Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I said no!” she snaps, pushing off the wall and walking over to us. “Give me your gun.” It’s the last thing I want to do, but I listen to her, handing over the warm metal that fits in my hand so well. “Pick him up, Rory.”
He curses but does as she says, lifting the chair. Jensen’s eyes are wide and panicked, and he’s fighting to get out of his bondage again, but Rory is fucking good with a knot, so that’s not happening.
“The safety is on,” I tell her, not leaving her side.
Aislin takes care of it and lifts her arm. The whole thing is shaking, my sister standing there, doing her best to point it at him, but not pulling the trigger.
“Go,” I tell Rory, who walks out without a word. He and Cillian are the best, and again, I’m so fucking thankful for them…for my brothers. “You don’t have to do this,” I say softly.
“I need to.” A tear spills from her eye, running down her face, chased by another and another.
“No, you don’t. He needs to die, yes, but you don’t have to be the one to do it.” My chest aches, heart pounding as I reach for her. “Let me do this for you, Ash.”
“It should be me. I should be able to…fuck, he wanted to rape me, Tiernan.” Her voice breaks, the tears flowing freely now.
“That’s because there is a darkness inside him…not you. This doesn’t make you weak. It makes you strong…stronger than me.” I reach out and touch her arm. “I had to do this before I was ready. I don’t want that for you. You deserve better.”
Finally, she turns to look at me, her broken heart in her teary eyes. “You deserved better too.”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “We can’t go back in time, but that doesn’t mean you have to deal with the same thing. Let me bear this burden.”
Aislin gives me a slow nod, then hands me the gun.
“Do you want to be here?”
“Yes. Just…do it quickly.”
I lift the gun, turn off my brain, disconnect from this moment, and pull the trigger. The bullet goes straight through his forehead, Jensen slumps over, and that fast…he’s gone.
The moment I’ve got the safety on and the gun tucked away, Aislin is hugging me. My hold is tight around her as she cries into my throat, her whole body racked with nerves.
I did this to her. I tried to let her do this. I could have broken my sister.
Maybe I did.
“I’m sorry, Ash.”
“What? You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I didn’t protect you.” Dean had. And then I brought her here. What is wrong with me?
“You’ve done nothing but love and protect me my whole life. I’m the one who almost drank something from a stranger. I’m the one who thought I could do this. All you have ever done is be here for me.”
I shush her as she cries, kiss her temple, run my hand through her hair, wondering how the hands that just took a life so easily could be the same ones that bring her comfort.
“We need to get cleaned up and go,” I tell her after a few minutes. It’s not smart to stay any longer than we have to.
Aislin nods.
“You go first.”
She heads into the bathroom, where we each have a change of clothes. As I make my way to the back, I text Conan, letting him know it’s done.
Conan: Be there in an hour.
Me: We’ll be gone by then.
Conan: Anything I need to know?
Me: I think we’re good. I almost hit Send but then add: Thank you.
Conan: No problem, kid.
“She do it?” Rory asks when I get outside.
“Nah.”
“Good.” He takes a hit from his vape.
“Agreed. Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and get the fuck out of here.”
He follows me back into the house. Aislin is already out of the restroom when we get there. “I’ll wait in the car.” She doesn’t look toward Michael Jensen’s bloody, dead body, and I’m glad for that.
It doesn’t take Rory and me long to each take a quick shower and put our clothes in a bag for Conan and then for the three of us to leave. Rory drives, and I sit in the back with Aislin, arm around her, her head on my shoulder.
I don’t know how to explain the feeling I get after killing someone. I don’t regret what I just did. I’m glad he’s dead. There’s no sadness either. I’m just…empty. Is that a good thing? No idea. Most people would probably say yes, but when this is the only life I’ve ever known, the only life I’ve ever had, it just is.
Still, I do my best to comfort Aislin.
My phone buzzes against my thigh, and I lift it to see that Cillian has messaged. Thank fuck it’s not my father. I’m not in the headspace to deal with him right now. Honestly, I always just want to be alone after a night like tonight, but that’s not in the cards at the moment.