36. Taryn #3
My men moved with me: Beck’s hand at the small of my back, Lucas holding my hand, Adrian’s palm on the back of my neck.
Three reminders that I wasn’t doing this alone.
Lila snapped at me through the fence.
Memories flooded my mind: Lila sitting beside me at lunch, Lila in my bedroom doing homework, Lila giving one of the twins her last drink of water, and Lila walking with me to rescue Beck and Adrian.
She had been my friend, and I loved her. I just never knew how to say it.
“I came for you,” I whispered.
Lila snarled.
“I know that doesn’t mean shit now. I should’ve told you how much you…” My voice broke.
Beck’s hand rubbed gently in circles. “Told her what, Fox?”
I stared at my friend as my eyes filled. “That she mattered.”
Lucas squeezed my hand. “She knew.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do.”
I looked at him, hoping he could convince me.
“She followed you into the end of the fucking world, Taryn.” His blue eyes were brimming. “And you protected her as best you could.”
That broke whatever was left, and I covered my mouth, trying to hold back my sobs.
Adrian pulled me back against him, and for a few seconds I cried while Lila clawed at the fence in front of us.
Eventually, I straightened and wiped my face. Then I reached for my knife.
Ben finally spoke. “Taryn.”
I looked back at him in question.
“I can do it.” His eyes moved toward Lila.
“No.” I shook my head. “It has to be me.” I stepped close enough that Lila’s fingers almost reached me.
Beck tensed. “Taryn.”
“I’ve got her.” I looked into Lila’s dead eyes. “I’m sorry I took so long.”
Her teeth snapped.
For one horrible second, I thought about waiting. The thought came out of nowhere and lodged itself beneath my ribs.
Finley had slowed Harper’s infection. He hadn’t stopped it, but he’d changed something. What if he kept working? What if he found an answer a month from now? What if he figured out how to reverse it six months from now?
I stared at Lila’s rotting face through the fence. What if there was still something inside her worth saving?
Hope was cruel. It didn’t care whether it made sense. It just found the smallest crack and shoved itself in.
Lucas’s fingers tightened around mine. “Taryn?”
I looked at him. He didn’t tell me what to do, none of them did. They just stood patiently at my side, waiting for my decision.
I looked back at my friend.
Finley might find a cure someday. I hoped like hell he did. For Rory, for Avery and Emery. For everyone who would be bitten after today. For every family who deserved a different ending than Harper’s or Lila’s.
But Lila was already gone. Her body had been rotting for God knew how long. Whatever Finley eventually discovered couldn’t undo death. And leaving her like this because I was afraid to give up hope wasn’t saving her.
It was making her suffer for me.
My throat closed. I finally understood the difference. Hope was for the living. Mercy was for Lila.
I waited until her head struck the fencing again, then I drove the knife through the opening and into her temple.
Her body jerked, then went limp.
The weight of her dragged slowly down the chain link until she settled onto the dirt.
At rest. Finally.
I reached in to pull my knife out, but then couldn’t seem to let go.
Lucas gently covered my fingers with his. “Let me do it, Menace.”
I released the knife, and he pulled the blade free.
Adrian wrapped an arm around me, and Beck kissed my cheek. These men made me feel safe, and able to take the time to grieve for my friend.
So, I did.
Wren stepped forward and crouched near the fence to look at Lila. “Do you think there’s an afterlife?”
“I hope so.”
Wren nodded. “Me too.”
After a few minutes, Colson bent down and pulled Wren to her feet wrapping her back in his arms.
I looked down at my wrist, at the bracelet matching the one Lila wore.
My fingers trembled. “We should bury her.”
“We will,” Beck murmured.
“All of them,” I added.
My men looked toward the other women lying dead in the enclosure.
Adrian nodded first. “All of them.”
Ben’s voice came quietly from behind us. “My people will help.’
I turned toward him. There were a thousand questions I wanted to ask: Where were you? How are you alive? How did you find me?
But none of those questions belonged beside Lila’s body.
Not yet.
Ben seemed to understand my unspoken thoughts and gave me a small nod.
We’d talk later.
I looked back at Lila.
I’d come to bring my friend home but failed. I could still offer her peace, though. I could also grant the women hiding inside that warehouse their freedom.
And when the sun rose again, I could finally deal with the impossible fact that my father had come back from the dead.
I slipped my hand into Lucas’s. Beck pressed against my other side; Adrian squeezed me into his body.
Behind us stood Ben, Colson, and Wren.
Ahead of us lay whatever life we could make for ourselves in this new world.
And at my feet, Lila was finally free.
Even though the path was unclear, I embraced the journey, comforted by the unwavering love of my three men.