Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,180

me wherever you are, I'll do that regardless. If you're stuck on this island, I'm stuck on this island. If you're hurting, I'm hurting." Maverick's voice got increasingly louder. His face grew red with determined anger as he let all his pent up emotions out. "This isn't some game. You were carried here half alive. I will never see you like that again," Maverick finished before picking up a glass from one of his lab tables and throwing it at the wall. It shattered on impact and spread shards of glass all over the floor.

"I'm not okay with you being a martyr. Maverick, you don’t...kill...people.” I couldn’t connect the Maverick I knew with the Maverick that threatened to kill a man. I put my head in my hands, hunched over, and breathed for a moment while muddling through my exhausted mind over everything that happened. It felt like I couldn't breathe. Life had been a whirlwind since we left Dormas, and I missed the simplicity.

"I miss Dormas," my voice shook and I felt a hand touch my shoulder. "This is not okay. None of this. How are we going to get out of here? We've sent Cavil on a wild goose chase, but what happens when he comes back? He's going to punish Josiah. Do we even know if help is coming? Do we know how to get these fetters off so we can leave this island without it killing us?"

I flung questions and doubt around like daggers, each one striking the guys with my uncertainty. There were so many unknowns. I felt like screaming but knew it would be pointless. "There was never a guarantee that Jules and I were getting off this island. At least not without doing something drastic. And now? You're stuck with us too."

I felt a hand on my shoulder pulling me up to a sitting position, and I found myself face-to-face with the fierce, unwavering Cyler Black.

"Do you honestly think something as simple as a fetter is what would keep us here, Babe? We don't need fucking torture devices to be where you are. In case you haven't noticed, we're in love with you. All of us."

Although I already knew the feelings that were between us, it was something new altogether hearing it said in a group setting. I looked around at each of my men, trying to gauge their various reactions to his words. Huxley looked resigned to the fact that he loved me, like it was a pull he could no longer avoid. Patrick wore the first smile I'd seen in days, it was playful and everything I'd come to expect from my optimistic twin. Jacob looked sultry and relaxed. Like he could finally breathe now that the seven of us admitted it out in the open. Kemper looked...determined? His wide stance and crystal blue eyes stripped me bare. Then there was Maverick—the last waves of his fury were gone, and now all I saw was acceptance. He loved me. They all loved me.

"And I may be a shitty brother, but I would never leave my sister here in this fucked up province."

Jules, who was trying to disappear while we poured our hearts out to one another, preened at her brother’s admission but didn’t share her thoughts.

"So what now?" My question seemed hopeless. Cavil might be gone, but he would be back. We had only a few days to either be rescued or find a way out of Ethros.

"Now? Kemper's going to find out how to get these fetters disabled. Maverick's going to find a cure. And we're going to enjoy whatever time we have left together."

Chapter Twelve

There wasn't enough room for all of us in the upstairs loft of the lab. However, none of us seemed willing to head back to Cavil's manor. Even though he was leaving, we all agreed to stay as far away from there as possible. So we made do, and even though we were in a small lab, in a strange land with cruel people, it was the first time I felt at home since leaving Dormas. Even Jules stayed with us despite her complaints about her stiff pallet on the floor and the lack of accommodations. I sensed that she, too, seemed happy to be surrounded by people she could at least marginally trust.

Once again, Maverick dived back into his work. I felt no resolution from our earlier argument. I knew it was foolish to linger in my feelings of disappointment. In the end, he