Brynne
I stared at the burning lighthouse, my hand on my throat, eyes wide. I couldn’t see or hear anything inside. It was just fire ; orange, and huge, and devastating.
A shadowy figure rounded the back of the lighthouse, and I lunged forward, expecting it to be Theo. But then they came to an abrupt stop, and I paused—that wasn’t Theo.
He was too small, shoulders too narrow, hair too short.
My stomach dropped as he came into view, the firelight illuminating half of his face. It was twisted in anger—in a rage I’d never seen another human possess before.
“You weren’t supposed to be here!” Sean shouted, rushing toward me.
My feet dug into the soft sand, tripping me, and I fell to the ground.
The sand slid against my hands and feet as I scrambled to stand, and by the time I got up, he tackled me back to the ground.
The air left my lungs in a violent, harsh whoosh as sand sprayed into my face. “ You weren’t supposed to be here !”
Spit flew from his mouth, and I twisted my face as it peppered my skin. I shifted my head to the side, a gag squeezing my throat. I swallowed it down, fear overriding my disgust.
He rolled me onto my back, straddling my chest. I slapped at his face, his chest, his everything . Grunting, he gripped my wrists in one hand, and wrapped the other around my throat. He didn’t squeeze—but he could. It was a warning. A threat.
“You can’t tell anyone I was here,” he rushed out, his breath brushing over my face. His eyes were wild, face red. He glanced at the lighthouse behind him, the fire bathing the darkening beach in a flickering, orange glow.
“I won’t,” I rasped, nails digging into the skin of his wrist. “I won’t. I promise. Let me go—I won’t tell—” But his hand tightened around my throat, his eyes sliding back to me.
“Why are you here with him?” he demanded. I swallowed, and his palm pressed against the column of my throat, making me choke. “Are you back together?”
I didn’t know the right answer—lying would only make things worse, but admitting we’d made up, that we were back together, might send him into an even worse rage.
So I said nothing.
Fear ripped through my body, but I forced it back, forced myself to stare him in the eye. His jaw tensed, anger rippling across his face.
“You should’ve listened to me and stayed away from him,” he hissed, fingers flexing. “What does he have that I don’t?”
It happened slowly—his hand tightened, and at first, it was only pressure. I could still breathe. But then his hand began shaking, the veins in his forearm popped, the muscles began trembling.
My vision turned spotty. My lungs burned.
He’s going to kill me.
“Sean—” I struggled to free myself, my head thrashing back and forth. I felt saliva spill from the corners of my mouth, soaking into my hair. “ Stop ?—”
“Why is it always him?” His grip tightened even more. I couldn’t get air into my lungs. I couldn’t take a breath. “Perfect fucking Theo .” He scoffed and finally let go of my throat.
I inhaled a huge lungful of air, coughing and sputtering. “I won’t tell anyone?—”
The sound of sirens cut me off, and he whipped his head to the side, eyes wild.
His head whipped to the side, eyes wild. “You called the cops?”
My chin barely dipped. “The fire dep?—”
“I didn’t think anyone would be here!” he shouted again, his spit hitting my face.
He started the fire?
He climbed off me and frantically looked around. “You’re coming with me. You can’t tell anyone?—”
“No!” I shouted, bringing my foot up and slamming it into his thigh. He grunted out a breath, his angry gaze meeting mine.
“You fucking bitch?—”
One moment, Sean was on his feet, and the next, a body soared through the air, tackling him to the ground. Theo rolled on top of him, his fist coming down on his face in a sickening crunch . My throat ached, my lungs burned, but I had to find Scout. I had to get away.
I scrambled to my knees, looking helplessly around, finding Scout crouching, her arms wrapped around Theo’s jacket like it was a shield.
Her eyes were wide as she watched him punch Sean over and over and over .
I dug my hands into the sand and crawled toward her, coughing at the pain radiating up from my throat.
“ Scout ,” I rasped. Her eyes shifted to me. “Are you okay?”
“He—Dad—” She pointed at Theo, and I nodded, still crawling toward her. Finally, I got to her side and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into my chest.
“You tried to kill my fucking daughter?!” Theo shouted, his fist connecting with Sean’s face again. “You tried to take Brynne from me again?”
The sirens finally arrived, red and blue light bathing the beach. A massive body stormed up the dune first, and when Ronan’s eyes met mine, I pointed a shaky finger at Theo.
He sprinted across the beach, his hands wrapping around the back of Theo’s shirt. Theo fought against him, elbows flying backward as he tried to get Ronan off so he could keep hitting Sean. A scream ripped from this throat—primal and raw and full of rage.
“Get off!” Ronan boomed. “Theo—come on.” He yanked him backward, and Theo’s back hit the sand. Ronan knelt beside Sean, pressing his fingers to his neck.
I held my breath as I slid my palm over Scout’s eyes. If Theo killed him, she didn’t need to see it.
But then Ronan’s shoulders fell, relief flooding his face as he shifted his gaze to Theo. “What the fuck happened?” he demanded. Theo’s mouth moved quickly, telling Ronan everything he knew.
Distantly, cars pulled to a stop, people shouted, and bodies stormed the beach. I pulled Scout tighter into my side as Theo looked over his shoulder, his gaze meeting mine.
Whatever anger was in his eyes melted away, and he shifted onto his feet. He half ran, half crawled to us, his hands outstretched in front of him, catching himself every time he tripped on loose sand.
He crashed to his knees in front of us, tiny drops of blood coating his face. But I didn’t care.
Not when he wrapped his arms around us and clutched us to his shaking chest. “Are you okay, Red?” he asked softly, his lips pressed against my hair. “Are you hurt?”
“My throat,” I whispered, and he pulled away. I was sure there was a red mark around my neck that would likely turn to a bruise soon, but I didn’t want to think about that.
Not right now.
“I’m okay.” I smoothed my hand over Scout’s head, her eyes wide as she stared up at Theo. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, shifting his attention to her.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, reaching out. She didn’t hesitate—she threw herself at him, her arms wrapped around his neck so tightly I wasn’t sure if he could breathe. His eyes squeezed shut as he held her while she cried, her small body shaking.
Then he held his arm out, motioning for me to join them. I hesitated. This felt like a moment between them, but then he grabbed my hand, smoothing his thumb along my knuckles, and my heart melted.
I shifted onto my knees and let him hug me into his chest, holding us both close.
“My girls,” he whispered. “ I love you .”