Chapter 70
Dash
We ’ re still broken, but that ’ s nothing new. Mila and I have always been. We were missing parts, but now we have each other to fill those vacant holes.
It ’ s only been a few hours since she ’ s been in my arms again. Sometimes I blink, and I ’ m angry with her. Another blink, and I want to drop to my knees and beg for forgiveness. Another, and I hear my inner guilt telling me I should leave because I will only hurt her. Another blink, and the monster inside of me wants to trap her.
I thought this would go one of two ways: either she would refuse to look at me, or she would break down and accept her fate. I never dreamed she would forgive me and want to love me again. I have a second chance I very much don ’ t deserve, and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to her.
She wants to help people. That ’ s fine.
If she wanted to burn down the world, I would do it. All for her.
I would do anything for her; Titan offered me freedom, okay, so he forced it down my throat. He ’ s got no idea I ’ m turning him down. I ’ ll discuss that with him later.
I would do anything to ensure she stayed by my side, even biting my tongue as she told me all the details about her time apart from me, all about some lady named Camilla.
It ’ s clear to me Camilla tricked Mila. She took a page from my book, made Mila feel strong and tough, and taught her how to fight so she could use her. But my little fox was wiser this time. She tried to kill the hunter.
I ’ m so fucking proud.
I ’ m so fucking furious she risked her skin to save us.
Mila tucks her hands under the table, finding my clenched fingers as she holds them. She just finished telling my brothers her story. I had to endure hearing it again. I ’ ll never push her away or force her to resort to risking her life again.
“ Camilla wanted Damian?” Titan rubs his jaw.
Mila nods. “ Yes, Camilla wanted Damian and this girl. I don ’ t know how they relate to the man she loved. I wish I found out his name.”
“ You did perfectly.” I slip my hand onto her thigh.
Nova peels her boots off the table and reaches for a bag of sweet and sour candy. She chews it so loud I can barely hear my thoughts. When Nova first saw Mila today she spanked her ass.
“ You ’ ve been a naughty girl,” Nova said, then grabbed Mila and hugged her. “ I ’ m so proud.”
That ’ s Nova King for you, demented, devious, and deranged.
“ We ’ re missing something. What else did Camilla say about the guy who scorned her?” Dante says as he tugs at the collar of his shirt. It ’ s then I notice the fading bruise on his neck. I lift a brow, which he sees. It has him tugging on his collar higher to hide the hickey.
Who the fuck is he with?
“ I told you everything Camilla said. She thinks this guy is The Rites of Passage.”
“ Bullshit,” Anders grunts. “ We are the rulers, no one else.” He grins as he raises his ax and slams it into the wooden table.
“ What the fuck, Anders!” Cillian snaps. “ This table has been in my family for centuries.” He glares at the ax that has sunk into the wood. Anders buries it so deep he has to stand to pull it out.
Anders swings the ax, pointing it towards the empty fireplace. “ What?” He jokes, “ This castle is cold as fuck. I thought, why not chop some firewood and start a fire, since you are too cheap to pay for heating.” He swings the ax again, this time taking a rather large chuck out of the table. He grabs it, grinning like a toddler as he tosses it into the old wood-burning fireplace that looks like it hasn ’ t been lit for decades.
“ You fucking prick!” Cillian slams his fist on the table.
“ But you love me.” Anders swings the ax again.
“ Stop!” Cillian glares at Dante. “ Tell him to stop.”
“ Tell me to stop, Daddy,” Anders provokes.
“ Anders,” Dante sighs.
“ Anders, sit the fuck down before I shove that ax up your ass.” Nova throws her bag of candy at his head.
“ Hey,” Anders smirks as he sits back down in his chair. Just to taunt Cillian, he touches the blade to the wood again. “ We all needed to laugh.”
“ We need to think.” Leo huffs.
“ We think better after we laugh,” Anders argues.
Dante taps his fingers against the table. “ There is no one left of the council to ask.”
“There is only Royce, Avery’s dad.” Cillian replies.
“I don’t trust him.” Leo grunts.
“Me either.” Titan adds.
“So, we need to start digging. Mila, how old would you say Camilla is?” Dante asks,
“ Umm, well, she was stunning. Not a wrinkle marked her face. At first glance, I ’ d say she was in her early thirties, but she held herself so regal. I think that only comes with age. So early forties.”
