A Crown Of Fire And Wrath (The Shadow Walkers Saga #5) - Sloane Murphy Page 0,29
she says hesitantly.
“Did you know?” I ask her, my voice cracking. She knows what I’m talking about. My deaths at the hands of my family from my time as a Hunter. Her eyes flash with tears but she swipes at them before they fall.
“Not at first. But when they wouldn’t take you through the ritual, or even tell you about what we were, I suspected. I fought them, but it was a different time. I was a different person.” She looks at the floor, wringing her hands. I recognize the movement, it’s one of my own, and that somehow makes what she did worse.
“You could have told me,” I say quietly. “You could have told me the truth, rather than let me go on unaware. You could have told me the truth in any of my lives, but you left me, left us all, unaware. You let us all believe the hate and vitriol that Dad and Grandfather spouted. You let me think that you were on my side, keeping my secrets, being my closest confidant, but really, you betrayed me worst of all. Because you just sat there and let it happen. You didn’t step in. You didn’t stop them.”
“Remy…”
“I had a son,” I tell her, cutting her off and her hand flies to her mouth as her tears finally spill. “Everly, she was one of my descendants. I know you knew her. Levi watched out for them, because he loved me. That is what you do for the ones you love. You… you just lied and acted like a coward.” The words cut like the knives strapped to my thighs would.
“I am so sorry, Remy.” She sobs, but I can’t comfort her. I hadn’t known how angry I was at her for what she did, or didn’t do, but right now, right now, she doesn’t deserve my sympathy.
“I don’t accept it,” I tell her. “You might have saved me this time, and for that I’m thankful. But for the rest…” My words trail off as she wraps her arms around herself.
“I understand. I didn’t… there isn’t ever going to be anything I can do that shows you just how sorry I am, for all of it. But I will be there, whenever you need it, whether you want me to be or not. I love you, Remington Bennett. Every piece of you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t courageous enough before to show you that.”
She finishes her sentence and takes a deep breath. I stay still, unsure if she’s finished, but I’m not sure I can stay and hear anything else she has to say. She turns and walks away from me, and I watch her go until she disappears over the horizon, then I drop to the floor in a crouch, hugging my knees as I try to catch my breath.
My wings unfurl and wrap around me, blanketing me in shadow, and I almost feel safe. I need to go home. I need to be around my guys, because until then, I’m not going to be able to feel like myself again.
I take a deep breath and stand, picking up the other boxes I had put out here with the things I wanted to take home, and push off of the ground to fly back to Levi’s loft.
Levi braces as we land, me in his arms. Apparently, me coming home of my own accord was out of the question, but considering everything that’s happened of late, I decided to let him have this. Especially because after seeing my mom, I really just wanted to lean on him for a minute. It might seem foolish or weak to want to lean on him, but fuck anyone that wants to judge. A girl can only be so strong, some of the time.
He squeezes me tight against his chest before moving so my feet can touch the ground. I blink, letting my eyes adjust to the dusky evening, much darker than the bright Avalon that we left.
“Remy,” he says softly, his arm still banded around my back, and he moves the other to encircle me as I look up at him. “I love you. I need you to know that, before I ask you to stop throwing yourself in dangerous situations. I know you trusted Bauer, but I also know that you’ve taken a death shot for the people you love without hesitation in the past. I need you to hear me, because if something happens to you, we won’t survive