Chapter 9 #2
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. My entire world tilts sideways as the storm inside me finally breaks free.
My body shakes with a wave of emotions I can’t decipher just yet.
My head and heart war between letting me scream with the pain ripping through me and the satisfaction of knowing the man who could kill my daughter is dead.
He’s no longer a threat to her or me. Or the man I love.
The book drops from my hands to the ground, pages fluttering in the wind.
“Come here, baby.”
Phantom’s strong arms wrap around me, lifting me, grounding me. His warm scent fills my lungs—smoke, leather, something dark and fierce that is all my man. He presses my head to his chest, his hands splayed at my back, anchoring me when my knees buckle.
“It’s over,” he murmurs, voice ragged at my ear. “You did it. You’re alive. I’ve got you. Give me all your pain so I can take it from you.”
I sob into his chest reaches for my pain and together we stand there letting the past and the violent death of my father pull at our raw emotions.
He rocks me gently, fingers threading through my hair.
He tenderly presses his forehead to mine.
I feel his heart racing, the thrum of life beneath my palm, and it makes me believe, just for this moment, that survival is possible.
That love can come back from the dead. Second chances never go as planned, and ours is proof of that.
Phantom pulls back enough to look at me, eyes shining in the cold light. “Come on. Let’s get you back to your brother.”
My vision is blurry with tears, but when we walk back, I see Micah leaning against a broken crate wearing a smile. He’s clutching his side, pale but alive. And smiling. I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling him in as tight as I can.
He lets out a shaky breath, leaning into me, his forehead pressing to mine. For a moment, we are just brother and sister again, the world shrunk to our battered, beating hearts.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, voice hoarse. “I should’ve done more. I should’ve kept you safe.”
He shakes his head. “You did what you could. I should’ve known he’d find us out one way or another.”
“What happened?” My hands tighten on his jacket. “How did he know?”
Micah’s eyes fill with guilt and I swear I see a bit of humor in green eyes the same shade as mine. “Your video. You got the cops to his place. Hats off to you. The detective played it for him. Your voice was on there. You were telling Phantom all about our call.”
The blood drains from my face. “Me? Oh my God. I never thought about the audio.” I slap a palm to my forehead. “How stupid and careless.”
My breath catches, guilt crashing into me. “I’m so sorry, Micah. I never meant for this.”
He squeezes my hand. “Don’t be. It’s over for him. But it’s not over for Euphoria. Or the fucking Russian. Veles has every intention of keeping his supply chain running. He’s got every dirty cop in this state on his payroll. Our father was just one of many in the chain.”
Phantom crouches beside us, the black book in his hands. He thumbs through the ruined pages, face dark with determination. “It’s going to take forever to work through this and eliminate everyone. It’ll be a massacre by the time we’re done.”
Micah grimaces as he shifts, blood on his lips. “What if I could get you to the chemist who cooks the Euphoria? If they can’t make it, they can’t sell it, right? You want to end this, you start at the lab.”
Reaper steps forward, his shadow falling over all of us, voice hard as steel. “We’re listening.”
Micah nods, the fire in his eyes brightening. “I know where she is. I can get you in. But you’ll need me. You’ll need proof you are not there to kill her. She won’t talk to anyone else, but me.”
The air between us crackles with something new—hope, bitter and wild.
Phantom glances at Reaper, then at me. His hand covers mine, warm and certain. “Then we end this. For good.”
A long silence falls, broken only by the moan of distant train wheels and the soft sigh of wind through broken windows. The snow is falling heavier now. The white flakes cover the spilled blood and the bodies. I wish it could wash this dirty world clean of the evil.
For a second, the war fades and all I feel is him.
Phantom’s arms come around me, lifting me up, carrying me to the edge of the platform where the storm is thickest. I raise my face to feel the soft flakes of snow drift against my heated cheeks for a moment before I bury my face in his shoulder.
I let him take my weight, letting the last of the fear leave me.
His mouth finds my temple, his voice low and fierce. “You’re mine, Everly. You always have been. And I’m never letting you go again. I will protect you with my life now, tomorrow, and forever.”
The words sink into my bones, warm and sure.
Tears slip down my cheeks, not for what we lost, but for what we survived.
“We’re alive,” I whisper, the taste of hope is bittersweet after the events of tonight. I look back at Chloe, saddened by her stubborn choice to stay behind. I can only hop her granddaughter was already with her mom by the time my father caught up with Chloe.
“You, me, Kaylee. Micah. We are all safe. No one else was hurt, right? None of your brothers, I mean.”
His lips brush my ear. “We’re all alive. And I’m going to make sure you stay that way, too. No one touches what’s mine.”
I laugh, the sound comes out a bit broken but soft.
I cling to him as the Savages close in around us, forming a wall of safety, of family.
The blood and violence of the night can’t touch the space we’ve made for ourselves here.
In the middle of all this ruin, there is something fierce and indestructible growing—love, loyalty, a future.
Reaper claps Phantom on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here. We’ve got work to do. I called in some help. The men of Genesis will be here to clean up for us. They called it a Christmas gift.”
Micah leans on Storm, his body battered but his spirit rising, the spark of rebellion bright in his gaze.
I hold up the book, offering it to Phantom. My hands shake as he takes it, our fingers brushing, the contact sending a fresh wave of warmth through my chest.
He slides it into his jacket, pulling me close again. His eyes search mine, voice rough. “It’s not done, Everly. Not for us, not for New Orleans. But we’re not running anymore. We fight. Together.”
I nod, my heart so full it aches. “Together.”
The snow falls heavier, the world transformed into something new. Phantom lifts me into his arms, carrying me away from the blood and broken glass, into the future we’ll fight for, step by step, night after night.
In his arms, I am safe.
In his arms, I am home.
For the first time in forever, I believe in happy endings.
And I know, with everything in me, I’m going to take this second chance with my new family and hold it close to my heart. This is our new beginning.