Page 75 of Desecrated Saints
“Gotcha. Follow me, kids.”
Sticking close together, we follow Enzo down the thickly carpeted corridor. Hunter watches us leave with a contemplative look, his phone already pressed to his ear. Our eyes connect at the last second before we step into an elevator.
I’m left wondering exactly whose hands our lives are in… and if we’re any safer here than we were in Blackwood.
CHAPTER 15
SEVEN
LOST - THE HUNNA
Their voices fade into the background as I stare out at the lurid city lights. My hand is pressed against the glass wall, leading to a generous balcony that hangs high above the rest of the world.
I’m in no state to sit around eating takeout with Eight and her men in our temporary apartment. Watching the ease with which they talk and joke around is torturous. She lights up in their presence, becoming more than the vacant machine I know.
They make her whole.
I’ll never be able to give her that.
Unlocking the door, I slip out into the night. At the top of Sabre’s formidable skyscraper, the wind encapsulates me in an impenetrable bubble. I’ve never felt so alone in the weeks since our lives changed forever… but it isn’t safe for me to be around other people.
Jude was a good person, I think.
Seven is his opposite in every way.
There’s a click behind me as the door reopens, disturbing my solitude. I don’t need to look. I know it’s her. She’s never far behind—the phantom that wrapped herself around what remains of my humanity.
“Sev? Are you hungry?”
“Leave me be, Eight.”
With a sigh, she joins me at the edge of the balcony. Our shoulders brush momentarily. I sneak a glimpse of her dangerously short hair, sharp cheekbones, and breathtaking beauty. Everything about her sets my pulse racing. I didn’t know I could actually feel anymore. Not until she came along.
“We’re all worried about you,” Eight murmurs. “Even the guys. I know things are difficult with them, but you don’t have to hide out here by yourself. Come and eat something.”
Biting my lip, the truth attempts to strangle me. I don’t give a flying fuck what her boyfriends think. Whatever this twisted thing is between us, it was forged in the hottest of fires, born of blood and death. Such bonds are unbreakable.
“Do you think the people we used to be are still in us somewhere?”
Hesitating, Eight shakes her head. “They’re gone, Sev. That doesn’t mean we can’t have lives, however imperfect and painful. I just don’t know if we deserve to.”
“Neither one of us can live a normal life, not now.”
“I think you may be right.” Eight captures my hand. “But fuck being normal. I know what I have with the guys may seem strange, but we’re a family. I want you to be part of our family too.”
Something flutters behind my ribcage, reawakening an organ that I long thought dead. I don’t know what this unnameable feeling is. Sensations sometimes come over me like waves and I can never label them. Not after so long being stripped of all human emotion.
“What do your men think of this proposal?” I ask pointedly.
She musters a small smile. “They’re all in, Sev. It may help if you stop breaking people’s fingers and threatening to skin them alive, but somehow, your violent charm has won them over.”
I raise an eyebrow. “My charm?”
“Well, I adapted what they said. It was more along the lines of go fetch the sadistic bastard, but you get the gist. This whole solo-gunslinger thing is unnecessary.”
“Solitude keeps us alive.”
“You deserve to be more than just alive,” Eight implores me. “I’m not going to watch you fade away. We didn’t survive Augustus’s hell just to let him win now.”