Page 30 of Shattered Jewel

Tempest sputters, “I’m sorry, what the fuck?”

Rossi remains ominously still.

Axe shifts, knife still poised at Rossi’s groin. “Time for you to fly away home, birdies.”

Rossi extricates himself from Axe’s grip with exaggerated care, hands raised but expression menacing. “This changes things.”

“You think?” Sasha shrieks, still holding the shotgun like it’ll randomly shoot her.

“You have your answer,” I say on an exhale, my voice strained but steady. “Now leave.”

Tempest hesitates, his finger still poised on the trigger. For a tense heartbeat, no one moves. Then slowly, deliberately, he lowers the gun.

“This isn’t over,” he says.

I bare my teeth in a lopsided, feral grin. “For you, it is.”

“We’ll schedule another time to … discuss this,” Rossi adds. “You may not see it this way, but we’re trying to help.”

“For patching up my shoulder and getting Elara’s mom the help she needs, I’ll let you live. If last year taught me anything when you worked with Cav, you guys aren’t complete assholes,” I grind out. “But don’t ever try shit like taking my girl while I’m weak again. Because I will always, always, find the strength to end you.”

“Elara—” Tempest says, but Elara cuts him off with a sharp shake of her head.

“Go.” The single word cracks like a whip. “Violence may be second nature to all of you, but it’s not always the answer. You could’ve just talked to me.”

They retreat, footsteps heavy on the hardwood. The door slams behind them with a resounding finality.

In the sudden stillness, I sag further into the chair, the gun clattering to the floor. Black spots dance across my vision as the adrenaline drains away, leaving only wretchedness and exhaustion in its wake.

Elara rushes to my side, a shuddering breath escaping her.

I inhale her scent, letting it … even though I shouldn’t … letting it ground me.

Cool air hits my face as she retreats, possibly fighting the same emotions I am and not letting them win.

Around us, the others mobilize. Axe secures the perimeter. Sasha sets down the shotgun and moves to comfort a weeping Caroline while they wait for a private ambulance to escort her to a secure facility.

But at this moment, in this single suspended heartbeat, there is only Elara and the promise I made her.

The promise I will keep, even if it kills me.

I will scorch this earth before I let anyone take her from me.

Chapter 8

Cav

THE PUPPETEER

Blood. So much blood.

It coats my skin, the sheets, the air—a metallic perfume I can’t escape.

I suck in oxygen, pain ripping through my body with each choked breath.

What happened to me?

Who did this?