apart, cradled between Kyo and Marcus, another layer of steel shuttered down over my heart.
I couldn’t afford to fall apart.
Not yet.
I needed something to focus on, so I took deep, measured breaths and counted off the people Alec had managed to keep safe from his ability.
Dot and Charlie. Don’t look.
Olivia and Henry. Bloody and dirty but still standing. Don’t linger.
Kyo and Marcus. Don’t think about Jamie.
Ed and his brother. Helping to carry all the unconscious enemies to a secure room in the back. Don’t focus on the smell. Just breathe.
Several of the rogue Melior Group agents. Is that Kane? Our ruthless trainer didn’t look injured at all as he methodically reloaded his weapons, standing tall in a sea of bodies. Don’t think about it.
And all the impervious Lighthunters, of course.
“Eve?” Josh turned to me, reaching up as if to cup my cheek. I dropped their hands and stepped back, out of his reach.
“I’m fine,” I rushed out. If I let them touch me, comfort me, draw me into their arms and hold me, I would fall apart.
Not yet. Don’t think about it.
“We need to get all our wounded to a safe place.” It was a pointless statement. We were already doing that. The more bodies we moved, the more the concrete floor was revealed. It used to be gray; now it was bathed in crimson.
Thankfully, Josh knew I needed to stay strong. He nodded and moved off, helping to carry the injured and unconscious with his ability. Ethan stayed by my side. I wasn’t sure if having one of them always beside me was a good or bad thing. They gave me strength, made me feel as if I could handle this, but at the same time, I was a giant glowing target, and anyone close to me could die at any moment. I couldn’t stand the thought of any of my beautiful, loving, kind men . . . Don’t think about it.
Not yet.
I looked around and spotted a camera near the table we’d sat at when we first arrived. The heavy timber table was the only piece of furniture still standing. I marched over, tilting my head to stare directly into the camera.
“Come and get me yourself, you fucking coward!” I yelled, imagining his face. I knew he’d be watching. I would be if I were him.
Keeping my eyes on the camera, I bent down, picked up a chair, and took a seat at the table, finally looking away to stare straight ahead.
With every steadying breath I took, I reminded myself why we were here, what I had come here to achieve. That strange calm slowly settled over me as the room was cleared of bodies. One by one, my Variants came back to my side.
Ethan leaned on the end of the table opposite me, his big arms crossed. Alec stood tall near him, his feet planted, his gun drawn. Josh was at my right shoulder, his hand resting on the back of my chair, with Ty at my left.
Dot and Charlie, Ed and his brother, Kyo and Marcus, and Nina and the Lighthunters were scattered about the room, catching their breath but on the alert.
Dot’s tear-streaked face was set in a hard, steely mask. Her men were one down, but they stood at her back, supporting her just as mine were.
Our eyes met across the room. All my deeply buried pain and worry, all my determination and barely contained rage, I saw reflected in her eyes. We didn’t get up and go to each other for a hug.
Not yet.
We didn’t say anything or even nod. We simply held each other’s gaze for a few long seconds—a moment of pure solidarity.
I understood the look on her face perfectly. And I intended to do something about it.
I wasn’t leaving here until Davis Damari showed his face. Until I did all I possibly could to remove his toxic influence from the world.
As the sun set behind me, taking the last bits of natural light with it, I looked away from Dot and narrowed my eyes on the vast open space before me. Half the lights had been busted in the battle, casting the area in an uneven, eerie light, but it was still enough for me to see my so-called father as he approached.
The sound of several footsteps preceded his arrival. He wasn’t alone.
Thirty-One
As Davis came around the corner, his expensive shirt and pristine tailored pants a stark contrast to the destruction and gore around him, I knew one thing without