Scarred (Never After #2)(93)

“What did you do?” I ask, gripping her face.

“You left the rebellion,” she says, smiling up at me. “So I brought the revolution to you.”

My heart cracks wide open and I need to kiss her; even though I shouldn’t, even though I’m beaten and worn, and I’m sure I smell like death. I bend down anyway, shoving my tongue in her mouth and dragging her into my newly formed scars reveling in the pain it causes, because if we’re going to die, I’ll be damned if I don’t get to taste her one more time.

Moaning, she gives as good as she gets, and then she breaks away. “I have them in the tunnels.”

My stomach cramps. “The rebels?”

She nods. “I wasn’t sure if Michael knew of them, but it was our best chance to break into the castle, to make our way here without being shot at and killed. Edward’s with them, and they’re ready to fight, Tristan. We can do this.”

I bob my head, taking in her words, even as shouts sound closer now than they were before, and a gunshot rings from outside of the castle walls. Any moment now, and we’ll be caught.

And then a sick thought hits me and my heart ramps up in my chest, exploding through the cavity as I grip her arm. “Sara.”

She looks up at me from where she was peering around the corner.

“Simon is in the tunnels.”

Horror overcomes her features, her mouth parting wide and her eyes growing big. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Tristan, you have to get him out.”

I shake my head, my jaw tensing as my soul tears in two, fighting between what I know is right and what I refuse to do. “I’m not leaving you here.”

She grins, although I see the turmoil brewing in her dark gaze. “Do you think you fell in love with a weak woman?”

My chest pulls, emotion wringing my bones.

“I can take care of myself,” she promises, her words tasting like the most bitter type of lie. “Go save your nephew.”

My breath whooshes from my lungs. She knows. Of course she knows.

Doors from the castle slam open, echoing through the nighttime air and as I peer around the corner, I see at least two dozen uniforms with dogs pulling at their leashes.

“Sara.” A loud voice rings out. She falters from where she was just pushing at my chest, her eyes narrowing as she spins to face away from me. “There’s no escaping us, sweet niece. Come out and surrender and we shall grant you mercy.”

She moves forward, her anger so potent I can see it singeing off her skin.

“Are you fucking insane?” I snap, grabbing her arm. “Do not go out there.”

“We’ve found all of your friends,” her uncle continues. “If you both surrender, we’ll let them live.”

“Go,” she demands, prodding at me.

I shake my head back and forth, a ball of absolute terror expanding in my chest, making me hyperventilate as I struggle to breathe.

“Tristan, listen to me,” she pleads. “You know the tunnels like the back of your hand. You’re the only one who does.” Her eyes well with tears. “I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to him, and even though you won’t admit it, neither will you. You have to save him. Please.”

Talons rip through my chest cavity and tear out my heart, throwing it on the ground at her feet. I don’t bother picking it up, knowing it only beats for her, anyway.

My nostrils flare as I grip her face in my hands, my eyes soaking up her features as I rest my forehead against hers. “You are not allowed to die. Do you hear me? I will come back for you.”

Her lip trembles. “I know.”

I pull her close when she tries to turn away, pressing her lips to mine one last time. “If something happens, know that I will find you in every lifetime, Sara Beatreaux. You are mine, and not even death can keep you from me.”

She muffles a sob and shoves at my chest, and I turn and run, sprinting toward the tunnels.





CHAPTER 53





Tristan





It had to be me.

As much as I wanted to sacrifice myself and let her flee in my place, it had to be me. No one knows the tunnels as well as I do. No one else could have gotten Simon out in time. The military pressed in on the rebels from all angles, and when they were pressured, they panicked, creating a human stampede. I felt the rumbles on the tunnel floors as I sprinted through them, fighting the fatigue and the unbearable pain of my tortured body. I heard the screams as they echoed off the stone walls, people crying as gunshots were fired and people pled for their lives.

But I found him, his arms wrapped around Paul, his leg bent and broken and tear tracks on his face, his mother lying trampled at their feet.

“You came,” he whispered. “Just like you promised.”

So how could I turn around then? Even if everything in me was screaming to go back to where I left my heart, I grabbed Simon and Paul instead, and I set them free, banishing them from Gloria Terra.

To keep them safe.

It’s been three days since, and while my body is sore but healing, my mind is a gutter of a place to live. Michael is taunting me with Sara’s captivity. But at least she’s alive.

He has publicly stated if I give myself up, turn myself in, he’ll let her go.