Page 137

“They’re trained soldiers, they won’t hurt anyone important to you, I promise.”

I realise Father Michaels lies across my legs, blood spluttering from his head, limp dick hanging out.

My chest won’t stop moving, my lungs clutching for oxygen.

I’m pushed back down. “You’re safe. We will get you out,” the blonde says. She pulls a short knife from a holster around her waist and begins cutting at the restraints on my wrists.

The gunshots stop.

A temporary silence falls before a sob tears through the church.

My feet are released and I don’t think about any of the pain, the torture, I make a beeline straight for Kain on unsteady legs, tripping over bodies, my hips screaming in pain. His wounded arms wrap around me, hands clinging to every bit of skin as he holds me up so I’m floating above ground, taking the pressure off my aching bones. I sob as I place my lips gently on his so as to not hurt him further.

I don’t know what the fuck is happening, and I don’t particularly care. All I know is that Kain is here, alive, I’m free, and it’s silent.

But not for long.

“Cassie!” An anguished yell pulls our attention to Dorrian.

Dorrian—who’s cradling a tiny newborn baby, and Cassie—

My breath hitches, tears flooding my face anew as I stumble over to them, Kain following after me trying to keep me steady.

Cassie is lying in a pool of blood, her body completely limp.

“No,” I whisper.

Dorrian sobs beside me, his arms bloodied and clutched around this innocent life. Kain appears on the other side of him, his bruised face a mask of shock as he drops to his knees.

My hand shakes as I bring my fingers to Cassie’s wrist—cold wrist. But I don’t feel the gentle thrum of veins, a pulse, life…

“No,” I whisper again.

A heartbroken sob tears through Dorrian. “Fuuuuuuck!” It echoes throughout the church like a blasphemous prayer.

There are no words in the human language to describe that scream. It’s a scream of pure heartbreak and anguish—the reality of losing your soulmate.

My best friend.

I bawl, wrapping my arms around Dorrian and the baby, and place my forehead on his shoulder as his body racks with sobs, my own joining his.

“I’m so sorry,” a woman says.

I look up, sympathetic brown eyes meet mine as she shoves a gun into a holster.

“Axel, can you page a doctor?” she says into the air as she squats beside us, her eyes lining with tears. “Is there anywhere safe you can take them?”

She means Dorrian and the baby.

The woman pulls a knife from behind her, cutting the baby’s cord and tying it in a knot. “It’s a boy, Dorrian,” she whispers.

“You were too fucking late,” Dorrian screams at the woman, making everyone in the room flinch and fall into silence.

She drops her head between her shoulders, sighing. Then, with a calm voice, but loud enough over Dorrian’s cries, she says, “I came as quickly as I could.” She looks like she wants to say something else but stops herself.

“It’s my fault. This is all my fucking fault.” Dorrian rocks back and forth while the baby cries in his arms.

“We’ll take them,” Blake offers. He and Asher approach and I unpeel myself from Dorrian. A tiny bang of relief floods through me that they’re both okay, but it can’t override my best friend's body, her lifeless body, lying there. I pull down her eyelids, looking into those baby blues one last time before I shut them.