Nightfall (Devil's Night #4) - Penelope Douglas Page 0,195

Winter, or one of the other girls, but hunger pangs wracked my stomach. I needed some food. Or a drink at the bar.

Tiptoeing down the passageway, I threw a quick glance through the kitchen door, seeing the naked back of Winter Ashby as she sat on the steel worktable in the dark kitchen, her arms around her husband.

“I love you,” she whispered as he kissed her neck.

Taking his face in her hands, she pressed her lips to his mouth, lingering slow and gentle before moving her kisses to his cheeks, nose, forehead, and temples.

He closed his eyes and smiled, breathing that short, excited breathing like he was riding a roller coaster.

My body warmed, kind of intrigued to see him like that, but I didn’t linger. Continuing past the door, I stopped at the end of the car, looking through the windows and seeing the bar full of people. Kai and his wife, Michael and Erika, and then Alex. Will and his cousin were still nowhere to be seen, as well as a couple of other men I saw helping them when we were rescued. I believe Misha had a woman with him when we boarded the train, as well, but I didn’t see her either.

The room was still dim, the cherry-colored sofas and chairs rich and warm against the wooden walls and the amber glow of the light.

Kai held the woman in his lap, smiling as she said something into his ear, and Michael reached around Erika, making her a mixed drink and adding far too much tequila. She laughed.

My gaze dropped to Alex who was sitting in a chair with her legs pulled up. She nursed a glass and stared at nothing out the window.

I fisted my hands. Aydin could be dead.

She’d never admit it, but I knew that was where her mind was.

Someone approached my back, but I didn’t have to turn around to smell the bergamot.

“Did you know about Aydin and Alex?” I asked Will, still staring at her.

“I knew what she told me,” he said. “I knew of him. Not his name.”

“He’s in love with her.”

“He can’t have her.”

I turned my head, tempted to meet his eyes, because the possessiveness of his words scared me.

But then he continued, “He’s bad for her.”

I looked at her again, seeing her how I never got to before. The couples surrounding her, in love, and despite the fact that she had Will to lean on, I’d never seen her so lost.

“And I’m bad for you, and you’re bad for yourself,” I went on, “and Damon’s bad for the world, and Martin is bad for me…” I twisted the handle, crossing cars. “The world is only so big, Will.”

We couldn’t shut out every single person who’d disappointed us. Some of them were still worth fighting for.

I entered the bar car, eyes turning up at me as I walked in, Will following me. “We should go back,” I told everyone. “To Blackchurch.”

“What?” Kai blurted out.

Michael scowled. “Excuse me?”

The door slid closed, and I made eye contact with all of them. “We should go back and get the ones we left behind.”

“We can’t go back,” Michael said.

“We can.” I nodded. “The locomotive goes in reverse.”

He rolled his eyes, and Kai stood up, his wife climbing off of him. “A security team will already be there. Going back puts Will at risk.”

“First of all, Aydin and Taylor are loose ends,” I told them. “You rescued Will under the assumption the other prisoners wouldn’t care. They do. I promise. And second, Taylor Dinescu can go fuck himself, but Aydin would be a useful ally. We need him.”

“You need him,” Alex retorted. “Aydin Khadir doesn’t deserve us. That’s the difference between you and me, Em. I can sacrifice what I want for the good of others.”

“And what do you think I did?” I fired back.

I wanted Will more than I’d ever wanted anything. I wanted it all.

I just didn’t want him experiencing the stress of my life. I was embarrassed. And I needed to protect my grandma. I fucking sacrificed.

I held Alex’s green eyes, seeing the pain in hers that I always felt in mine. She thought it was easy for me, because it was easier to believe that.

She knew better.

She pursed her lips, and I could see her trying to swallow, but she couldn’t. After a moment, she downed the rest of her drink and swiveled in her chair, looking over at Michael and Erika as she set her empty glass on the table. “Do