Chapter 39 Rose
Waves kiss the side of the yacht, rocking me back and forth while I wait for Liam’s return.
We’re still in the past, anchored off the coast of a tiny island.
It’s safer out here. We figure any traveler looking for us will be dissuaded, should they get their time wrong and end up in the middle of the ocean instead of on our boat.
But even my renewed sense of security and the beauty of the afternoon can’t soothe my nerves.
I’m picking at my nails when he materializes at the bow. He slips off his shoes and walks the length of the boat barefoot, body stiff despite his casual boating attire. He sits beside me, resting his arms on bent knees, and joins me in staring out at the horizon.
“Did she take the antidote?” I ask, breaking the silence.
“No,” he says, his voice raw. I release a deep breath. “She promised me she wouldn’t if I agreed to something in return.”
“Okay.” I study the side of his face, his golden features taut. He turns to face me, pain filling his light brown eyes.
“She made me promise to stop trying to change the past.” He slumps forward and rubs his hands over his face, speaking to the deck. “I said I would. Do you hate me?”
The wind picks up, ropes tinkling against the mast. “No,” I admit.
I’m relieved. Six grueling years we’ve spent trying to save her, without success.
I stopped believing changing her fate was possible years ago, but he needed to come to the same realization on his own terms. If anything, Ella’s done us a favor.
“I think… this is a good thing. I can’t keep doing this. It’s too much.”
He nods, his eyes watering. “I know.” He stands and disappears into the hull, reappearing with two beers in his hand. He opens one and passes it to me before he opens his own. We stare out at the sunset, the gentle lull of the ocean current rocking us.
“Do you think she has any idea what you’ve just done? The things you’ve saved her from?” The power she’s lost.
“No,” he says. “And I hope she never does.”
He slips his hand into mine, and I give it a gentle squeeze before he lets go. Six years and my pulse still jumps every time he touches me.
He wipes the tears from his cheeks. “Now we look forward. We live,” he says, holding out his beer. “To the Alphas.”
I clink my bottle against his, my voice wavering as I say, “To the Alphas.” I take a swig and rest my head on his shoulder. We sit in companionable silence, the sun disappearing behind the horizon. Now is the time to mourn our losses. To let go of our past.
But I’ll never stop looking behind me.
He may have promised Ella he’d stop trying to change his past, but he didn’t promise to stay out of the past altogether. When he told me he believed there was a reason we have these gifts, I’d rejected the thought. But lately, I’ve been thinking he was right.
Neurovida’s going to wish it wasn’t me blessed with the special skill of traveling further back in time than my own life.
Because I don’t need to change my past to get vengeance.
Besides him, all my friends are dead. I never knew my family.
I have no one left to lose. And when you have nothing left to lose, you have everything to gain.
As soon as he’s ready, we’re going back to Neurovida’s beginning. Before we were Alphas. Before we were born.
And we’re going to burn Neurovida to the fucking ground.