“ Okay,” Dante nods. “ We start to look at every member of The Rites of Passage who is over thirty. Every single person will have a deep dive into their past. This ex of Camilla’s has got to be someone who was born into this. Camilla kept mentioning he was loyal and devoted. That ’ s not developed overnight. You ’ re either born into it, or they saved him from something so terrible he felt indebted.”
“ Good idea.” Leo agrees.
“ That will take forever,” Anders sighs. His eyes are concentrated on the little pattern he is carving into the table.
“ So we make a team, clear their backgrounds first, and then use them to look into others.” Dante suggests, “ This will be a good way to clean house. No more council. The error The Rites of Passage made was forming one. You can ’ t ask someone to watch a god rule and not expect them to lust to become one. We ’ re all going to keep each other in check.”
“ I think we should offer people a way out.” I throw into the conversation.
“ What does that mean?” Anders grunts.
“ Some of the members were forced into this. Born into it. If they feel forced, then they will feel the need to watch it burn. Why not offer them a way out? Freedom.”
“ That ’ s too risky. There is a reason our dads didn ’ t give us a choice.” Titan replies.
“ We ’ re not our dads, and this generation of The Rites of Passage is different. If someone wants to escape, I think we should offer it to them, giving them an olive branch instead of burning a bridge.”
“ It ’ s too dangerous. They will be targeted.” Dante replies.
“ Then we make more Averys.” I object. Leo ’ s neck stiffens. “More people who are on the inside working to dismantle us.”
They all remain silent as they ponder. “ Mila and I will reach out and offer people a chance to escape,” I can hear Mila ’ s breath quicken. “ I ’ d like Avery to help.” I look at Leo.
“ You ’ re leaving, Dash,” Titan interjects before Leo can reply.
“ I ’ m staying where I belong.”
“ We talked about this.”
“ We didn ’ t.” Anders aims the tip of his ax at Titan. “What the fuck does that mean, Titan?”
“ I want Dash and Mila to live a life away from this,” Titan presses as he looks at Mila.
“ Dash and I want to stay, but we want to make our time here meaningful. I did run. I needed to, but I also knew the man chasing me would never kill me. Not everyone has that safety net.”
“ I ’ ll let Avery help you.” Leo dips his chin.
Mila ’ s face lights up.
“ Um, hello!” Nova bats her lashes, “ I ’ m here. I ’ m the O.B. of helping little birdies escape. I was the first person to try to help Mila. I want to be involved.”
“ O.B.?” Leo looks at Titan, who says, “Sometimes genius can't be interpreted.” He winks at Nova.
“ O.B., Original Bitch,” Nova answers. “ I wanna help.”
“ You ’ ll help me.” Titan leans over and kisses her temple. “ Dash and Mila want to help save others. You and I both know you ’ re much better at killing rather than saving.”
“ True.” Nova pouts her lips, “ but if you need me to kill someone, then I want to be the first person on your speed dial.”
“ Your aim is shit.” Anders chuckles.
“ My aim with an ax is shit, not with a gun.” Nova glares at Anders. “ I can shoot you again if I need to.”
“ She shot him?” I gasp.
“ Missed my heart.” Anders nods.
“ I wasn ’ t aiming for your heart because you don ’ t have one. Next time, I ’ ll shoot you in the balls. Don ’ t try me, Anders.” Nova warns as she pulls a lollipop out of her pocket and then shoves it between her lips.
“ So it ’ s settled then.” Dante taps the table, calling our focus back to him. “ We each have a task.”
“ What about Damian?” I ask. He ’ s not here, and I know he won ’ t just sit back and let us do all the work. He ’ s the hero who will give his life to keep us all safe.
“ We don ’ t tell him.” Titan solemnly says.The room goes quiet.
“ But what if this girl he ’ s with is a traitor? How can we trust her not to slit his throat at night?”
“ We don ’ t,” Titan says. “ She hasn ’ t so far even after he took her.”
“ He took Plain Jane?” I whisper to Dash.
“ I have a lot to tell you.” Titan replies. “ Damian is smart. He ’ s isolated her from us as a measure of safety. He ’ s keeping things from us, too. We will look into her, but we keep all these details quiet for now. I’m not going to shatter his happiness until we know if Plain Jane works for The Rites of Passage or not. It ’ s been years since I ’ ve seen him smile, and I refuse to take that away from him all on the whims of Camilla ’ s words. It could be another trap. We don ’ t tell him until we know all the facts.”
