Chapter 36 #2
Now that I’ve experienced what true freedom feels like, I can’t ever go back to that life. Whatever Ares tells me, it won’t change what I have to do.
This is my reckoning, and I can’t hide from it any longer.
I have to tell Cristian who I really am.
I’ve been terrified of what it would do to us, but I think the relief of finally unburdening myself outweighs my fear at this point.
I can only hope that it doesn’t destroy us.
After I slip out the side door, I find a well-beaten path that leads into the woods. I haven’t been to the north cove, but I know where it is because Abella mentioned they used to swim there as kids.
The initial walk is easy, but the closer I get, the more my nerves get the best of me. It will be a steep descent to the cove, so I’ll need to be careful. No matter what, I have to protect this baby.
After a few minutes of walking, a twig snaps in the distance, and I pause, scanning the area it came from. I don’t see anybody, so I rationalize that it must be wildlife and keep moving.
As the trees open up, I spot the trail that disappears down a rocky embankment, leading to the cove. But as I take it in, something about this just doesn’t feel right.
I can’t imagine Ares’s reasoning for leading me out here when there was a far simpler solution. He’d already given away my identity to Mariella. If he wanted to see me, he could have just called her, and she would have relayed the message without anyone even knowing.
As I consider it, I recall what Cristian said about guards patrolling the island and surrounding areas. Wouldn’t they notice Ares if he was on the Vitale side of the island?
I linger in that uncertainty, pulling up the message from Ares to read it again.
There are only three people in Seattle who know about Damian.
Given Ares’s history of texting me from random numbers, it made sense that this was him.
But there’s another possibility, and I can’t go any further until I confirm who actually sent me this text.
For a second, I waver between calling the burner number or Ares’s regular contact. But ultimately, I decide to start with the burner.
I initiate the call, only to hear the recipient’s phone so close—it can’t be more than ten feet away.
My head snaps up, and my heart slams against my chest as Elias steps out from behind a tree.
He meets my gaze with steely determination, his lips curving in quiet satisfaction as he approaches me.
“Elias.” I stumble back, holding up my hands in a desperate plea. “We can talk about this.”
“You don’t have to be afraid,” he answers in a gravelly voice. “They can’t keep us apart anymore.”
“What?” I croak.
“I know you had to make it look like it was real, because you didn’t feel safe. But I’ve been protecting you, and now we can finally be together.”
I swallow as the depth of his delusion settles over me. This isn’t a situation I can talk myself out of—because how do you reason with someone who’s not even living in reality?
“I have a place for us,” Elias goes on. “Nobody will ever find us there. I bought everything you need. Your shampoo, your books, those chocolates you like—"
“Elias, we can’t be together,” I tell him. “I think you’ve misunderstood what’s happening here.”
“Don’t,” he bites out, raking a hand through his hair as his body goes rigid. “You’re confused. That’s all this is. You’ll see when we’re together that they’ve brainwashed you.”
“I don’t understand,” I say softly, trying to keep him engaged as I take a few more steps back.
“It was always me.” He stabs a finger in his chest. “I was the one who saved you. I gave you a new life. And now I’ve fixed everything, so we can finally be together.”
“How?” I choke out. “What did you fix?”
“None of this would have happened if Ares hadn’t betrayed us,” he sneers. “I was watching over you until that fucking Italian started coming around, and then Ares got in the way. He turned on me and took me away from you. Now he’ll understand what happens when you betray your own.”
“What are you going to do to him?” I ask.
Elias hesitates, but I need to keep him talking to buy myself some time.
“I want you to make him pay,” I tell him, injecting as much bitterness as I can into the words.
“He will,” Elias growls.
“Please, I need to know.” I soften my tone. “It’s the only way I can feel safe.”
Uncertainty flashes in his eyes, and when he finally answers, I understand why.
“I had to tell Damian where you were,” he rushes the words out. “It was the only way.”
When he registers the genuine fear on my face, he takes a step closer, and I shake my head as I slowly retreat.
“It’s okay,” he assures me. “Damian and your father will go to war with Ares, and we’ll never have to worry about them again. We’ll be long gone, and they’ll be dead.”
“Oh.” I let out a shaky breath. “I understand.”
“Good.” He peers into the distance. “I knew you would. Now we can leave.”
“But what about the guards?” I stall. “Won’t they see us?”
“You don’t have to worry about them,” he answers vaguely. “I have a plan.”
“Alright, well—” I pause, trying to think of another way to delay him. “There’s just one thing I have to get from the house. I can’t leave without my mother’s music box.”
“You won’t need it.” The vein in his forehead pulses. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“It won’t be the same,” I protest. “It’s the only thing I have left of her.”
“I’ll get you something better,” he grits out. “I’m all you need now.”
“Elias, I can’t leave without it,” I plead, clinging to the hope that he’ll believe me.
“You have to.” Anger seeps into his words. “Why are you acting like this isn’t what you’ve always wanted? You’ve seen the way I take care of you.”
“I know.” I nod stiffly. “Of course I do. It’s just, I—”
I make a split-second decision to run, knowing there’s a very good chance I won’t be able to escape him, but I have to try. If I can just get close enough to the house for someone to hear me, I’ll be okay.
That’s what I tell myself, but as his footsteps close in behind me, terror grabs me by the throat.
“Don’t make me do this,” he bellows. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t,” I cry out.
It does me no good, because a second later, he seizes a fistful of my hair and yanks me back against him.
“You ungrateful little bitch,” he snarls, spinning me around to face him. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Silent tears track down my face as I try to think of some way out of this, and disturbingly, that actually seems to get through to him.
“I’m sorry.” His knuckles graze my cheek, and I suppress the urge to vomit. “You know I hate it when you make me do bad things, angel. I know this isn’t you. Once I get you away from here, you’ll see that everything else was a lie.”
“Let her go.”
The sharp words behind us are followed by the unmistakable sound of a slide being racked.
Before I can even attempt to flee, Elias puts me in a chokehold.
“You’re not taking her from me,” he roars. “Tell him you’re mine, Kat.”
“I’m not.” I try to pull away, but he tightens his grip.
“After everything I’ve done for you—” He rages. “You still don’t fucking get it.”
My plea is silenced as he increases the pressure on my neck, cutting off my air supply. Panic takes over as I claw at his arms, but it only lasts a matter of seconds before I hear a loud thwack, and Elias drops like a stone.
His dead weight nearly drags me down with him, but before I can fall, someone catches me and pulls me away.
It takes me a minute to process the sight of Cristian and Romeo as my racing heart calms, and I draw in a shaky breath.
“Are you okay?” Cristian searches my face, his concern warring with something darker beneath the surface.
“You came back?” I sob.