Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Giana
“I’m going to head to bed. Are you coming?” Sophia asked as we filed out of the van. Sebastian and Zane were already at the door, their postures tense as they glanced over their shoulders.
“No. You go ahead.” I wrapped my arms around her, her red hair spilling over us like a curtain.
We’d sat in the back of the van until the guys were done discussing whatever business they had with Sebastian and Zane.
Sophia’s gaze had followed their van out of the parking lot, her mood souring as their taillights had disappeared into the distance.
She pulled back, giving me a half-hearted smile before she trudged up the stairs after them.
I had no idea if she was going to find the fight club owner and his head of security, so I pushed the thought from my mind, needing a moment to just breathe as the crickets sang around us, the night peaceful despite all the blood that was shed only hours ago.
I stripped off the bulletproof vest, almost forgetting I was wearing it after so many hours.
My shirt and pants were still coated in dried blood, the flakes drifting off me like some sort of macabre confetti.
I rolled my shoulders back and stretched my arms out, the sensation of shedding that weight almost symbolic of what happened tonight.
The guys had already taken theirs off in the car, but I kept mine on as though I couldn’t believe there wasn’t an attack right around the corner.
But as the minutes turned to hours, reality sank in.
“Giana?” Kellan asked as my boots crunched on the gravel until they met the feathery softness of grass.
I glanced at my guys, still standing just outside the van.
Kellan’s and Merrick’s expressions were wary while Spade just watched me with rapt fascination, like figuring out the way my brain worked was his favorite puzzle.
He joined me the moment I sank to my knees, the seductive lull of the cold earth and the serene night sky above too alluring to dismiss.
Spade wrapped me in his arms and drew me onto his lap as we lay back, almost mirroring how we had lain on the hood of his car, watching the stars blink into life above us.
I pulled in a soothing breath, letting the rise and fall of my chest remind me I was alive.
The stars shone like glittering diamonds, the moon above us like an old friend, illuminating our way through the darkness with its silver glow.
Kellan and Merrick sat on either side of us, their hands resting on mine as they lay back, all four of us entranced by the night sky. Kellan’s sable eyes sparkled with delight, as if he was already planning how he would depict this scene, immortalizing the beauty of the moment in art forever.
We lived by the night sky for so many weeks, needing to wait until the cover of darkness when the monsters stalked their prey. But when the sun rose in a few hours, it would be a new day, a new path we’d be forced to walk.
I loved the twinkling light in the darkness, but it was pastime that we lived in the sun, soaked up its warmth, and followed our dreams to wherever they led.
“Did you ever think we’d see the day?” Merrick asked, a hint of disbelief in his gruff tone.
“No.” I giggled, unsure why I was laughing, but it just burst from me in an unstoppable wave.
The others were caught up in the current as well, and the four of us chuckled until a tear welled up in my eye.
Kellan wiped it away as the laughter petered out, staring at the drop on his finger like it was the most precious jewel in the world.
Another tear fell as the emotions I’d been suppressing for so long crashed over me with the force of a tsunami. Relief, grief, disbelief, they all swirled in my chest like a tornado, each of them fighting for dominance.
My men just gripped me tighter, like they understood every emotion barreling against my walls and breaking them down brick by brick.
“So what do we do tomorrow?” I asked, this feeling of freedom felt almost restricting now that we didn’t have a goal or a purpose.
“We live,” Kellan said simply, like the answer should have been obvious.
And we would. We would live every day to its fullest for every single person who didn’t make it out of this fight alive. “We should visit the guys in the hospital. And visit Josh, Jared, and Steven’s families.”
They all nodded, and it felt good to have a plan, a purpose to get us through the next few days as we adjusted to this new reality.
“We could go on a date.” Spade grinned, pressing a kiss to my cheek that had me flooding with warmth.
“I’d love that.” I snuggled into him, only to realize that none of us had ever been on a proper date. Tommaso had threatened the guys and swept me away the day after Kellan and Merrick had confessed their feelings. And I hadn’t met Spade until we were all fighting to survive.
It sounded so normal that I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my lips. The stars appeared to glimmer with opportunity, as if we only needed to reach out and grab one to forge our own path.
“We can take a trip,” Kellan said, and I sighed in contentment.
I’d traveled before, but it would be different with my guys and with the money I’d transferred to the offshore account, we could do anything we wanted.
I could start a charity or simply donate to any one I came across.
I could sponsor scholarships for people like us who desperately needed to get out of their small town or away from their families and couldn’t afford school any other way.
“That sounds nice.” I grinned and imagined rediscovering all of my favorite places with them by my side. They’d missed so much more since they were building the Devil’s Demons to secure my freedom. And now it was time for us to enjoy all that life offered.
We drifted off into a contented silence. The stars gleaming above us enraptured us as we contemplated the thousands of trails and turns ahead. But one thing was for certain, wherever life took us next, we would be together. The devil and her three demons.