.

My knees buckle beneath me, my body caught by strong arms that pull me in, and I let Titus lift me up, cradling me like a child, as he carries me down the stairs, through a sea of Ragers.

Chapter 46

“How do you live with the pain?” I lie on the floor against Titus, watching the orange glow of embers crackle in the fireplace. “When does it go away?”

“It doesn’t. I still think about my family. My mother. My sisters. The good stuff. Not the bad.”

A tear trickles down my temple, and I turn to face him, burying more tears into his warm skin. “I’ve never felt so alone in my whole life.”

“You’re not alone, Thalia. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’re all I have left, and I can’t bear the thought of something happening to you, too.”

“It’s you and me. And I’ll never leave you alone in this world.” He rolls over top of me, his arms like the bars of a steel cage closing around me. A cage from which I never want to escape. “I had that sick fear in my stomach again, when I saw him with the blade to your throat.” The corner of his lips lifts for a solemn smile. “But you were so strong. My brave little Viper.”

“You’re not mad at me? For going against your orders?”

“I’m not your father. Or your general. I had no right to make any demands on you. And I had no doubts you’d defy them, anyway.” His comment draws the first urge I’ve had to smile. “From now on, I promise to have your back. No matter what.”

“You always have.” I brush my finger over the signature stern brow that is as much a part of Titus as his scars. “And how lucky am I to have a god watching out for me.”

“I’m no god. I’m just a man. A man who would tear down this world for you, if you asked me to.”

“How ‘bout if we start with a kiss and see where it goes from there?”

Pressing his lips to mine, he slides his hand up to my jaw, cupping my face, and dips his tongue past my teeth. “What have I done to deserve this life with you?”

The question brings a somber smile to my face. “I ask myself, sometimes. I often wonder if Remus killed me that night and this is all a dream.”

Falling onto his back again, he tucks his bent arm beneath his head and draws soft circles with his fingertips over my shoulder, staring off at the ceiling. “I’ve had those thoughts, too. Maybe it was me on the other side of that gate, trapped inside Calico. And you’re just a vision of Heaven to me.”

“Imagine us finding each other, in the hells of our world, here in this dream. Right now.” I roll over top of him, gripping either side of his face to hold his attention. “Promise me you won’t wake up and leave me here alone.”

“I promise.” He lifts his head, pressing his lips to mine once more. “My love for you has no bounds. In this life, or any other.”

“And if this impossible dream ends with us? If there’s nothing beyond it?” Blinking fails to hold back the tears brimming in my eyes. “No children?”

“I don’t need children to have a happy end to this life.”

“I love you,” I say against his mouth, mentally pushing away the thoughts of such a finite word: end. “God help me, I’m madly in love with an Alpha.”

He rolls me to the side, trapping me in his arms. “There isn’t a god in this world that can save you now, Thalia. You belong to the most savage one of all.”

As his lips find my neck, I reach back, fingers curling around his nape. “And so these Alpha antibodies I’ve been injected with … what are their advantages?”

“Fast healing.” A kiss to my throat, and he drags his lips up to my jaw, the shadow of stubble on his face tickling my skin. “Faster reflexes.” He licks the shell of my ear and nicks my lobe with his teeth. “My inability to resist you whenever you walk into a room. Of course, that’s always been the case ...”

I smile at that, closing my eyes, lost to the pleasure of his kisses. “That sounds like a weakness in you.”

“You have no idea.” His rough palm skates down to my belly, and on instinct, I snap out of my musings to rest my hand against his before he reaches my scar. “Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not. I just feel … hollowed out.”