Page 54 of Remnants
My eyes and throat burn with emotion, and I grip his hoodie, needing to feel the beat of his heart and his warmth.
“Whatever it takes for you to get closure on him, on this, I’m here for you.” He draws my face up to look at his, his eyes capturing mine in their golden depths that flicker and burn just as strongly as the fire reflected in them. “And I want you to know that I’ve forgiven you for what happened in the past. I’m not just saying it this time. I mean it with everything I am.”
Fuck.
I hook my hand around the back of his head, bringing us together in a crash of lips that taste like salt and sorrow. Of sweet solace that feels like a balm on my soul.
I don’t know if I’ll ever completely heal from my past, but I know that I’ll find happiness so long as I’m with these four men. They’ll fill in the cracks left behind and make me stronger.
I can feel Jackson’s presence before I hear the purposeful scuff of his boot on the dirt behind me. Dane and I break away slowly, not wanting the kiss to end but knowing the night isn’t over yet.
“It’s time.” Jack’s cool voice runs down my spine, inducing ashiver of desire. It’s ungodly how much I want all of them, all the time. Maybe it makes no sense to others in this world how my heart can want them all the same, but I can feel it in the very marrow of my bones that the five of us are meant to be together. I glance over my shoulder at him, and Jack’s smirk deepens at my expression, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
I know he would be on board with what I want, as well as Kellan. Maybe even Dane. But Aiden…
My gaze moves across the fire, finding Aiden and Kell standing at the edge of the fire ring and watching us. There’s a hardness to Aiden’s stare that tells me he watched enough of Dane and me to have triggered his jealous and possessive instincts. Only his care for his brothers and his role as leader is holding him back for now.
“Let’s finish this, then,” I reply nonchalantly. Like we’re taking care of a simple house chore rather than completing the murder and annihilation of Gordon. Dane and Jackson help me to my feet, and they keep me between them as we walk to the pile of bones lying in front of the pit, stopping as one.
Kellan and Aiden join us a second later while I ready my gift. It responds at once, snaking up from my gut to my hand, giving it a dark reddish glow. Kneeling, I don’t bother with words or promises this time. I touch the nearest piece of burned ivory, pushing my gift into it and every bone it touches. Bone cracks and shifts from the spiderweb of power that runs through it until, finally, I have them all, and I send a strong burst of my gift through it.
The bones instantly turn to ash, small piles lined along the ground at my feet. The particles lift as one, rising from the earth until they’rehigh enough to be caught on the small breeze. Jackson buffers it, strengthening the air moving around us so the dust scatters in the wind.
And just like that, he’s gone.
Chapter fifteen
Raegan
Anannoying,out-of-the-boxringtoneinterrupts my dreamless sleep. There’s a huff, and then something slides under my neck and pulls me against heated skin. The familiar smell of cinnamon body wash promises me I’m safe, and I keep my eyes closed to cling to sleep and a worry-free existence for a bit longer.
The phone keeps ringing, even as lips plant at the top of my head and his abdomen concaves with how deeply he breathes me in.
Aiden clears his throat. “What is it?” he finally answers, his voice hushed and his head turned away from me.
Nosey as I am, I strain to listen. It should be easy with how close I am to him, but he must keep his phone volume low because I can only catch a female voice and a word here or there that makes no sense out of context.
“Yes.” A pause. “A couple hours ago…No. Tell them tomorrow.” A frustrated sigh. “No. No, it’s alright…I appreciate it. Tell them we’ll be there in an hour. That’s the soonest we can do. Yes. Give us ten minutes.”
I crane my neck to look at him. The back of his hand holding the phone is resting over his closed eyes. As if he can sense my gaze on him, his eyes open.
“Did I wake you?” He lightly chuffs, then sets his phone on the nightstand. “Never mind. I already know the answer.”
“Was that Cibrina?” I guess, my hand sliding up his smooth and firm chest to get more comfortable. The last thing I remember is driving away from the woods at the cusp of dawn, curled in Jackson’s lap. I assumed I’d be waking up to him this morning, considering where I’d been. His bed is also the one I’ve slept in the past few nights.
Which means Aiden took it upon himself to put me in his bed this time.
I wouldn’t mind waking up in any of their beds, though I’m still holding out for my own. It’s just the small issue of Aiden’s inability to share that has me wondering what the others thought about him stealing me away to his room while I’d been unconscious.
His long fingers trail along the back of my hand before dwarfing it in his. “It was.”
“And?”
“You, me, and Dane need to go to the police station to give our statements.”
My nose crinkles in both confusion and displeasure. “Statements about what? When did the police get involved?”
“When we arrived at the hospital with four severely injured victims. Cibrina held them off as long as she could, but if we don’t show in an hour, they’ll issue warrants for our arrest.”
