I couldn’t breathe as I closed the distance.
Tony stopped as he saw us stepping from the wedding crowd.
And then...Quell saw us.
Her eyes locked with mine.
Her knees gave out.
She collapsed onto the grass beside her father as tears spilled down her cheeks.
And then, I was running.
Gemma let me go, freeing me to fly to my sister. The family I’d loved and lost, the one I still suffered so much fucking guilt over.
Skidding to a stop, I dropped to my knees before her.
Nothing else existed.
Not the crowd.
Not the sudden silence.
Not even Gem as she went to stand next to Tony, their eyes trained on us on the grass.
Only Quell.
Isabella.
We stared at each other for an eternity.
Whispers crawled through my head. Images of her bloody and crying. Memories of us curled up in the corner. Recollections of me sneaking her food when she’d been punished.
I’d done my best to protect her, but it hadn’t been enough.
I’d used my body as her shield, yet her own still bore scars that I hadn’t been able to stop.
My eyes dropped from hers to her bare forearms and the silvery lead tattoos that matched the fine lines on my own arm. Unlike mine, she had a word. A three-letter talisman that I’d done my best to live up to and failed.
My name had been with her the entire time she’d been missing from me. It’d been on her skin every rape she’d endured when I wasn’t there. Every night she’d been hungry. Every day she’d curled up in a corner on her own.
Fuck.
My heart cracked.
Fang howled beside me.
And tears flowed hotly down my cheeks.
She reached for me.
Our arms flew around each other, and we did what we’d done as kids. We curled into each other, finding sanctuary in one another. We blocked out the outside world, returning to the only safety we had. The short-lived, fragile protection we found in each other’s arms.
All our coping mechanisms. All our distrust and terror wrapped us up, and we rocked together.
We hugged so damn hard.
Tears mingling.
Pasts blending.
A reunion I didn’t think we’d ever have.
She sobbed in my arms.
“Make it stop, Kas. Don’t let them touch me anymore.”
“I’m trying, Quell. I’ll do better next time.”
“I’m sorry you have to hurt for us.”
“Don’t be. I’ll gladly be hurt if it saves you.”
A panic attack unfurled in my chest, making it hard to breathe as darkness descended and I fell back, back—
Fang licked my face, his whine bleeding through the crashing memories inside me. He howled again as my mind struggled in darker places, returning to Fables, slipping back into the dorm, remembering things I’d worked through, let go of, and willingly put to rest.
“I want them to die. All of them.”
“They will,” I vowed. “I’ll do it myself. You’ll see.”
“And then we’ll be free?”
“Free as the birds, little Quell. We’ll grow wings and fly away from here.”
Quell buried herself into my arms, aging me, cursing me.
We were just two kids, hiding in terror.
“Silly, Kas, always trying to volunteer,” Storymaker hissed. “The day is coming when you’ll no longer be here to put up your hand, and then...all your little siblings will know exactly what they’ve been missing.”
Rage crashed through me.
Horror splashed acid on my tongue.
I wanted to kill them all over again.
I want them to motherfucking bleed.
Fang headbutted my side, interrupting the fury burning my every thought. He whined and nuzzled my neck—giving me softness when I’d gone cold, love when all I felt was emptiness.
His muzzle wedged between Quell and me, claiming me as his own, hauling me back from the blackness and ensuring I didn’t slip any further.
My racing heart rate paused.
I blinked and raised my head, recentering on our lawn, our wedding, and the house where Gem and I found such happiness. Everything was bathed in sunshine, freedom, and safety.
I sucked in a tattered breath.
I wasn’t a kid covered in wounds and bruises anymore.
I wasn’t a terrified brother doing his best to protect his family.
I was a married man who’d triumphed over physical and mental trauma. I was strong enough not to relapse. Brave enough to say, enough. Enough of the flashbacks, enough of the nightmares.
This was no longer about me.
I’d found my place with the woman I was meant to marry. Now...it was Quell’s turn. I would do whatever I could to ensure she found the same bliss I had. To understand that she deserved it. That we weren’t dirty or fucked up or any of the things Storymaker had made us believe. We were worthy. So, so fucking worthy.
I hugged her close, saner now. Back in focus and ready to be whatever she needed. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I’m so sorry, Kas.” Her voice was older than I’d last heard it, huskier and layered with nightmares that I was well acquainted with. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Fang whined and sniffed the girl who wasn’t my wife, curled into a ball in my hold.