Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
MELODY
“Austin Traeger is dead,” Wynn’s voice rings out over the gathered crowd a few hours later. “Melody Morales too.” Murmurs ripple through the crowd. I’m listening from my hiding spot in the back of one of the covered trucks not far away, wishing I could peek outside and watch.
“So, by my count, you called me a bitch, a slut, and a whore,” I whisper.
Austin smiles at me, tucked in beside me behind the crates of supplies.
His shirt is still covered in the fake blood, and though I know damn well that it was all bullshit, the sight still sends a ripple of unease through me.
I’d pulled that trigger. I’d shot him. It wasn’t real, but still, the act had felt so fucking wrong it made me physically sick.
Of course, pretending to get shot myself wasn’t all that much fun either. My own shirt is stiff with the dried corn syrup and food coloring concoction.
When I’d first had the insane plan, Austin had been skeptical, but he started to come around when I laid it all out.
How we could make blood bags and have them burst to mimic blood spatter; how we could use a rubber bullet in place of the real one—which would hurt like fucking hell, but wouldn’t do any lasting damage—and how I happened to know exactly where a whole stash of them was; how we could even make a capsule that he could break with his teeth that would make it look like he was coughing up blood to really sell the whole thing.
The more we talked about it, I saw the hope start to build inside him.
Slowly, at first, but then, he really started to believe that maybe this could work, maybe this was finally the way out.
It had made my throat feel thick. All he wanted was to be free of this, to be with me and live in peace after so fucking long of doing anything and everything that was needed of him in order to keep so many people safe.
He deserves this. He deserves his happiness.
And I fucking do too. Maybe that’s selfish. I know at this point, almost everyone still breathing has gone through a lot, but I feel like I had more than my fair share. So, yeah, I deserve this second chance at life and peace and love too.
“Technically, I said you acted in a slutty manner. I didn’t directly call you one,” Austin says with a smirk, and I snort, rolling my eyes.
“I think a deserve an Oscar, honestly.” He reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear before cradling my cheek with his palm.
I turn and kiss the center before lowering it to intertwine our fingers while we wait for Wynn to finish the big finale.
With Traeger dead, those that had never wanted to follow him to begin with would usher in a new era.
No more ruling with fear and pain and intimidation.
Instead, it would be done with understanding and cooperation, a joint governing body made up of leaders from each settlement that collectively decided what was best for all of Haven.
I really think it can work, and I know Austin does too or he never would have thought it was time for him to step down.
I know that he would have played that role until it killed him if it was what Haven needed, if it kept everyone safe.
After a lot of talking and a lot of questions, I finally hear the front door open and slam shut. The truck starts and pulls out of The Cove, and I let out a long, slow breath once we’re out on the highway.
“It actually fucking worked,” I say, a little astonished. “I mean, I know there are lots of steps left and things to sort out, but Phase 1: Kill Traeger actually fucking worked, baby.” I grin and Austin chuckles.
“I can’t say that I’ll miss him.”
He sighs heavily, and I swear I can actually see the weight of it lifting from his shoulders finally. The window in the partition between the front of the truck and the covered back slides open and Wynn’s face appears. He grins like a lunatic.
“Ok, that was fucking fun. Batshit crazy, but fun. You really are a couyon, Mel.”
“You were pretty good,” Austin says, inclining his head. “A solid B+.” Wynn and I both laugh.
“Hey, I helped!” Johnson adds from the drivers side, his head popping into view for just a second. I wince when I see his swollen nose, bits of dried blood still crusted above his lip and across his cheek.
“I’m sorry I hit you so hard, I was a little caught up in the moment.”
He waves me off. “All good. I probably deserved it on some cosmic level from all the practical jokes I used to pull back in the day. We’ll call it karma. But come on, have you ever heard a more dramatic performance? Get the fucking doc up here! Fucking classic.”
