Page 76 of Bound By Love
Caro would hate it if he killed any innocents because of her. And if there was a purgatory and he had any chance of going there, he would blow it by murdering everyone in his path, even if he craved it more than the blood his starved body required to survive.
He could spend a thousand years being tortured and tormented in Purgatory, or whatever happened there, if it meant having a chance of seeing her again. He could spend a million years in that state for only aglimpseof her again.
Shifting his hold on her, he settled Caro down before sliding his sword into the sheath that had remained on his back. If he couldn’t walk into the sun with her, he could plunge it through his heart, and hopefully, his stone would have the same effect on him as it did on others. If he was still holding her, they could burn together.
If his sword didn’t kill him, there was always Caro’s or someone else’s to do the job, but she would be in his arms when he died. And he would ensure she was beneath the sun and on the seashore she loved so much when it happened.
Caro was once life, everything exciting, and the promise of a new start that he’d resisted. Now, his fresh start was gone, and though he’d never believed it possible, he was more broken than ever.
He was also a fool.
Resting his hand against the rocky ground, he pushed himself up. His legs shook as he rose and nearly went down, but he locked his knees in place to keep from doing so.
He bent and lifted her when he was stable enough to remain standing. Her head fell to rest against his chest as he held her against him.
A memory of her, with her head on his chest and her hand on his stomach, swam to the forefront. She’d been so warm, loving, strong-willed, and free-spirited.
She’d been everything he never wanted and all he’d always needed. And now she was gone.
Tears burned his eyes as his heart tore and a bellow rose in his throat. This time, he didn’t resist it as he tipped his head back and all his sorrow and fury poured out. His roar rebounded off the rocks and echoed around them until it became a cacophony of misery.
It should have been him. She couldn’t have survived without him, but she shouldn’t have died down here, in the dark and allalone. She should have walked back into the sun, felt its warmth one more time, and breathed fresh air.
She’d deserved so much better than the death he delivered to her the day he showed up at her parents’ store. If he had it all to do over again, he would have taken her away and let the world burn, or he would have taken her home, left her there, and never returned.
It probably would have been impossible for him to stay away, even then, when they barely knew each other, but he never would have entangled her in this mess. He was so selfish he would have said fuck everyone else, but Caro wasn’t.
She would have fought anyway.
When his scream cut off, he bent his head to nuzzle her temple as his tears fell onto the dirt coating her striking features. Every part of him was shattered; if anyone deserved it, it was him. He’d probably left many people and families feeling like this over the years when he was a Savage.
But Caro didn’t deserve this. She was just one more innocent victim ofhim.
Wiping his tears and some of the dirt they smeared from her face, he straightened his shoulders and started down the rocky pile of debris. He carefully placed one foot in front of another to avoid having them roll out from under him.
If he went down, he wasn’t sure he was strong enough to get up again. He didn’t want help, and no one else would take her from here.
He should have told her he loved her. It was true; he did love her, but he’d been too stubborn to realize it until it was too late, and she’d died without ever knowing it. Heloathedhimself for it.
“What are you doing?” Ronan inquired.
“She’s not staying down here,” Saber managed to choke out in a voice barely above a whisper. “It will be one of the last things I do, but I’m carrying her from this place. She deserves better.”
“I can help,” Brie offered.
“No.” Saber nodded toward Caro’s sword. “Can someone please get that?”
Kadence crept sideways toward the sword and lifted it from the ground. Ronan kept his body between them, but Saber had no intention of harming anyone… other than himself. He didn’t tell them that; he didn’t feel like talking.
When he got to the bottom of the pile and entered the tunnel, he kept his shoulder against the wall and used it to help support himself as he carried Caro through the long journey to the surface. Before they arrived at the exit, he encountered what remained of the Alliance as they waited for them in the tunnel.
As he carried Caro out of the darkness and into the light, no one spoke. Stepping into the fresh air, Saber discovered himself surrounded by trees. He had no idea where they were, but they weren’t beneath the city.
Tipping his head back, he closed his eyes as the sun beat down on him. He’d worked for centuries to walk beneath its rays once again; at one time, its warmth meant so much to him, but it meant nothing now.
Breathing in, he discovered it was an especially cruel knife to his heart that the world smelled so much like his Caro.
“I’m going to take her to the ocean,” he said.
