Page 29 of Shattered Jewel
I can feel Elara’s hand trembling in mine, her fear tangible. It fuels my anger and ignites it into a raging inferno.
Elara’s under my protection because she deserves more than this shit show. And besides that … there are things about her that draw me closer. Things I’m still trying to define.
Gathering every ounce of strength left in me, I push myself off the chair and stagger forward.
“Stay away from what’s mine,” I declare. “And if you or any of your buddies try, I’ll kill every last one of you. And don’t doubt me. I’ve done it before and will do it again.”
Tempest’s finger twitches on the trigger, and I brace myself to fire a shot before he does. But before he can pull it, a deafening boom shakes the room.
Shielding Elara with my arm, I pivot sharply and discover Caroline Wraithwood standing in the doorway, a shotgun clutched in her bony hands. Smoke curls from the barrel, and a gaping hole mars the doorframe beside Rossi’s head.
“I’m not asking,” she states, her eyes wild and feverish.
“Mom!” Elara screams.
“Christ,” I grit out. “Where does she keep getting this shit?”
Sasha sprints up behind her, Axe and Rossi shifting slightly to face the two new wild-eyed women in this fight.
“I tried to stop her, El!” Sasha rasps, out of breath as she puts her hands to her knees and drinks in oxygen. “But she tricked me by asking me to go into her closet and get her favorite?—”
“Not important,” I snap as Elara wriggles from my shield and runs for her mother. I don’t have enough strength to hold on to her, aim at Tempest, and communicate via our coded hand signals to Axe. So I go with reason. “Listen to the woman of the house, gents, and get the fuck out.”
Elara darts between Tempest, Rossi, and Axe, none of whom attempts to detain her. That would’ve been the perfect moment to grab Elara, or strip Caroline of her shotgun, or twist out of Axe’s delicate hold on Rossi’s balls…
I glance at Caroline, who remains in the doorway, though the shotgun now hangs limply at her side.
She senses my study, turning to me, her eyes hollow. “She’s all I have left. I won’t lose her too.”
Rossi is the first to respond. “Look, this is not what we wanted when we came here. Last year, we were part of a search for Sarah Anderton’s treasure, and we found it. The Heart wasn’t there. It doesn’t exist, and you are putting this girl through hell for no reason. All we want is to remove her from the curse of your secret society and give her a decent life.”
I guffaw, half leaning sideways as my adrenaline loses steam. “Because you’re so wholesome?”
“Listen to me, boy,” Rossi snarls. My brows jump at his tone. “The Heart does not exist. Communicate that to your superiors, deal with the fallout, and leave Sarah Anderton’s legacy alone.”
“But it does exist,” Elara pipes up.
Axe growls it before I can. “Elara, no.”
“Enough of this alpha male bullshit,” she snaps at both me and Axe. At the entire room, really. “Everyone put down your guns—you, too, Mom, give it to Sasha, please?—”
Sasha looks sick at the idea of handling a gun, but she does what Elara requests and holds the shotgun practically with two fingers.
“The Heart exists,” Elara states, “Because we found half of it. Half of the largest ruby in the world. My brother broke it so it could never get in the Sovereigns’ hands, the leaders of the Cimmerian Court.”
Tempest’s and Rossi’s faces are so immobile that they must be caught off guard. Caroline moans, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.
I groan, slumping into the chair and ideally giving in to sweet unconsciousness. Cav is going to blow a gasket—until I remember what state he’s in, too.
“Is that what you needed to know?” she dares Rossi and Tempest.
There’s fear in Elara, but also something else that makes my pulse quicken and my palms itch with the need to bring her back to me. I relish in the delicious anticipation and stifle a laugh at the absurdity of the situation—how this delicate creature could be holding two deadly former assassins rapt, as well as her two trained killers of a different sort.
Tempest turns my way. “She’s serious?”
A dramatic sigh escapes me. If the plot twists of tonight have taught me anything, it’s that me, my boys, and Elara are currently fucked. The Vultures, in all their feather puffing, might have some use.
In for a penny, in for another mic drop… “You’re looking at Sarah Anderton’s descendant, so yes, she speaks the truth.”