Page 89 of Raze
If she makes it home, there’s no reason for us to ever run into each other.
Or else there is no Grams, and she told the truth about being with GE.
My chest tightens to an unbearable chokehold now that it’s time to walk away. To leave her forever.
I wish...
No. Don’t do that. This is for the best. I’m getting her away from GE. Getting her home and somewhere safe.
Leaving this island isn’t going to be the end of GE for me and my brothers.
Shifting back, I trail my hand down her torso to her skirt, wanting to see her injury for myself so I can make sure Tara knows what to do for it.
The boat lurches to the side, and I slap my hand on the wall before I fall onto Raegan. Shouting starts outside, and it sounds like my time is up.
I rush above deck, not allowing myself to linger anymore. If I let myself, I’d stay on the boat with her. I have to force myself to leave, to get back to the others and hope they aren’t under attack because I’ve taken too long.
A few scientists are running this way, and I curse to myself.
Jumping onto the dock, I cut the last rope holding the boat at the pier and toss the student who’d been trying to untie it onto the boat as the motor kicks on.
Goodbye, Raegan.
She should have been safe. She should have gone home.
What aren’t you telling me?
Now that I know killing Vera was an accident, I’m forced to wonder if I made the right choice. If I brought her with us, would she have told us about Vera? Or would she have kept that secret while she thought Vera was dead?
What would our lives look like now if I’d taken her with us?
Did she ever make it to her grandmother? Did Tara keep her promise?
What happened after I left her on the boat? And what happened to her that year she was separated from us on the island? I’d thought it was the same classes and training, just isolated from the rest of us. But then her reaction to Gordon...
What did he do to you?!
That question alone triggers a visceral rush of anger through my veins, throwing all rational thought and action from my mind. It’swhat drives me every time I see her, clogging my lungs and spewing sharp demands for her to tell me.
Ineedto know. I won’t be able to rest until I know everything about her. Every detail that she guards like her life depends on it.
I need to make it right.
“You want my trust enough to tell you my secrets? You have toearnit.”
I’d thought bringing her with us to Old Red would have been enough, but hearing her list out every time I’d failed her rings like a death knell in my head.
I don’t know when I stopped caring about her birth certificate. At this point, it’s clear she’s not working for them. I think I always knew. It was just a convenient excuse to push her away. To keep her from getting too close before she could work her way back into my life. Into our lives.
But it’s too late now.
If we ever had a chance.
“Oh, Aiden! Funny to see you here!” A sharp giggle follows before Cassandra slides into the bench seat across from me without my permission. “Are you meeting someone here?”
I take in the fiery red curls spilling from her head to her woodland eyes and freckled nose, and then the oversized beige sweater she’s wearing. She’s small and pixie-like and always tries to keep an upbeat attitude around everyone she’s with. She’s been an invaluable member of the Guild, especially as of late. She’s a sweet and nice girl if I put aside the repeated advances that I’ve been forced to fend off.
I sigh and shift back against the thick wooden booth. It’s a strategicmove on my part to add more distance between us while she leans over the table. My hand is still latched around my glass of bourbon, and I suddenly feel as if I’ve traded places with Kellan somehow and the drink has become an extension of me. “No. I’m here by myself.”