“Yes, yes, everyone did phenomenal and we should start doing traveling plays all through Haven,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“Well, you’re technically dead, so that would be weird…Oh, unless we did Hamlet. You could play the ghost of the dad and really freak everyone out.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, but I can’t actually be annoyed by anything right now. I feel like I’m cloud nine. Higher than fucking cloud nine, the highest of the highs. Even so, I have fun and pretend.
“For the love of God, can we please get back to business?” I beg. Austin chuckles low, rubbing his thumb across my thigh before squeezing it lightly.
“Is Jonah alright? I might have gone a little heavy with a few of the licks out there,” Austin asks, but he rubs his jaw where Jonah clocked him pretty good in return. I’d say they’re even.
Wynn waves him off. “Yeah, he’s fine. A busted lip and probably some sore abs in the morning, but he’s great.
” I squeeze Austin’s hand as Wynn continues on.
“Everything is in place. Andrews and his team are headed to The Farm and Stoker and his to Greenbrier to spread the word and start working on plans, and Renee has everything set up at on the island for ya. You’re sure you don’t want one of those other giant houses out there?
” He eyes us skeptically like we might have some screws loose.
Austin and I share a look. We could have had our pick of any house out there, but neither of us wanted anything but that apartment back.
We might rebuild the main house one day, or maybe turn the workshop into a first floor and turn the whole thing into a barndo, but for now, the apartment is home.
It’s where he finally broke through every wall I tried to put in his path.
It’s where we finally found what we’d both been looking for all this time.
It’s where we both showed each other all of our dark and twisted and broken pieces and neither of us flinched away.
No, we saw that all of those pieces fit together and made us whole in a way that we could never be alone.
“We’re sure,” I confirm, not taking my eyes from Austin’s, his smile matching mine.
“Can you cool with the gooey eyes shit? I’m going to lose my lunch, I swear to God...”
“Don’t make me come up there,” I say, giving him a look that tells him I’ll happily kick his ass if I need to. It only makes him grin wider, but he holds up his hands in surrender.
“Ok, well Renee has the apartment all ready for you. She and Zimmer got all of the stuff from your rooms—literally an entire truck load of nothing but books for fuck’s sake—and enough supplies to set you up for a bit.
Plus, there are still plenty of houses on that side of the island that haven’t been scavenged yet, so you’ve got tons to pick through if you need something before someone can get back to you.
Renee and Zimmer picked a house on that side too, but you’ve still each got plenty of, um…
privacy,” he says with a suggestive waggle of his dark brows.
Austin chuckles, but tries to hide it with a cough.
He does a terrible job and I give him a dry look.
Wynn continues on, “No idea what Jonah and Mulligan will pick yet, but I already called dibs on the big cabin near the inlet where you two took your little tumble.”
Renee had leapt at the chance to relocate to the island with me and Austin, and when I’d first brought up my plan to Jonah, he and Mulligan said they’d join us too with no hesitation.
When Wynn said he would like the opportunity to relocate too, my heart had felt so full I had to walk away so no one could see me cry.
Having all of my family back together again was more than I could ever have hoped for.
Jonah and Mull are going to get things settled in Haven first, help get everyone eased into the new system and find a replacement for Jonah on the council.
He’s going to be “too bereaved” from my death to continue on, and he and Mulligan are going to strike out on their own.
Doc said he couldn’t leave the people who needed him, but promised to come visit soon and often.
He’s excited at the prospect of raiding the small doctor’s office we’d found on the island for new supplies and equipment, but I think he’s even more excited to have his best friend back—really back, for the first time in almost a decade.
“Got it, I’ll make sure they know that one is spoken for,” I assure Wynn.
He nods and we all settle in for the long drive towards our new life.
Austin rearranges the crates and rolls out the sleeping bags Wynn stashed back here for us.
We highly doubt anyone will be watching, but we aren’t taking any chances on this plan right now, so we’re hiding out back here for the duration.
He lays back with his arm behind his head and I snuggle in beside him, head on his chest.
“I shot you,” I whisper.
“Yep, you did. Just swear to never do it for real, and I think I can forgive you this once.” I can hear the smile in his voice.
“I make no promises,” I say with a grin, wondering if I’ll ever stop.