I won, and the first thing I was going to do with her when the weather warmed up was to take her out to sea on Pithom. I wanted to swim.

Reaching the top, Micah and Aydin pulled me over the edge and onto the ground, and I collapsed, trying to catch my breath.

The little girl from before—the one we caught here the other night—knelt beside me, smiling. I thought Lev had taken her out of here.

But I was glad she didn’t go, after all.

“Was that your rope?” I panted.

She nodded, and I noticed she had two different colored eyes. One blue, one brown. “There’s tons of caves down there that no one knows about. I explore sometimes.”

Jesus. Who was she, and where did she come from? But then again, I was fine not knowing. It might’ve seemed weird to some people, but nothing seemed weird to me anymore. I liked mystery. Bring it.

I looked around at all the faces, Kai, Michael, Misha, and their girls probably having left to take Alex to the hospital.

“Where’s Em?” I asked Damon.

He glanced around and shrugged.

I tensed. She was right next to me before I chased Martin. She wouldn’t have left. I shot to my feet and pushed through them, rushing back into the park again and scanning the area for her.

Aydin was here. His people were here. Martin and Evans were gone.

Who…

Everyone hurried after me as realization dawned.

“Taylor,” I said, looking to Micah and Rory. “Have you seen Taylor?”

I hadn’t seen him, but the kid said she saw someone with an injured hand arrive two nights ago.

He had her.

I ran for the parking lot, everyone following me, but as soon as I got there, I saw a small group of men clad in black standing there with a convoy of cars, and I stopped.

Who the fuck was this now?

One of the men, built like a wrestler with muscles bulging out of his black shirt, stepped forward. His shiny black hair gleamed in the moonlight, the scruff on his cheek well-manicured. “Mr. Grayson?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Micah walked to my side and put a hand on my chest, stopping me.

“How did you find us?” he asked the guy.

The burly one just smiled, looking coy. “Like he ever not knows where you are, Mr. Moreau.”

Micah scoffed, looking away.

And then it hit me. Stalinz sent me back-up. These were mine.

“Where do you need us?” the guy asked.

I walked over and opened the door of his car, climbing in. “Follow us. When I wave you past, cut off the car I’m trailing.”

I started the engine, not wasting another moment. Damon, Micah, and Rory jumped in with me, and I sped off, out of the park, and turning left, toward Falcon’s Well and the shortcut to Evans Crist’s house. That was the only place I could think he’d go. If he wasn’t here tonight, then he didn’t know Evans had been caught.

I slammed the steering wheel with my fist. No one—and I mean, no one—was coming between us again.

Not ever again.

I pushed the pedal to the floor, hanging right as Damon grabbed the dash for support, and headed up into the cliffs, speeding down the lane.

If he’d gotten inside the Crist gates, I was going to crash right through and into the fucking house to get her, dammit.

Two more of Moreau’s SUVs trailed my ass like a convoy, and I rushed over dips in the highway, zooming past other cars and a truck full of kids out for Devil’s Night.

And then I spotted taillights ahead, recognizing one of Evans’s cars—a midnight blue Rover—racing down the road.

I smiled. Sticking my arm out the window, I waved the car behind me ahead and slowed just a little, so I didn’t have to slam on the brakes in a moment.

Moreau’s man sped past, raced ahead of the Rover, and jerked the wheel, screeching to a halt on the highway and blocking Taylor’s path.

Taylor swerved, and my heart skipped a beat as he slammed into the ditch, the car bobbing up and down as he sank into the ground, the tires spinning under the halted vehicle.

I slammed on my brakes, pulling over to the side of the road, the gravel grinding under the tires as I stopped. Jumping out of the car, I raced over to the driver’s side door, yanked it open, and pulled Taylor out, slamming a fist right across his face.

I watched him drop to the ground, knocked out. “Now it’s over,” I growled.

Ripping open the back door, I saw Emmy lying on the back seat, but trying to pull herself up as she rubbed her head.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “He knocked me in the head.”

She met my eyes, her own blinking and going wide when she saw me.

Alert, she jumped out of the car and threw her arms around me. “I saw you go over the Point,” she cried.

I squeezed her tight, the scent of her hair in my nose, and my arms wrapped around her small body.

“I’m okay,” I said.

She pulled back and gaped at me. “Okay?”

I almost laughed. She didn’t know about Pithom or the crash in the river—both times I’d almost drowned seeming like some sort of destiny I was putting off or some shit.

But tonight, I won.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Going over was kind of a good thing, actually, but I’ll explain later.”

She hugged me again, and finally, I breathed a sigh of relief, peace washing over me that it was finally over.

“And Martin?” she asked.

I swallowed, holding her tighter. “I’m sorry, babe.”

It was all I could say. I’d killed her brother. I wish hadn’t had to, but she wasn’t his and he wasn’t hers. We were her family now, and he was a threat.

It was him or me.

“I can’t lose you,” she said in my ear. “I need you.”

And I buried my face in her neck, feeling everything start. My life. Our life.

We won.

Emory

Present

The police and Search and Rescue Unit brought up Martin’s body, but as soon as they loaded him onto the gurney, I had to look away.

Broken, dead, and small. God, he looked so small.

I wasn’t sure what I was feeling, but I couldn’t see him like that. I knew it was him or us. I didn’t regret a thing, because he made his choices, and he forced me into a position where I had to choose, but after a lifetime of him, it wasn’t a hard decision.

There was no choice.

It still muddled my brain, though, and all I saw when I looked down at his body was my parents’ son. The brother I watched grow up.

I couldn’t believe he was gone.

Taylor was arrested, and Jack Munro was in contact with his family, probably arranging for Taylor to join Evans on the transport to “another undisclosed location” since Blackchurch had burned down.

Micah and Rory stayed behind to give the police a statement, but we assured them we’d be at the station in the morning to fill in any details.

I had a feeling, with Will’s grandfather present in town, we weren’t going to be grilled too hard.

Aydin jogged behind us as we raced out of the elevator and down the corridor, spotting everyone loitering outside a glass hospital door with the curtain inside drawn.

“Hey, how is she?” I asked Michael as he, Damon, and Kai all stood in front of the door.