“ Cillian and I will start checking in on Damian,” Dante suggests. “ If you or Dash reach out, he ’ ll be too suspicious; he knows you ’ d put his safety first over the girl. He ’ d suspect Cillian to be more concerned about the girl ’ s welfare, but he ’ d expect me to weigh his and the girl’s both equally. We ’ ll start talking to him more.”
“ But what if Camilla follows you to Aspen?” I blurt out.
Titan, Leo, Anders, Dante, and Dash all pin me with their stares. “ How did you know he was in Aspen?”
“ He…I didn ’ t tell her!” I look at Dash. “ Damian mentioned it to me once. I didn ’ t tell Camilla.”
“ When did he mention it?” Titan hisses.
“ When he was driving me to the art gallery. I asked him if he could escape and where he would go. He said Aspen because it was his duty to see over King Corporation ’ s weapons manufacturing there.”
Titan looks long at Dash.
“ I didn ’ t tell her!” I press. “ Damian didn ’ t talk much to others. Camilla knew this, and that ’ s why she was cherry-picking those who knew him the best. I was the only person she could get close to. I doubt there is anyone else.” I suggest.
“ I know, but if he let it slip to you, then we can ’ t risk it.”
“ I ’ ll tell him to come to Italy. I can keep him safe.” Dante offers.
“ He won ’ t do that because it would risk you. If I tell him his location is compromised, he will go silent and take her somewhere we don ’ t know.”
“ But if you put more eyes on his location, Camilla might see. We ’ re playing into her hands.” Anders states.
“So maybe that’s what we do.” I suggests. “We put more eyes on him and wait for Camilla to make her move. We use Damian and Plain Jane as bait.”
◆◆◆
Mila
“ I don ’ t feel right about lying to Damian,” Dash mutters as he tugs me to his side.
“ I know,” I whisper.
“ Cillian said we can stay here until we figure out where we want to live. I ’ ll get started on making teams. We will need an extraction team and relocation team, as well as a dozen hackers, to make new identities. Safe houses, the whole nine yards. Avery and you can go down the list of people the guys start to give us.”
“ It ’ s all happening so fast. I never expected this. Are you sure you ’ re okay with doing this for me?”
“ I get the best of both worlds. I can hold my wife at night; I can see her smile because I can love her openly, and at the same time, I get to stay with my brothers and fight. I can also try to redeem my soul. I ’ ve done a lot of terrible things, Mila. I ’ ve been forced to, as well. If I can help one person escape this life, then I will.”
I tip my chin up and watch as he relaxes in bed with me in his arms. His chest inhales wide. “ I feel like I can breathe again.” He whispers to me. “ I don ’ t know how to say all the things I need to, but I have an idea how we both can heal.”
“ What ’ s that?”
“ I ’ ll show you.” He climbs out of bed and exits the room only to come back with a few new items clutched in his hands. “ Cillian didn ’ t have a sketchbook, so we will have to use this until I can get us the proper materials.” He gives me a pen and a small notepad, the type you would write a grocery list on.
“ I can draw better than I can speak.” Dash shrugs as he presses the pen to his small pad.
“ You want to draw me again?”
“ I never stopped drawing you. Even when you ran, I drew from my memories.” He begins to make lines on the paper.
“ Will you show me?”
He nods, but he looks scared.
“ I drew you too.”
“ I know.”
“ How do you know?”
“ Titan found some of your sketches in your apartment. He gave them to me before we left.” He admits, “ Draw, Mila. I don ’ t care if you draw me as a monster or a hollow soul. Just let me see how you feel.”
I start to draw, but it ’ s not of my past; it ’ s the future, his eyes watching me as he makes love to me. Filled with a humbled pride, I look up to see what he ’ s drawing, but I see something I missed. My wedding band is on his pinky finger.
“ You took my wedding band.” I left it on the counter in my apartment.
His hand slows. “ It looked lonely.” Blue eyes find mine.
“ I only took it off because Camilla kept looking at it.”
He begins to draw again. This time, carving out his lines to form more shapes and features.
“ Are you going to give it back?”
“ No,” he replies quickly. “I did it all wrong before. This,” he looks at my band, “ is a reminder of my mistakes. I ’ ll get you something new.”
“ I don ’ t need something new.”
“ We both do. A fresh start.”